Home Built Truck Pulls Like A Tractor

Home Built Truck Pulls Like A Tractor TRUCKS Conversions 8-2-33 Greg Ellerman's truck looks like any other GMC from the front. But walk to the rear and you'll see that this truck is equipped with tractor tires. Greg, who farms near Newville, Penn., uses his "Truck-Tor" for plowing, spraying, planting and cultivating. He expects the Truck-Tor to last many years and says that the "$6,000 plus" that it cost him was "one of the best investments I ever made." "People underestimate trucks," says Greg. "This truck-tractor is at least equal to a 150 hp. tractor and is never overloaded in the field. What's more, truck parts are more readily available than tractor parts, and less expensive." Greg's "Truck-Tor" consists of a 1972 9500 GMC chassis, cab and front-end combined with an Eaton 50,000 lb. Payloader rear axle. He had to beef up the rear frame to handle the axle, add a rear drawbar hitch, and match up the truck drive train to the Eaton axle ù no problem, he says,since the truck differential matched the rear final drive without modification. The "Truck-Tor has a 671 Detroit diesel engine with a 10-speed trans-mission. It has no pto but is equipped with a hydraulic pump for spray pumps and tillage tools. Top speed is 16 to 17 mph on the road. Ellerman says he regularly sprays and does other field work at 8 mph. He outfitted the "Truck-Tor" with 30.5 tractor tires and can fit it with duals when needed. "It took me 3 years to get all the parts together," he says. "The rear axle, for example, came off an Army vehicle but is the same Eaton axle commonly used on heavy industrial equipment of all kinds. I kept the old truck axle and could convert back to a truck in half a day or so." For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Greg Ellerman, RR 3, Newville, Penn. 17241 (ph 717 776-5844).

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