First David Evans learned how to "twin" a pair of Farmall H's. Then the York, Penn., man put his knowledge to use on a pair of Farmall C's (Vol. 30, No. 4). But for his latest effort, he decided to try something different. He put together a 1942 Farmall H and a 1945 Deere B.

"I call it the Hybrid. It was a challenge to build, since these were two completely different tractors. The axle housing of the Deere B is part of the main tractor. The axle sizes on both tractors weren't the same, either. But I can drive the finished product and steer the unit from either seat, using either engine," says Evans. "Each engine has its own clutch and transmission. However, I can't run both tractors at the same time because the two engines run at different rpm's and it would be too difficult to get the transmission gears and engine speeds to synchronize."

The steering ratio of the gearboxes on both tractors was different so that was another challenge to overcome. "Like the Twin H and Twin C, this unit measures less than 8 ft. to the outside of the rear wheel so I can haul it on either a truck or a trailer," says Evans.

The Twin H and Twin C have been in many shows and parades in Pennsylvania. They're real crowd pleasers. Evans is sure the new Hybrid will be, too. A chain connects the two steering columns together. "The gear ratio on the steering shafts is different for the two tractors. So in order to make the two steering wheels turn the same, I had to use different size sprockets," says Evans.

"When I drive the tractor I drive one tractor for a while, then put that tractor's transmission out of gear, slide over onto the other tractor, and put its transmission into gear."

The Hybrid is quite a conversation piece at antique tractor shows, says Evans. "Whenever I go to an International Harvester show, the people there say it's a shame that I put the two together. Deere people say the same thing at their shows. I drive the IH tractor at IH shows and pull the Deere tractor with me, and I do the opposite at Deere shows."