Pickup Sprayer Fitted With Deere Combine Cab

Pickup sprayer fitted with Deere combine cab COMBINES Conversions 17-3-18 "It gives me a better view than a conventional pickup cab and gets me up out of spray drift," says Tim Bruckner, Malta, Mont., who recently sent photos to FARM SHOW of his pickup-mounted sprayer that's equipped with an old Deere combine cab mounted in place of the original pickup cab. A 300-gal. spray tank and 48-ft. boom mount in back of the pickup. Bruckner started with a 1966 Ford ¥-ton 4-WD pickup. He cut the cab off even with the bottom of the windows and attached a cab and platform from a 1958 Deere 95 combine. The combine cab was open in back where the grain tank had been mounted so Bruckner installed windows. He replaced the combine's steering column with the steering column off a 1972 Ford pickup and hooked the two pickup steering columns together. He connected the combine's clutch and brake pedals to the linkage for the pickup's clutch and brakes and extended the pickup's gear shift lever up into the cab. He made a dash and mounted the pickup gauges on it. He also painted the pickup Deere green. "People stop and look twice when they first see it, but it really works well," says Bruckner, who put the combine-pickup combo together six years ago. ""I sit about 3 ft. higher than I did before so I'm up out of spray drift, and I have a large glass window in front of me that extends all the way down to the floor so I have a great view. The combine's evaporative cooler is mounted on top of the cab and helps reduce chemical odors. I had been using the same pickup to spray, but when grain started to get bigger I could hardly see my wheel tracks from the previous pass. "I usually spray at 18 to 20 mph. On a good day I can spray about 500 to 600 acres. The pickup drives as well on the highway as it did before, although it takes some getting used to. Most of the time I tow it behind my water truck as I move from field to field. A tow bar mounts on front of the pickup. I mounted the combine's steps on the side of the pickup. The pickup's right door will still open if I need to work on anything. "I use the pickup's engine to belt-drive the spray pump." Angle iron braces run from the floor of the cab down into pickup box to help hold the cab in place. The combine seat was worn out so Bruckner replaced it with a new one. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Tim Bruckner, HC 65, Box 6180, Malta, Mont. 59538-9602 (ph 406 658-2111).

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