CAPABLE of pulling any two-horseload with ease, at good speed and

nominal gas consumption, this homemadetractor, made from junk automobile parts,costs only about $50 to build. Althougha low hitch is provided on the rear-axlehousing, the high hitch, also shown, is safefor most loads, as it was found that, withthe tractor anchored, in several tests todetermine its turn-over tendency, the for-ward wheels lifted 15 in. but no more. Toinsure a more efficient cooling and lubri-cating system than that provided on aFord model-T motor, which is used in thistractor, a water pump and an oil pumpmay be added, but these details are leftentirely to the discretion of the builder.

Starting out, you will need an old Fordpassenger car. If you already have one,well and good; if not, your local junkyardor wrecking establishment will supply one

at low cost. Stripped ofunnecessary parts, thecar will take on some-what the appearance ofFig. 2. From this picture,you can readily see thatthe car purchase shouldbe made with an eye to agood radiator, a fair mo-tor and an unsprungchassis. The front-wheelunit, too, a l though not

shown, should be in good condit ionas this forms a part of the finishedtractor. A l l in al l , parts f rom threecars—a Ford passenger, a Chevroletpassenger and a Ford t ruck—go in-to the making of the new uni t .

W i t h the chassis str ipped, the f irstjob is to install the new shaft. Thisconsists of a number of pieces, in-cluding a Chevrolet transmission tostep up the power supplied by theFord motor, as shown in Figs. 3 and4. Start bui ld ing up the shaft by-fitting a rear-half universal housingfrom a Chevrolet over the Ford un i -versal. As can be seenin F i g . 1 , t h e h o l e smust be enlarged a l i t -tle w i th a rat- tai l filein order to get a neatf i t . T h e C h e v r o l e tt r a n s m i s s i o n comesnext, w h i c h must bepartly disassembled, as

in Fig. 3, in order to re-m o v e the f r o n t m a i ndriveshaft. This shaft isto be taken to a machineshop and t o o l e d d o w nslightly to fit w i th in theFord universal. The re-assembled transmissionis shown in Fig. 5. Thissketch shows a 1-in. steelcollar, which is fitted to the trans-mission by means of threestuds extending through the collarand into the holes in the Chevroletuniversal housing, as in Fig. 6. Thecoupling alone is not sufficient toproperly brace the transmission, soa crossframe truss of angle iron isfitted into place as in Fig. 7. Thisholds the transmission by means oftwo long bolts, properly spaced by meansof two 1/2-in pipe nipples. A second tr ipto the machine shop is necessary to havethe shaft splined as shown in Fig. 8. Theheavy port ion is already splined to fit theFord truck differential of which it is apart, but the splines on the lower halfmust be machined to fit the Chevroletuniversal, as shown in Fig. 12. Next, a5-5/8-in. length, cut f rom the rear of theFord truck driveshaft housing, is brazed

to the Chevrolet universal housing, as inFig. 13. The jointed parts are then boltedinto place, as in Fig. 14, w i th the splinedshaft inside. The final piece is the Fordtruck differential, which is bolted to theshaft housing. A detail of the manner ofsupport ing the differential is given in Fig.15. A length of boiler plate, 6 in. wide by1/2 in. thick, is turned over at r ight angles,and the ends are cut out to fit over theaxle, fastenings being steel straps twisted

to shape and bolted into position (Fig.10). Fig. 16 shows the endpiece. Theexact line on which to cut off the chassisis determined by this piece, the cut beingmade so that the endpiece can be boltedto the rear of the differential, as shown.Additional bracing is provided by theoriginal truck trusses, which are cut tosuitable size and boltedto the frame, as in Fig.11. This completes thed r i v e s h a f t assembly.The universal joints arenot used for flexibility

angle iron. F i t t ing is best done by dr i l l -ing the cleats first, then dri l l thirteenevenly spaced holes around the r im, and,finally, use a fit-and-try method to locatethe remaining holes, as shown in Fig. 25.The cleats are fastened at an angle ofabout 45°.

The forward-wheel assembly includesthe original Ford pas-senger-car ax le , withwheels and r ims , asshown in Fig. 17. Theaddition consists of twot r i a n g u l a r wedges of

but only to insure simple and satisfactorycouplings.

