Custom-Made Pedal Tractors

Custom-Made Pedal Tractors TRACTORS Made-It-Myself Don Turner’s tractors keep getting smaller and more popular His kid-size pedal tractors sell for $5 000 and more One of his G Allis-style pedal tractors with 8 implements sold for just under $10 000 Implements include a manure spreader mower harrow turning plow cultivator and planter     “My average buyer is at least 70 years old ” says Turner “I sold one to a man in upstate New York who was 96 at the time He told me that he had more than 1 200 pedal toys in his collection ”     Turner started out building half-size tractors His first was a G Allis because they were first manufactured in nearby Gadsden Ala He built 12 of them 2 of them electric-powered He also built 5 half-size 101 John Deere and some Doodlebugs kit tractors from the 1940’s that used car frames and motors     All of them share the same C-channel frame Cub Cadet transmission rear end and steering The gas versions are powered with modified 6 6 hp Predator engines with rope starts The electric versions use 5 hp D-C Cushman motors     Eventually Turner built a pedal version of his favorite the Allis G He has built 25 pedal versions so far and is working on 26 He kept the first and No 25 but the others quickly sold One is on display at the Ertl museum in Dyersville Iowa     “I have one collector in Indiana who has a standing order for the first of anything I build ” says Turner “When I decided to build a Roto-Baler 2 were sold before I built the first ”     He has also built 6 D21 Allis Chalmers tractors with 8-bottom turning plows that are longer than the tractors     In addition he built 20 John Deere 101s They used treadle power instead of pedal power Turner says the treadle style was the most common design for child-size cars     “I thought they would sell faster than they did ” he says “I still have a few left ”     His latest models are 220 Allis Chalmers He built 2 with realistic front snow blades and rear scraper blades and is in the process of completing 8 more without implements     “Most people don’t want implements ” explains Turner “They take up too much room to display ”     What sets Turner’s work apart from commercial pedal tractors is the dedication to detail They include wiring and tubing and working shifts as well as steering Recent models have 9-volt batteries powering LED lights hand powered 3-pts and lift mechanisms for the front blades Both front and rear blades can also be adjusted to different angles In the case of the Roto-Baler belts move as does the apron Turn the pto shaft by hand and everything moves     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Don Turner 7200 Valley View St Hokes Bluff Ala 35903 ph 256 492-4468; dmturner36@gmail com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.