Bill Whitaker's Homemade Tractor
Building an inexpensive tractor from used parts off of other vehicles.
"I always wanted a tractor but I couldn't afford one," says 20-year-old Bill Whitaker of Garrattsville, New York. "So I built my own."
Built his own he did! And while it's true that Whitaker's creation may not be exactly the most stylish machine you've ever seen . . . it only cost him $200 out of pocket to construct, it handles well, it delivers 25 to 30 miles per gallon out on the road (where it's been clocked doing better than 80 miles per hour!), and—as Bill has already proved at Morris, New York's Otsego County Fair—it'll outpull factory-manufactured tractors in its weight class.
Whitaker began the construction of his machine by sliding the back end of a Model T truck frame into the front of a 1950 Dodge truck frame (the two cutoff sections—which overlap about two feet—were then bolted and welded together).
The wheelbase of the new chassis was kept as short as possible so the finished tractor would have a very tight turning radius. Furthermore, by starting with the front half of the Dodge frame the way he did, Bill was able to use its front axle, accompanying wheels, and steering gear "as is" merely by tacking on a sectional steering shaft outfitted with universal joints taken from a Gale "chopper".
A husky, two-speed rear axle from a GMC truck is rigidly attached to the rear of the tractor's chassis, and 28" tractor tire wheels have been welded to the truck rims mounted on the axle.
The engine and radiator on the Whitaker machine came from a 1964 Chevrolet "292" pickup that Bill bought for $20. And the six-cylinder powerplant is connected to that burly GMC rear axle through two four-speed truck transmissions (it took two to step the gearing down enough for the pulling contests that the tractor has won).
The first transmission—taken from a 1958 Chevrolet truck—is attached directly to the 292 engine's bell housing and the second—scavenged from an old Dodge—is mounted on a removable crossmember that is bolted to brackets welded to the tractor's chassis.