Hunting Vehicle Built From Combine Parts

Hunting Vehicle Built From Combine Parts COMBINES Conversions 19-4-17 You've never seen anything like the Moose Tracker 2,000, a giant amphibious vehicle that's called a "hunting lodge on wheels" by the four men who built it. "We spent every available evening and weekend for the last two years working on it," says Lou Brunk about the agile vehicle which he and three colleagues built largely out of old combine parts. It was displayed for the first time at the recent World Pork Congress at Des Moines, Iowa, as an attention-getter for the feed company operated by the four men. The 6-WD, which has all the comforts of home inside and an aluminum alloy body outside, is powered by a 354 cu. in. Perkins diesel out of an old Massey 510 combine. It uses two hydrostatic drives out of 715 I-H combines, two gearboxes from 2-ton Chevy truck transmissions, and final drives out of a Deere 55 combine. "The way all these components connect up is very complicated and took a while to work out," says Brunk. Tires are 44-in. dia. mud dragster tires, but the men plan to replace them with rice tractor tires because they're self-cleaning and more waterworthy. The Moose Tracker 2000 converts from land to water vehicle by bolting a boat propeller onto a pto shaft on the back. A built-in rudder steers the craft. On land, the 16-ft. long by 8-ft. wide by 9-ft. high vehicle uses wheel brakes to steer just like a skid loader. It'll turn 360? in an 8-ft. radius. Brunk won't say how much money he, Jon Willers, Ed Perkins and Greg Wallin have invested in the vehicle. But having it available for their numerous Alaskan hunting expeditions will far outweigh the expense, he added. It's equipped inside like an RV with stove, refrigerator, bunks, etc. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mid-Prairie Products, 1209 West Ferguson Road, Shenandoah, Iowa 51601 (ph 800-962-5171 or 712 246-3372).

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