N o w for the rear wheels. Each of theseis made f rom a Ford passenger-car rearwheel, the or ig inal hub being removedand the hole for it enlarged w i t h a file sothat a t ruck hub may be subst i tuted, as inF ig . 23. The latter should be placed sothat the bolt holes of the hub w i l l comebetween the old ones, in order to assuresufficient ho ld ing qualit ies. The outerpart of each wheel is made f rom a 7/16 by6-in. i ron band, bent to fit a Ford or Chev-rolet r im and fastened w i t h three bolts asshown in the r ight detai l of F ig . 23. Eachwheel is f itted w i th th i r teen cleats wh ichare 11 or 12-in. lengths of 2 by 2-1/2-in.

boiler-plate stock, cut to the dimensionsgiven in Fig. 20. The holes for the sixbolts that hold these plates to the axlemust be drilled very carefully so that thebolts wi l l be tightly wedged into position.The slight swelling of the axle at thispoint wi l l be sufficient to keep the platesfirmly in place. Fastening the frontwheels to the frame is accomplished byusing two old-style front-frame bearings(Ford), which are bolted on either side ofthe frame as in Fig. 21. Such bearingscan only be found on models up to andincluding the 1921 Ford. The opening inthe lower bearing is fitted wi th a bushing,to take a 3/4-in. bolt, passing through thetop of the triangular plates. The unit is

assembled as in Fig. 19, using lock wash-ers under the nuts. As a tractor has adecided tendency to set nuts spinning, itis a good idea to use lock washers wher-ever possible throughout the entire as-sembly. One other th ing about the f rontwheel assembly: For l ight truck farm-ing, the original steering-gear t ie-rod canbe left in place, but if you anticipate heavyduty, you may as well remove this now aslater and substitute a heavier rod. Thestrain on the rod, especially when thewheels are tipped in and out of a furrow,is considerable, and a l ight rod wi l l usu-ally buckle.

The rest of the job consists of finishingtouches. You may use a standard tractorseat, fitting this into place wi th a fair lyflexible length of steel, as in Fig. 18.Wood flooring is nailed over two lengthsof 2 by 4-in. stock, preferably hardwood,bolted to the frame. The gas tank ismounted under the seat, and, in this po-sit ion, allows a gravity feed to the car-buretor. Start ing is done by hand, w i than ignit ion battery strapped into placebehind the gas tank.

A l though it adds nothing to the run-ning qualities of the machine, a simplesheet-metal cowling w i l l greatly improveits appearance. This should be made torun f rom the original dashboard back,w i th l ighter lengths turned over at r ightangles, fitting over the frame at the f rontand along the flooring at the rear, as canbe seen in the picture of the finished job.W i t h this cowling, a wooden instrumentboard may be fitted neatly wi th in .the met-

al hood, as shown in Fig. 22. The originalFord hood can be used over the motor.

Two examples of hitches are shown inFigs. 9 and 22. The higher one is usedfor l ight loads, while the lower hitch isbest for heavy loads. The upper orie con-sists of a piece of heavy iron plate secure-ly bolted to the rear crosspiece as shownin Fig. 15, while the lower one comprisesseveral individual pieces, riveted or weld-ed together, and is attached to the rear-axle housing. Running the tractor maybe a l i tt le puzzling at first, especially ifyou have had no experience w i th a model-T Ford. W i t h both transmissions in high,the tractor is simply a Ford truck wi th a7-1/2 to 1 ratio between motor and rearwheels. There are, however, several in-termediate combinations of gearing whichwi l l readily allow even the slowest plow-ing speed without stall ing the motor.Normal tractor speed is obtained by put-t ing the Ford transmission in high andthe Chevrolet in first. One hour at thewheel wi l l show what this tractor w i l l do.

If the instructions given in this articleare carefully followed, no difficulty wi l l beexperienced in bui lding the tractor. Youmight question the fact that passenger-car wheels were used on a truck rear end,but this arrangement was found mostpractical as truck wheels were too small,being 3 in. less in diameter than the pas-senger-car wheels. When you have com-pleted this tractor, you may be assuredthat it has plenty of power for averagework, and wi l l be found especially suit-able for t ruck farming.