"Motorcycle Sidecar" Tractor

"Motorcycle Sidecar" Tractor TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 34-4-28 "It does a great job of cultivating and also works great for harvesting sweet corn," says Chris Juel, Scobey, Mont., about his home-built, "motorcycle sidecar" tractor. The 2-wheeled tractor rides on a pair of big lugged tires. It's powered by a 7 hp electric start Briggs & Stratton engine, which chain-drives the rear wheel. A solar panel, mounted horizontally above the rear wheel, recharges a car battery located just behind the driver. A metal outrigger arm that mounts on a big caster wheel supports a cultivator, while a metal weight box on the outrigger arm keeps the motorcycle from tipping over. An electric actuator is used to raise and lower the cultivator. "Most of the time I use the cultivator in 2-ft. tall corn, but if I want I can cultivate corn up to 6 ft. tall," says Juel. "The outrigger arm is about 5 ft. off ground so it just touches the tassels of bigger corn. I can use the rig to hill corn, too, by mounting coulters on it." A 30-gal. plastic barrel that mounts on back of the machine is used to harvest sweet corn. Juel drives slowly down the row while someone on the ground hand picks the corn and fills the barrel. "It's really handy because I can sell the corn right out of the barrel at a local farmer's market," says Juel. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Chris Juel, Box 162, Scobey, Mont. 59263 (ph 406 487-5014).

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