Half-Scale Tractor Runs Like A Deere

Half-Scale Tractor Runs Like A Deere FARM HOME Toys/Games 20-3-21 Glenn Joel built a 1/2-scale model 1937 Deere D from the ground up during the winter of 1991-'92. He paid painstaking attention to detail so it would run like the real thing. The 5-ft. long tractor weighs 1,000 lbs. It's powered by an LUC engine out of a Deere 12A combine. The engine has a 3 1/4-in dia. bore, which is exactly half that of an authentic D, notes Joel. Joel modified the engine's oiling, cooling and carburetion systems so he could mount it on its side in the tractor frame instead of upright as it was in the combine. "It took quite a while to get that organized," he says. He cut the bell housing off the engine block, leaving its flywheel exposed so it can be started manually, just like the real thing. He completed the drivetrain by bolting a 3-speed manual transmission out of a Case 700 combine to the engine. He reversed rotation of the input shaft with a chain and sprocket to convert it to rear drive. The clutch is a belt tightener and belt pulley off a 1 1/2 hp Deere E stationary engine mounted to simulate the belt pulley on a D. Joel equipped the tractor with a home-built rack and pinion steering system made from ring gear and starter pin-ion. He equipped the rear axle with new 7.60 by 15-in. tires and the front with new 400 by 8-in. implement tires. Rear tires mount on original spoked rims off an old Deere rodweeder. Joel made front spoked rims out of rims he had on hand and used sprayer wheel bearings in the spindles. Also, Joel made a 1/2-scale 2-bottom plow out of parts off a potato hiller for his tractor. It's 32 in. long by 16 in. wide. Shovels are 6 in. wide and are off the hiller. Front tires are 400 by 8-in., rear is 5 in.. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glenn Joel, Box 1, Elbow, Sask., Canada SOH 1JO (ph 306 854-4542).

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