Home-Built 4-WD Still Going Strong After 27 Years

Home-Built 4-WD Still Going Strong After 27 Years TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 25-1-3 When John Melnyk got frustrated with the tractor he had and decided to build his own from scratch, he never imagined his home-built tractor would still be going strong 27 years later. After buying a brand new 145 Versatile 4-WD in 1969, Melnyk was faced with one problem after another. "First the engine blew up and then, the transmission," he says. "The only thing that didn't give me trouble was the rear end. I was so cheesed off with that tractor, I decided the only thing to do was to sell it, but then I would have no tractor." Luckily, the northern Alberta man owned a machine shop in nearby Dawson Creek, B.C. in addition to his Bonanza, Alberta farm. It took about eight months of his spare time to finish building a tractor of his own design in the spring of 1973. His finished product was a 335 hp 4-WD tractor. Melnyk made everything himself except for the 8-speed Clark powershift transmission, the 88,000-lb Clark axles, and radiator, glass, tires, and new plate steel for the frame. He made the articulation joint at center as well as the steering cylinders. "At the time, it cost about $25,000 for materials and I could have bought a brand new tractor for $15,000 to $17,000, but I knew it was worth it, because there was no comparison. It was like trying to compare a Cadillac and a Model T," he says. Melnyk was so pleased with his first creation, that he went ahead and built another identical one in 1977. Both tractors have been running ever since without major incident, putting on an average of 500 hours per year each. With 13,500 hours on the oldest tractor, Melnyk proudly points out that no repairs have been needed, "outside of breaking the odd hydraulic hose. "Also, the air conditioning quit once and we broke a couple of U-joints. We reset the valves and injectors once for maintenance and, of course, we've put on four sets of tires due to ordinary wear," he says. "The only thing I could criticize is that I put on big singles (30.5 x 34) and I think it would have been better with duals... the tires wouldn't wear out as quickly due to slippage." Seventy-six year-old Melnyk still has his machine shop in Dawson Creek, and assists his son and grandsons on the 6,080-acre family operation. Their negative experience with Versatile was reinforced by another blown transmission in 1990, on a 1984 470 hp Versatile 1150 that had only 4,000 hours on it at the time. That repair alone cost the family between $8,000 and $9,000. Although they took many hours and dollars to build, Melnyk's twin home-built tractors leave him with no regrets. He says they have repaid their debt many times over, with reliability and long life. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Melnyk, Box 56, Bonanza, Alberta, Canada T0H 0K0 (ph 780 353-2225; fax 250 782-5227).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.