Homebuilt tractor

[chrisser]

Been pondering the idea of building my own tractor down the road.

Found someone who is doing the same thing. He's made some decent progress, although it has taken him awhile.

Interesting ideas on the thread

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/93861-diy-home-built-compact-tractor.html

[velojym]

I had thought about using something like an old scout or 'zuk with a PTO as a tractor.
I used to have a '74 Chevy K10 that appeared to have a PTO plate on its NP203 transfer case. I never pursued the idea, but I'd love to try it. I'd probably want to see about dropping a decent diesel engine in the truck, though.

When I was a kid, we used a '70 Chevy fullsized van to run a rake and planter over an acre for buffalo grass. I don't guess it'd have been much good for pulling anything really draggy like a plow, though. Maybe with some MT tires and a smaller plow?
Worth a thought, if you couldn't spare the cash for a tractor right away... and you can still drive the vehicle to town.

I'm no expert, and I haven't tried any of this yet. Heck, I'm stuck in the suburbs for now... but I'd love to get back to the country and try a bunch of ideas.

[machinemaker]

you might want to look at Farm Show Magizine, it has lots of examples of people who build tractors. I keep thinking of building a 4x4 articulating tractor / forklift, but haven't started.

[Drawbar]

Around here we call home-made tractors Jitterbugs. My Grandfather made one back in the 60's and he gave it to me when he died, but I have not done anything with it.

The engine blew on it, and the first tranny (it has two) is shot, but the rear end and second tranny is still good. I thought I would cut the Jitterbug in half and drive the rear tires via two trannys from the pto. In essence, it would give me a powered logging arch.

The problem with this is, you can only find one good ground speed that matches your tractor speed with the powered logging arch speed. It would also be a lot of work to convert. To go through all this, you would really have to hate your current logging method to make it all worth while.

Getting back to the original thread however, when this Jitterbug worked, it worked exceedingly well. My Grandfather took logs out of the woods that people said his machine could never move. I encourage you to forge ahead with your home-made tractor plans. It can be done.

http://www.railroadmachinist.com/images/Jitterbug-small.JPG

[MooseToo]

do a google for cadcamplans - some good stuff there -