Pto-Powered Cart Pushes Tractor At High Speeds

2018 - Volume #42, Issue #4, Page #21

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Rodney Wilson’s pto-powered cart lets him take 4 adults for a ride behind his 1936 John Deere A. It also helps him keep up with faster tractors on a tractor ride.
    “I call it my Road Runner Roadster,” says Wilson. “It has a 1970’s GMC rear axle with a gear ratio of 3.73.”
    When he wants to travel faster than the tractor can, he puts the pto in gear and takes the tractor transmission out of gear. The Roadster axle becomes the power provider.
    “If nobody is on the Roadster, its wheels can spin but it still works unless you come to a hill on gravel,” says Wilson. “Two adults on the seat will let me get up a hill but, without them, I have to stop and put the tractor into gear. I can kick the pto out of gear on the go.”
    When he built the Roadster, Wilson welded a pto shaft to the driveshaft stub on the GMC rear end. This required him to flip the differential over to get the wheels traveling in the right direction.
    He also fabricated a tongue and a frame for the Roadster’s seat and added fenders he found at a farm store.
    “I built a platform out of plywood, covered it with outdoor carpet, and mounted a rear bench seat from an Econoline van,” says Wilson. “It has 4 seat belts on it with room for 4 smaller adults or 3 adults and 2 children.”
    A pipe and plywood barrier ahead of the seat protects passengers from the pto shaft. He also mounted a box behind the seat with room for picnic coolers. An American flag dresses it up, and a blinking amber light helps get the attention of following motorists.
    Wilson says the Roadster has been a lot of fun. “I’ve taken it on about 60 tractor drives and use it around town to give kids and senior citizens rides,” he says.
    Wilson recently added a leg jack on a caster for rolling the Roadster around the shed. “It was getting too heavy to lift,” he says.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rodney Wilson, 321 W. Railroad St., Ivanhoe, Minn. 56142 (ph 507 694-1665; rwandbw@frontiernet.net).

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Pto-Powered Cart Pushes Tractor At High Speeds AG WORLD Rodney Wilson’s pto-powered cart lets him take 4 adults for a ride behind his 1936 John Deere A It also helps him keep up with faster tractors on a tractor ride “I call it my Road Runner Roadster ” says Wilson “It has a 1970’s GMC rear axle with a gear ratio of 3 73 ” When he wants to travel faster than the tractor can he puts the pto in gear and takes the tractor transmission out of gear The Roadster axle becomes the power provider “If nobody is on the Roadster its wheels can spin but it still works unless you come to a hill on gravel ” says Wilson “Two adults on the seat will let me get up a hill but without them I have to stop and put the tractor into gear I can kick the pto out of gear on the go ” When he built the Roadster Wilson welded a pto shaft to the driveshaft stub on the GMC rear end This required him to flip the differential over to get the wheels traveling in the right direction He also fabricated a tongue and a frame for the Roadster’s seat and added fenders he found at a farm store “I built a platform out of plywood covered it with outdoor carpet and mounted a rear bench seat from an Econoline van ” says Wilson “It has 4 seat belts on it with room for 4 smaller adults or 3 adults and 2 children ” A pipe and plywood barrier ahead of the seat protects passengers from the pto shaft He also mounted a box behind the seat with room for picnic coolers An American flag dresses it up and a blinking amber light helps get the attention of following motorists Wilson says the Roadster has been a lot of fun “I’ve taken it on about 60 tractor drives and use it around town to give kids and senior citizens rides ” he says Wilson recently added a leg jack on a caster for rolling the Roadster around the shed “It was getting too heavy to lift ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Rodney Wilson 321 W Railroad St Ivanhoe Minn 56142 ph 507 694-1665; rwandbw@frontiernet net