Home-Built 4-WD Loader Tractor

Home-Built 4-WD Loader Tractor TRACTORS Loaders 33-3-29 "I built my own 4-WD loader tractor and it only cost about $3,000," says Bobby Burgin, Groom, Texas. The tractor's axles and transfer case are from a World War II Army truck, the engine is a Chevy 350 equipped with a Power-Glide transmission, and the frame, cab, and loader were built from scratch with scrap metal. The tractor rides on 40-in. tall tires. Burgin used 3 by 4-in. rectangular tubing to build the loader arms and built the 7-ft. wide bucket by welding new material onto a Deere 5-ft. bucket. The bucket raises 11 ft. high and is designed with a patented, self-leveling mechanism that holds the bucket's angle as the loader is raised. "Some commercial loaders have self-leveling buckets, but mine holds its angle at more degrees of operation from bottom to top." The cab is built with a door on each side, and big windows all the way around. The dash inside the cab has numerous truck-style gauges, and there are 7 control levers with red plastic handles. "I'm a retired truck driver, so I wanted the controls and the dash to look as much like a truck as possible," says Burgin. The steering column and seat are off a forklift. The windows behind the doors and on back of the cab can be opened. He says he worked on the tractor for four years in his spare time, and kept the cost down by making use of materials he already had. "My grandpa had the Army truck, and the engine and transmission came out of my mom's old car. The heater came out of a 1969 Chevy. I bought a new hydraulic pump and new cylinders for the loader." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bobby Burgin, P.O. Box 205, Groom, Texas 79039 (ph 806 248-7489; sunburg@windstream.net).

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