Neighbors Love His Rotating Farmall Tractor

Neighbors Love His Rotating Farmall Tractor AG WORLD Ag World 20-6-22 Drive by Duane Sorben's farm near Bottineau, N. Dak., and you'll be treated to a most unusual sight - a 1944 Farmall tractor rotating slowly in the sky. The tractor mounts above Sorben's ma-chine shed on top of a motorized, spinning pole which completes a rotation every 8 minutes and 10 seconds. It even has working lights so it can be seen at night. "I put it up there because I figured I could get people driving by on the highway to take their minds off their daily troubles for just a minute," says Sorben. The tractor was donated to him by Pete's Tractor and Salvage in Anamoose, N. Dak. Sorben then restored it. The tractor rotates on top of an old truck axle and wheel where it's welded to a heavy piece of 10-in. pipe that runs all the way to the floor. The tractor frame simply bolts to the wheel via several channel iron braces. The axle extends down through the roof and is anchored in a 4-ft. chunk of concrete. The differential on the axle is chain-driven by a 1/6 hp electric gearhead motor, which turns the tractor above the roof. Sorben used a 3-rail collector ring off an old silo unloader to get 110-volt power to the tractor to power the lights. The ring mounts inside the brake drum. The lights are controlled by an electronic sensor that automatically turns them on at night. "I put the tractor up last May and it hasn't stopped rotating since then," says Sorben. "Some people come into the yard while others just stop on the road and take photos. I plan to put a Santa Claus on the tractor in time for Christmas. "The motor runs at 1,725 rpm's and the gearhead's output shaft rotates at 4.3 rpm's. The output shaft has a 12:2 sprocket with a 4.33 to 1 carrier, putting the total motor to axle ratio at 14,280:1. "I used a truck-mounted crane to lift the tractor on top of the building." The building the tractor mounts on is also unusual. Sorben made the rounded roof by cutting apart a pair of 20,000-gal., 11 -ft. dia. fuel tanks. The building is 22 ft. wide and 28 1/2 ft. long and has a 6-in. overhang at each end. The steel roof is 5/16 in. thick and rests on 4-ft. lengths of drill stem pipe. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Duane Sorben, 1107 Hwy. 5 N.E., Bottineau, N. Dak. 58318 (ph 701 228-3325).

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