Bill Whitaker's Homemade Tractor

(Page 2 of 2)

September/October 1978
 
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Power is transferred from the first gearbox to the second by two universal joints which have been welded together. One end of the combination mates with the splines on the Chevrolet transmission's tail shaft and the other is welded to a round piece of 1/4" steel plate which, in turn, is welded to the splined center section of a Dodge clutch disc. (Yet another universal—a single one—connects the Dodge transmission's tail shaft to the GMC rear axle.)

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Whitaker's machine boasts separate brakes on its rear wheels ( just like a real tractor!) which are handy when Bill wants to make an extremely short turn or balance off the traction of one wheel against another during a heavy pull. Two Chevrolet master cylinders—actuated by suspended pedals—provide the braking pressure.

Although the bare machine tips the scales at 4,000 pounds, Bill quickly discovered that that wasn't enough weight to keep its wheels from spinning once the of Chevy 292 was really snortin'. So he added 900 pounds of weights and now reports that his tractor will "go almost anywhere".

Problems? There have been a few . . . but nothing major. Whitaker's tractor, for instance, has rather poor acceleration when both transmissions are in high . . . and the engine used to run so slowly at such times that it tended to overheat. Bill solved the second inconvenience by taking off the Chevy engine's original fan and putting on a seven-bladed Chrysler unit in its place. And just how often do you want to drive a tractor 60 miles an hour anyway? (When doing field work, Whitaker's homemade brute is usually run with its front gear box in "second" and its rear transmission in "third".)

Winning pulling contests, drawing wagons, skidding logs, raking hay, pushing a snowplow: You name it and Bill Whitaker's do-it-yourself tractor does it. And the machine only cost $200 to build. And I'm wondering if that gives you any ideas?

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  • larry george 3/23/2009 3:53:25 PM

    Only in Garrattsville. Guys were building doodlebugs in G-ville 50 years ago. It's almost impossible to build anything for $200 these days. 80 mph with no suspension. That takes nerves of steel. Have fun.

  • kenn 3/23/2007 8:47:14 PM

    neat article.. more pics would be nice ?? liked the ingenuity shown
    here.. didn't say anything about power steering or pto possible??

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