Wooden "B" Sounds Like Real Thing

Wooden "B" Sounds Like Real Thing TRACTORS Antiques 28-3-44 "It looks and sounds like the real thing," says Tom Houska, Mahnomen, Minn., about the 2/3-scale Deere B tractor his cousin Delbert Radtke made entirely out of wood. After Radtke passed away, the tractor was given to Houska with the understanding he would have to restore it and keep it running. It sits in Houska's front yard where passersby can see it. The tractor's rear wheels are made from three different sets of 1 by 3's, nailed together in an overlapping style to look like the tractor has lugs. Each front wheel was made by gluing together two semi circle-shaped pieces. The rear axle was made from a 2 by 4. The body and fenders are made from plywood while the muffler is a length of dowel rod. An electric motor, hidden from view under the driver's platform, is used to make the tractor sound like it has an engine. The motor belt-drives a big pulley that in turn belt-drives a flywheel. A pair of small bolts contact a length of 3/4-in. dia. plastic pipe that's nailed onto a 2 by 4. As the bolts contact the pipe they make a firing sound. A single bottom plow is hooked on behind the tractor. "It sounds so realistic that it fools a lot of older farmers who still own real Deere B tractors," says Houska. "One farmer who heard my tractor running thought it had a real engine, with sparkplugs and all. But there is no engine - all you see is a small electric cord between the rear wheels that runs to an electrical outlet. The electric motor turns the flywheel so fast that its rear fenders vibrate," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Houska, 2068 210th Ave., Mahnomen, Minn. 56557 (ph 218 935-5762).

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