“Hit And Miss” Tractors Belt-Drive Ice Cream Makers

“Hit And Miss” Tractors Belt-Drive Ice Cream Makers FARM HOME Food Wayne Riffey Flora Ind converted a pair of old garden tractors equipped with hydrostatic transmissions to look like IH and Deere models and repowered them with “hit and miss” engines that he uses to make ice cream The engines’s flywheels belt-drive hand-cranked ice cream freezers that Riffey fitted with pulleys He painted the ice cream freezers to match the color of the tractors and also mounted matching decals on them “I enjoy taking them to gatherings and weddings where I make ice cream for everyone ” says Riffey “The hit and miss engines make a unique ‘popping’ sound and both tractors are fitted with chrome exhaust pipes that bark pretty good People like to watch me make ice cream because most have never seen or heard anything like it “I chose both tractors because they have hydrostatic transmissions which made it easier for the hit and miss engines to belt-drive the tractors ” He converted an old WheelHorse garden tractor to look like an International Harvester 656 repowering it with an International Harvester LA 5 hp hit and miss engine that hooks up to the tractor’s transmission The engine belt-drives a pair of 5-gal ice cream freezers secured to a 4-wheeled cart that Riffey pulls behind the tractor When he’s ready to make ice cream he unhooks the wagon from behind the tractor and hitches it up to the front of the tractor He uses the tractor’s engine to belt-drive either one of the ice cream freezers or both at the same time He made a new grill for the tractor and replaced the seat with an old fashioned one The exhaust pipe is off a Harley Davidson motorcycle Riffey converted an old Deere 140 garden tractor to look like a 1960’s Deere 110 repowering it with a Deere 1 1/2 hp hit and miss engine The engine belt-drives a 2-gal ice cream freezer which is mounted on a home-built rectangular metal platform he attached to the front of the tractor He replaced the 140’s seat and fenders with the seat and teardrop fenders off a Deere 110 tractor and made a new hood using part of the hoods off both tractors “The Deere hit and miss engine came with two flywheels I had to lengthen the tractor’s frame by 10 in and narrow it up by 1 1/2 in so that both flywheels would extend outside the frame ” says Riffey “I also attached a homemade metal belt shield to the platform and added a chrome straight pipe exhaust ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Wayne Riffey 817 Lincoln St Flora Ind 46929 ph 765 412-4914

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