Locomotive Built On Top Of Riding Mower

Locomotive Built On Top Of Riding Mower AG WORLD 32-3-21 After 36 years of dairy farming, Ray Seefeldt of Marshfield, Wis., now enjoys building rubber-tired locomotives and train cars in his shop. "I try to make them look as authentic as possible," says Seefeldt. "I've used them to give rides at the Wisconsin state fair for four years, and also at many other events and parades." The 8-ft. long locomotive is made almost entirely from light gauge metal and was built over a Ford 25 hp hydrostatic 2-WD garden tractor. It's painted red, silver and black and is complete with a cow catcher on front, as well as a silver bell, a big headlight, and a big steel smoke stack. A pair of fake rubber-tired wheels on each side of the locomotive are connected by a fake wooden piston rod, which goes back and forth just like a real locomotive. The locomotive pulls a pair of 4-wheeled cars that can each hold up to 11 people at a time. He extended the tractor's frame by 3 ft. The tractor's rear wheels are hidden behind the locomotive's fake wheels, which are the rubber wheels off an old silage cart. He made wooden spokes inside the wheels and screwed them onto a round metal plate, then painted the spokes red and the plate black. Both sets of fake wheels are timed by a roller chain and sprockets. The front end of the fake piston rod that drives them moves back and forth inside a 5-gal. pail. "By pushing a lever in the cab, I can raise the wheels when making sharp turns or when loading the locomotive onto a trailer," says Seefeldt. The locomotive's round hood was made from light gauge metal and sets in a tapered frame. The hood lifts forward for refueling the tractor. An air compressor that's belt-driven off the engine supplies air for the locomotive's whistle. It's made out of three lengths of copper tubing of different lengths to provide the right sound. Air from the compressor goes to a 10-gal. air tank located above the front wheels. "It looks and sounds a lot like an old steam locomotive train whistle," says Seefeldt. "The air compressor runs off the tractor's mower deck clutch. Any time I run the engine, I turn on a switch that's connected to a pressure gauge. It causes the compressor to start and stop by itself." The front wheels are covered by a flat metal plate and rim that makes it looks like the train is running on rails. The locomotive's 4-ft. wide cab was made from light gauge metal. The headlight is contained in a metal box and runs off the tractor's 12-volt battery. The cow catcher is made from angle iron and pipe. "Everyone who sees it falls in love with it," says Seefeldt. "Over the years I've built four different locomotives. It takes me about 600 hours to build each one. A lot of people think the outside wheels drive the locomotive, but they really just roll on the ground for show. "Each train can be stripped, using no tools, in two minutes to allow loading into my pickup bed. I pull one pin to remove the cow catcher and another pin and a screw to remove the piston rod and rear wheels. The passenger cars are made from wood and have a rounded ceiling to make them look like the real thing. They measure 8 ft. long by 4 ft. wide and have bench seats on all four sides. Each car has two sets of wide wheels on front and back. "Each car is completely finished off inside," notes Seefeldt. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ray Seefeldt, 11123 Co. Rd. H, Marshfield, Wis. 54449 (ph 715 384-8854).

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