William Davis was looking for a way to power a silo blower without tying up a big tractor. He ended up building a 2-wheeled, pull-type power unit from a junked-out car and other parts. It’s powered by a slant 6 engine from a Dodge car that drives a 540 rpm pto.
The unit rides on the axle and wheels off a 1-ton IH truck. A governor that’s belt-driven off the fan maintains engine speed.
“We built it when we bought a bigger silage blower, and our Farmall M didn’t have enough power to operate it at full capacity. It does a lot of heavy work and eliminated the need for another tractor,” says Davis. “Another advantage is that I can control and operate the unit from ground level, instead of having to get on and off a tractor all the time.”
The engine is coupled to the final drive off a Deere 4400 combine. “The final drive assembly reverses and drops the pto speed to 540 rpm’s. It’s offset to one side, which provides extra clearance for tractors and wagons to pull alongside,” says Davis. “The engine and transmission came from a car that had been wrecked in a demolition derby. We usually run the transmission in high gear. We kept the car’s instrument panel and hooked the speedometer up to the transmission, and find that running the engine at 100 mph translates to 540 rpm’s on the pto shaft output.”
Davis used 4-in. channel iron to build the power unit’s frame. The gas tank was salvaged from an old MF self-propelled combine. He installed a lever on the foot-operated clutch that came with the car, converting it to a hand-operated clutch. A timer-controlled ignition allows the operator to run and then idle the engine for cool-down time before the engine automatically shuts off.
Davis sold the power unit a few years ago to a neighbor. “He still uses it on his silo blower, and also to operate a hammermill that grinds feed for his cattle,” notes Davis.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, William Davis, 1250 Long Hollow Rd., Masontown, W. Va. 26542 (ph 304 864-5832; mwdavis80@gmail.com).