Wood Frame Tractor Only Needs Drive Chain

2013 - Volume #37, Issue #3, Page #24

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Cliff McNames is looking for drive chains for his rare wood frame tractor. He has restored or replaced nearly everything else. He’s also looking for any information anyone has on the mystery tractor.
    “I went to preview stuff at an auction and saw it in the trees,” recalls McNames. “I asked the owner, and he said it was going to be bulldozed with the trees when the sale was over. He said he would sell it to me for $25.”
    When McNames went to pick it up after the sale, the rotted wood beams literally fell apart. He propped the surviving pieces up on bricks on his trailer.
    “I could tell it wasn’t homemade,” says McNames. “All the bolts were countersunk, and the wood edges were beveled. The differential had pretty complicated gearing. Without it, the drive chains to the rear wheels would have broken when turning.”
    The tractor was missing an engine, the drive chains and a lot of wood. While the steering wheel and the seat spring survived, the seat was shot, as were the rear wheel rims, which were also wooden. Because of how much the frame had disintegrated, McNames had to guess a bit on original dimensions. He restored it to about 10 ft. long and about 6 ft. wide.
    “I think the original wood was oak, but I replaced the beams with black locust, which is about half an inch from being rock,” says McNames. “The four main beams are 4 by 6 in. and required a lot of deep holes be drilled through them. I got good at sharpening bits.”
    The 3-ft. dia. rear wheels were oak with a sheet metal band to protect them. Spokes were steel bolts a few thousands of an inch bigger than 1/2-in. in diameter. About a quarter of the original cast iron lugs remained.
    McNames could tell the wooden wheels had been about an inch thick, steam bent and cut only at the joint. It appeared the 1-in. board was bent in place with the spokes used to pull it to final shape.
    The wooden wheels were tough to duplicate. In fact, it took McNames 7 years to come up with an alternative that looked similar. He gave the wheels solid steel rims cut from large pipes and lined them with curved pieces of plywood. He made new spokes, and a friend cut new lugs with a plasma cutter.
    Although the 20-in. dia. front wheels were solid steel, they ran on a tapered 4 by 4-in. wooden axle. McNames could see where a previous owner had used a torch to burn holes through the hubs to get oil to the axle ends. He replaced the axle with new oak and tapped the holes for grease cups.
    Tackling the spider gear differential was frustrating. Every large beam is essentially a pillow block for the differential. Once the holes were drilled, he mounted the differential.
    The belt drive from the engine runs to a large belt pulley on the differential. Sprockets mounted to driveshafts from the differential sit outside the main frames where they chain drive the rear wheels.
    “The cast iron, detachable type, link drive chains are missing,” says McNames. “All I have are three of the original links. Without them, I can’t drive the restored rear wheels.”
    Until he finds replacement drive chains, McNames has adapted a drive axle from a homemade tractor he bought at the same sale. It used McCormick binder wheels with drive chains that he could find. He had to make a new rear axle to mount the wheels on the wooden tractor.
    Replacing the engine was also a challenge. Without knowing the origin of the tractor, McNames could only guess at how it was powered. He assumes the tractor was used for moving a stationary steam or gas engine from place to place. The wheels and drawbar suggest it wasn’t used for heavy pulling. The differential allowed the engine to power its own transit.
    “I put a 1,100-lb., 1913 Fairbanks Morse Model H engine on it,” says McNames. “It runs about 2.2 mph forward only with no reverse. It steers with chains and takes about 20 ft. to turn.”
    Check out the video at farmshow.com to see the tractor in action.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Cliff McNames, 5547 Saxtown Rd., Millstadt, Ill. 62260 (ph 618 972-9032; engineguy64@yahoo.com).

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Wood Frame Tractor Only Needs Drive Chain AG WORLD Cliff McNames is looking for drive chains for his rare wood frame tractor He has restored or replaced nearly everything else He’s also looking for any information anyone has on the mystery tractor “I went to preview stuff at an auction and saw it in the trees ” recalls McNames “I asked the owner and he said it was going to be bulldozed with the trees when the sale was over He said he would sell it to me for $25 ” When McNames went to pick it up after the sale the rotted wood beams literally fell apart He propped the surviving pieces up on bricks on his trailer “I could tell it wasn’t homemade ” says McNames “All the bolts were countersunk and the wood edges were beveled The differential had pretty complicated gearing Without it the drive chains to the rear wheels would have broken when turning ” The tractor was missing an engine the drive chains and a lot of wood While the steering wheel and the seat spring survived the seat was shot as were the rear wheel rims which were also wooden Because of how much the frame had disintegrated McNames had to guess a bit on original dimensions He restored it to about 10 ft long and about 6 ft wide “I think the original wood was oak but I replaced the beams with black locust which is about half an inch from being rock ” says McNames “The four main beams are 4 by 6 in and required a lot of deep holes be drilled through them I got good at sharpening bits ” The 3-ft dia rear wheels were oak with a sheet metal band to protect them Spokes were steel bolts a few thousands of an inch bigger than 1/2-in in diameter About a quarter of the original cast iron lugs remained McNames could tell the wooden wheels had been about an inch thick steam bent and cut only at the joint It appeared the 1-in board was bent in place with the spokes used to pull it to final shape The wooden wheels were tough to duplicate In fact it took McNames 7 years to come up with an alternative that looked similar He gave the wheels solid steel rims cut from large pipes and lined them with curved pieces of plywood He made new spokes and a friend cut new lugs with a plasma cutter Although the 20-in dia front wheels were solid steel they ran on a tapered 4 by 4-in wooden axle McNames could see where a previous owner had used a torch to burn holes through the hubs to get oil to the axle ends He replaced the axle with new oak and tapped the holes for grease cups Tackling the spider gear differential was frustrating Every large beam is essentially a pillow block for the differential Once the holes were drilled he mounted the differential The belt drive from the engine runs to a large belt pulley on the differential Sprockets mounted to driveshafts from the differential sit outside the main frames where they chain drive the rear wheels “The cast iron detachable type link drive chains are missing ” says McNames “All I have are three of the original links Without them I can’t drive the restored rear wheels ” Until he finds replacement drive chains McNames has adapted a drive axle from a homemade tractor he bought at the same sale It used McCormick binder wheels with drive chains that he could find He had to make a new rear axle to mount the wheels on the wooden tractor Replacing the engine was also a challenge Without knowing the origin of the tractor McNames could only guess at how it was powered He assumes the tractor was used for moving a stationary steam or gas engine from place to place The wheels and drawbar suggest it wasn’t used for heavy pulling The differential allowed the engine to power its own transit “I put a 1 100-lb 1913 Fairbanks Morse Model H engine on it ” says McNames “It runs about 2 2 mph forward only with no reverse It steers with chains and takes about 20 ft to turn ” Check out the video at farmshow com to see the tractor in action Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Cliff McNames 5547 Saxtown Rd Millstadt Ill 62260 ph 618 972-9032; engineguy64@yahoo com

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