"School Bus" Tractor Hauler

"School Bus" Tractor Hauler SCHOOLBUS CONVERSIONS Schoolbus Conversions 30-5-40 "It makes good, cheap transportation for hauling my antique tractors and works great for storing them, too," says Loyal Smoke, Limon, Colo., who converted a 1986 GM 65-passenger schoolbus. He raised the roof 18 in. and equipped it with a big ramp on back that's raised and lowered by an electric winch. Smoke uses the bus to haul three tractors to antique tractor shows, and he also stores them in it at home. He cut off the top of the bus half way down the window frames. Then he rotated the top 180 degrees and remounted it onto pieces of 1-in. sq. tubing mounted on the body of the bus. He filled in the sides with sheet metal, leaving two windows on each side. He made a square frame on back to support the ramp, which doubles as a door. He painted the bus white with green stripes on each side. "It makes perfect storage for my antique tractors, and the back door can be locked up if I'm at a show for some time," says Smoke. "People can't believe that I can get three tractors in it, but I can as long as two of them have tricycle front ends. I back one tractor into the front end of the bus, then run another tractor alongside it at an angle. "I bought the bus from a local school district for $750. My total cost was only $1,650." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Loyal Smoke, P.O. Box 430, Limon, Colo. 80828 (ph 719 775-9543).

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