"It was a lot cheaper than a conventional tyractor and works almost as well," says Michigan farmer Andy Alexander, of Vestaburg, about the "tractor" he built from an old school bus.

Alexander started with a 64-passenger Ford school bus equipped with a 391 cu. in. V-8 gas engine and automatic transmission. He removed everything except for the frame and hood at the front of the bus, then moved the rear axle and wheels forward and cut off the rear of the frame. The rear axle was originally equipped with a rubber mounted suspension system. Alexander removed the rubber mounts and modified the axle to make it solid. He welded a 1/2-in. thick steel plate onto the back of the bus frame and also bolted it to the back of the axle. The plate is equipped with an adjustable draw-bar and a pintle hitch as well as a pto shaft that's driven by a hydraulic pump. The bus didn't have any tires on back so he mounted new 9.00 by 20 dual snow grip tires.

It really comes in handy around my farm and saves a lot of wear and tear on tractors and pickups," says Alexander, who made the conversion three years ago. "The 108-in. wheelbase is about the same length as the wheelbase on an IH 1086 tractor. I built it to pull automatic bale wagons. However, I also use it as a fast tractor to pull gravity boxes and hay and silage wagons, as well as to haul round bales or implements on my tandem axle trailer. I use the pto to unload silage wagons into my silo. By hooking hydraulic hoses up to the pump I can use it to raise disks, plows, etc., so that I can pull them for transport. It doesn't need a license or insurance because it has a fixed rear axle and because there's room for only one rider. It can go up to 65 mph, but to be legal I don't go over 35 mph on the highway.

I was recently injured in an airplane accident so I haven't had time to finish it. However, I want to add a steel roof and plexiglass windshield, rear fender, weights on back for more traction, fifth wheel hitch, automatic hitch, and a winch and gin pole so that I can use it like a wrecker truck to haul machinery. I also plan to equip it with a side-mount hitch so I can use it to safely pull my silage chopper on the highway.

The hydraulic pump is chain driven off a sprocket that I mounted on the side of the transmission. I mounted a hydraulic reservoir and a pair of hydraulic valves and controls next to the driver's seat. I also strapped on a 70-gal. gas tank off an old Army truck.

The pto ran in the wrong direction so I made my own gearbox to reverse it and to keep the pto from turning too fast. I use the bus's air brakes to control the pto and an air shifter off a semi truck to turn the air on or off. I use the bus's air brake lever to operate the air over hydraulic brakes on the tandem axle trailer I pull with it.

"I welded running boards onto a steel frame that bolts onto the bus frame. By removing four bolts I can remove the running boards as well as the rollbar so I can work on the rear end."