High-Clearance Garden Tractor

2011 - Volume #35, Issue #3, Page #16

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Ken Hulsey, 75, and Lamar Owens, 75, joke that they built a "retired" tractor. The builders -- and all the parts they used -- were all well past retirement age when the West Monroe, La., friends put the tractor together.
  Their creation is a simple design with 27- in. clearance that Hulsey uses to work his garden.
  "I was a mechanical engineer and I didn't like the design of available garden tractors," Hulsey explains. "They were either so low they damaged the plants or too large for small gardens. Most of them have poor visibility for working small plants."
  He wanted a high-clearance tractor that would go slow enough to safely work around small plants with good visibility up front.
  While Hulsey had a fair-sized scrap pile of his own, Owens, a retired rancher, had the mother lode of old equipment including some his father had owned. The friends combined their old equipment, scrap, tools and talent to make a tractor that Hulsey calls the "Phoenix" because it rose from the ashes.
  "There are parts from 3 or 4 different mowers in it," Hulsey says. "The back wheels and lots of framework are off an old horse-drawn, 2-row planter. The plows came off a Ford cultivator that I could never successfully use before."
  The 11 hp riding mower engine is behind the seat, so Hulsey has a perfect view under his feet while he sits in a comfortable bass boat seat. The front wheels and spindles are from an old boat trailer. The transaxle off a lawn mower has 5 gears, with a speed range from extremely slow for working around 3-in. tall plants to faster than a person can run.
  Phoenix has hydraulic-actuated toolbars, one in front of the driver and one behind the back wheels to easily lift and lower front and back equipment.
  "I can drive over 4-ft. corn without damaging it," Hulsey says.
  He added cleats to the old steel planter wheels, which pulls the tractor well under most conditions.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, W. K. Hulsey, 1247 Lovelady Rd., West Monroe, La. 71292 (ph 318 801-3862; Ken1224@netzero.net).

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High-Clearance Garden Tractor TRACTORS Made-It-Myself Ken Hulsey 75 and Lamar Owens 75 joke that they built a retired tractor The builders -- and all the parts they used -- were all well past retirement age when the West Monroe La friends put the tractor together Their creation is a simple design with 27- in clearance that Hulsey uses to work his garden I was a mechanical engineer and I didn t like the design of available garden tractors Hulsey explains They were either so low they damaged the plants or too large for small gardens Most of them have poor visibility for working small plants He wanted a high-clearance tractor that would go slow enough to safely work around small plants with good visibility up front While Hulsey had a fair-sized scrap pile of his own Owens a retired rancher had the mother lode of old equipment including some his father had owned The friends combined their old equipment scrap tools and talent to make a tractor that Hulsey calls the Phoenix because it rose from the ashes There are parts from 3 or 4 different mowers in it Hulsey says The back wheels and lots of framework are off an old horse-drawn 2-row planter The plows came off a Ford cultivator that I could never successfully use before The 11 hp riding mower engine is behind the seat so Hulsey has a perfect view under his feet while he sits in a comfortable bass boat seat The front wheels and spindles are from an old boat trailer The transaxle off a lawn mower has 5 gears with a speed range from extremely slow for working around 3-in tall plants to faster than a person can run Phoenix has hydraulic-actuated toolbars one in front of the driver and one behind the back wheels to easily lift and lower front and back equipment I can drive over 4-ft corn without damaging it Hulsey says He added cleats to the old steel planter wheels which pulls the tractor well under most conditions Contact: FARM SHOW Followup W K Hulsey 1247 Lovelady Rd West Monroe La 71292 ph 318 801-3862; Ken1224@netzero net

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