Twin "UB" Grabs Attention

Twin "UB" Grabs Attention TRACTORS Conversions 26-1-33 Isaac Martin owns a tractor salvage yard and also collects Minneapolis Moline tractors, so finding parts to build a twin "UB" wasn't much of a challenge for him. "The hardest part was figuring out how to put two differentials onto the rear axle," says Martin, Newville, Penn., adding that it involved quite a bit of precision cutting and welding. Once he had the rear axle like he wanted it, he fitted it with two UB front ends, from the differential forward. One was made in 1953. The other is a year newer. To keep the twin tractor as narrow as possible, there's only about 6 in. between the hoods. He says this makes it a little difficult to access the engines on the inside. While he has electric starters on both engines, he has only one alternator and battery. Martin's Twin UB has a single operator's seat and steering wheel, but two engines, transmissions, clutches and differentials. One clutch pedal disengages both clutches. "I can use either engine or both to power the tractor," he says. The front end from one tractor wasn't wide enough to support both engines, so he had to build a new one. "I used Moline spindles and hubs, but had to make a wider front axle in order to set the tires far enough apart," he says. He added hydrostatic power steering to make the tractor easier to steer. "The original UB's didn't have power steering. You could get it as an option on later models but it wasn't hydrostatic steering," he says. He left the drawbars from the two tractors in place and added a third in the center of the twin tractor so now he can pull wagons or implements from any of the three. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Isaac Martin, Martin Tractor Parts, 866 Green Spring Road, Newville, Pa. 17241 (ph 717 776-7542; fax 717-776-7327).

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