Side By Side Tractor

Side by Side Tractor TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 14-2-17 People can't believe it when they see Lanny Vail's double tractor in a parade or on his hobby farm near Bowman, S. Dak. "I got the idea as a kid in the late 40's or 50's when I saw a double F-20 Farmall tractor in a magazine. I never forgot it," says Vail. He built his side-by-side Farmall starting with a junked "B" tractor that he already owned and another "B" that he got as a gift from a friend. Then he bought a 1940 "A" and started putting his double tractor to¡gether. `Before I finished, I had to solve prob¡lems that I had never dreamed possible when I started. One challenge was making the connecting drive axle between the final drive differentials. But most of the real head scratchers came when I started putting the front axle pivot and steering linkage to¡gether. With three nearly complete tractors I still needed more parts from a fourth tractor which I obtained from a salvage company. The tractor has two separate engines, fuel tanks, clutches, throttle and transmission shift levers. It has just one brake, steering wheel, pto, and belt pulley. "It took a lot of effort to make it look like a factory-built machine and several onlook¡ers at arecent fair actually thought it was an IHC production tractor. It's fun to drive and easy to synchronize the motors by the sound from the mufflers. It sports Super "A" decals which I tell people refers to the double engines becauseitdoesn'thave Super A accessories. "The tractor has caused many older farm¡ers to clean their bifocals to be sure they're not seeing double!" Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lanny Vail, Box 1, Bowman, N. Dak. 58623-0001 (ph 701523-5536)..

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