"Tructor" Moves Quickly Between Farms

Tructor Moves Quickly Between Farms TRACTORS Conversions 21-1-11 "My brothers and I own farmland in three different counties in central Kentucky and we needed another tractor that would be faster and more comfortable to drive than a conventional farm tractor," says J.D. Crawley, Harrodsburg, Kent., about the "tructor" he built with his brothers, Ron and Royce. They also operate Crawley's Auto & Machine Shop. "We needed another tractor to rotary cut, disk harrow, and move round bales of hay. We built it using a GMC 1 1/2 ton truck and chassis. The rear end and trans-mission assembly are from an Oliver 70 row crop tractor with dual range transmission. We repowered the truck with a 1973 Cadillac engine and automatic transmission, giving our tructor 24 forward speeds and 6 in reverse. It has 105 horsepower and runs anywhere from 0 to 48 mph. "In order to keep the automatic trans-mission running cool we installed a 20 gal. per minute oil cooler, with an electric fan, directly behind the cab. "It's also equipped with a mechanical constant speed governor taken off a Huber Warco backhoe. The hydraulic lift system is powered by a 6 gal. per minute pump, belt-driven off the engine crankshaft. "In order to connect the tractor trans-mission assembly to the truck rails, we used 1-in. steel plate. We made a new driveshaft from Oliver and Cadillac joints. We used the original Oliver tractor brakes on the tractor for turning. There are hydraulic brakes on the front which give us a third brake pedal. "Our tructor burns approximately 2 1/ 4-gal. of fuel per hour pulling a 12-ft. disk harrow or an 8-ft. brush cutter. "We painted the trucktor Oliver green with yellow trim. The front wheels are 750-20 GMC truck wheels and tires. The rear wheels are oversize 1200-38 Oliver tractor wheels and tires. "This rig has performed exceptionally well for two years with no major problems. The approximate cost to build was $2,500." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, J.D. Crawley, Crawley's Machine Shop, 4858 Bohon Rd., Harrodsburg, Kent. 40330.

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