Tractor Powered By Ford Car Engine

Tractor powered by Ford car engine TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 13-3-8 "It's one of the best looking home-built tractors you'll ever see," says Richard Everhart, Clark, Mo., who along with brother Martin built a tractor using a Ford 429 car engine and transmission, the rear end from a 1-ton International truck, and the steering axle from an old Massey Harris combine. Nicknamed "Giddy-up-Go", the tractor is painted black with red trim and is equipped with 14.9 by 28 combine tires on the rear and 15-in. car tires in front. It has a deluxe plush car seat, large flat fenders equipped with grab handles, a hood made from 20 ga. metal, and a grille made from 14 gauge expanded metal. The hood and grille fold forward for engine work. Other features include 3-ft. high exhaust stacks, an air horn, and fender mounted lights and mirrors. "The 429 engine has about 250 hp so the tractor has more power for its weight than we will ever use. However, much of that power is lost through the transmission reduction gears. Also, the tractor doesn't have enough weight to match the power, even with 900 lbs. of wheel weights," says Richard. In addition to the original Ford automatic transmissian,die Everharts installed a 4-speed transmission removed from a 3/ 4-ton pickup. "'The rear end truck axle originally had 30-in. tall tires which we replaced with 50-in. tall combine tires. The taller tires picked up ground speed, so we use the 4-speed transmission to slow the tractor down," explains Richard. "We normally shift with the automatic transmission and leave the 4-speed transmission in first gear. Neither transmission has a clutch so to stop the tractor we have to idle it down, put the brake on to stop, take the automatic transmission out of gear and shift into park. To start going again, we put the automatic transmission in low gear and step off the brake. There are 12 forward gears so we can go real slow or up to 50 mph." The tractor is equipped with two universal joints - one between the transmissions and the other between the 4-speed transmission and the differential. The 34-in. wide combine axle originally was too narrow to allow the car tires to turn, and too tall to fit under the car engine. The Everharts widened the axle by cutting it in half and welding 10 in. of channel iron onto each side. They also lowered the frame 5 in. by cutting down the spindles. The blade is raised and lowered by a hydraulic cylinder that's powered by a hydraulic pump driven off the fan belt. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Everhart, RR 1,Box 46A, Clark, Mo. 65243 (ph 573 641-5773).

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