Home Built 4WD Tractor, Snowblower

Home Built 4WD Tractor, Snowblower SNOWBLOWERS Snowblowers 14-6-7 Gilbert Wendland and son Gary, Green-leaf, Wis., used two Chevrolet automobile rear ends (narrowed down to 4 ft.), and a 4-cylinder, 20 hp Ford Pinto engine coupled to a 5-speed Chevrolet transmission to build their own 4-WD tractor equipped with a home-built snowblower. "It has power galore and is geared down so low it can walk right through a 3-ft. deep snow bank," says Gilbert. "Two roller chain reduction drives on the trans-mission provide such a wide selection of speeds that we never have to clutch it. It works much better than most lawn and garden tractors, which have only 10 to 12 hp and can handle only a 3-ft. wide snowblower. Our tractor handles our 4-ft. wide, 3-ft. high snowblower. It has 4-WD with posi-traction on the front axle which provides great traction and maneuverability. And articulated steering makes it turn sharp." Wendland mounted a Buick power steering box under the steering wheel. Cables and pulleys run from the steering box to the axles. Wendland used 3-in. channel iron to build the frame and built the cab from stainless steel. He used angle iron to build the two-stage snow blower, building his own 16-in. high, 3-in. wide blades from flat steel. The snowblower is belt-driven off the engine. A hydraulic pump, also belt-driven off the engine, drives the power steering and also raises and lowers the blower. The tractor's fitted with 15 by 7.00 pickup tires. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gilbert Wendland, 3771 Lark Road, Greenleaf, Wis. 54126 (ph 414 864-2228).

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