Mini Deere Tractor Built From Old Junk

Mini Deere tractor built from old junk AG WORLD Ag World 14-1-18 Sief Buhr used parts from two old riding lawn mowers and other "junk" he picked up at auction sales to build a mini Deere tractor that looks like a scaled-down "A" or "G" antique. The Thomasboro, Ill., farmer used the frame and rear axle from one old mower and the 3 1/2 hp. motor and 3-speed transmis¡sion from another. The rear tires and wheels were salvaged from a walk-behind mower. Buhr says the trickiest part of building the tractor was making the narrow front end and steering gear. "I couldn't find anything small enough so I made it myself using parts I bought off the sale rack at an auction." He used apiece of cold rolled steel for the front spindle, bending it slightly in the middle so the wheels would be angled. As for the steering gear itself, Buhr isn't sure what type of equipment it came from. All he knows is that the parts he found had the right angle gearing he needed. It runs outside the body of the tractor, just like on an old "A" or "G". Buhr made the non-functioning radiator out of a section of air conditioning condenser he found alongside a road, and he fashioned the tinwork over the top of the engine himself. The muffler (which works) and air cleaner (which doesn't) pipes extend up on either side of the steering rod. The steering wheel came from one of the cannibalized garden tractors, and the seat was another auction buy. "I pull the grandkids around on a small trailer. We plan to enter it in parades," says Buhr, who worked on the tractor for about a year. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Sief Buhr, Rt. 1, Box 164, Thomasboro, Ill. 61878 (ph 217 694-4116).

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