Restored Farmall "A" Is Now A Hybrid
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When Gerald Fisher started working on his Farmall A it had no motor or clutch, no rear wheels or seat, no fuel tank or even a steering wheel, and the bell housing was buried in mud. Fisher decided to try and restore the tractor anyway. After all, the price was right. A friend gave it to him.
"I added so many parts from other equipment that it ended up 6 in. longer than a normal A," says Fisher. "I used Dodge truck hubs and wheels, a Mitsubishi diesel stationary engine, a Ford clutch and a GM steering wheel."
Installing the two-liter, Mitsubishi diesel and the Ford clutch required extending the frame with 3/8-in. steel plates. The old transmission remained in place, though a gear was missing teeth and had to be replaced.
"The rear wheels and hubs came from a Western Star Snowplow Truck," says Fisher. "The only things not rusted away were the lugs. The old hubs were gone, so I welded the Dodge spindles in place."
The seat, which looks very similar to the original seat, came off an old steam shovel. The front grill was salvaged from another A, and a local tinsmith made a new fuel tank and battery rest. The radiator came with the Mitsubishi.
With the added length of the tractor, Fisher had to modify the steering mechanism. "I took an old pto universal joint from a dump truck and mounted it to the front axle to control the steering rods," he explains. "This let me run the steering shaft straight from the wheel to the universal along the side of the tractor."
Fisher made a muffler out of two Allis Chalmers fuel filter covers welded together with pipe. He also had to build an adapter for the Ford clutch, putting a pilot bearing into a piece of 3/4-in. plate.
The most expensive part in the $1,500 makeover was matching the IH bell housing to the Mitsubishi diesel. "The bell housing is oval shape, so I needed an adapter plate," recalls Fisher. "It cost me $350 to get one machined to fit."
Fisher says his Mitsubishi/Farmall runs well. "It has lots of power, around 30 hp compared to only 16 originally," he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerald Fisher, RR no. 1, Debert, Nova Scotia, Canada B0M 1G0 (ph 902 662-4059).
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Restored Farmall "A" Is Now A Hybrid TRACTORS Modifications 33-1-28 When Gerald Fisher started working on his Farmall A it had no motor or clutch, no rear wheels or seat, no fuel tank or even a steering wheel, and the bell housing was buried in mud. Fisher decided to try and restore the tractor anyway. After all, the price was right. A friend gave it to him.
"I added so many parts from other equipment that it ended up 6 in. longer than a normal A," says Fisher. "I used Dodge truck hubs and wheels, a Mitsubishi diesel stationary engine, a Ford clutch and a GM steering wheel."
Installing the two-liter, Mitsubishi diesel and the Ford clutch required extending the frame with 3/8-in. steel plates. The old transmission remained in place, though a gear was missing teeth and had to be replaced.
"The rear wheels and hubs came from a Western Star Snowplow Truck," says Fisher. "The only things not rusted away were the lugs. The old hubs were gone, so I welded the Dodge spindles in place."
The seat, which looks very similar to the original seat, came off an old steam shovel. The front grill was salvaged from another A, and a local tinsmith made a new fuel tank and battery rest. The radiator came with the Mitsubishi.
With the added length of the tractor, Fisher had to modify the steering mechanism. "I took an old pto universal joint from a dump truck and mounted it to the front axle to control the steering rods," he explains. "This let me run the steering shaft straight from the wheel to the universal along the side of the tractor."
Fisher made a muffler out of two Allis Chalmers fuel filter covers welded together with pipe. He also had to build an adapter for the Ford clutch, putting a pilot bearing into a piece of 3/4-in. plate.
The most expensive part in the $1,500 makeover was matching the IH bell housing to the Mitsubishi diesel. "The bell housing is oval shape, so I needed an adapter plate," recalls Fisher. "It cost me $350 to get one machined to fit."
Fisher says his Mitsubishi/Farmall runs well. "It has lots of power, around 30 hp compared to only 16 originally," he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerald Fisher, RR no. 1, Debert, Nova Scotia, Canada B0M 1G0 (ph 902 662-4059).
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