2007 - Volume #31, Issue #4, Page #29
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Backhoe Added To Farmall A
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All the attachments are powered by the tractor's original pto-driven hydraulic pump.
"I use it to do everything from digging trenches to grading my driveway to splitting firewood. People tell me they've never seen anything like it," says Suan. "My father bought the Farmall A new in 1945 for $749.60, plus 2 percent sales tax. I still have the original plow, rear mower, and cultivator attachments for the tractor."
He installed the backhoe first. Suan made brackets and then bolted the backhoe to the tractor around the drawbar and also to a steel frame that extends under the tractor.
By flipping the tractor seat forward and dropping a backward-facing seat down in its place, Suan can operate the backhoe without ever getting off the tractor.
To add stability, he moved the tractor's rear wheels out and used the extra space to add a metal platform on one side of the tractor seat, which makes it easy to turn around and get on the backhoe seat.
He already had the log splitter, which was also originally designed as a 3-pt. model. He used 2 1/2-in. sq. and 2 by 3 box steel to make brackets and then bolted the splitter to the tractor frame.
The 4-ft. blade bolts on using the same holes originally used to attach a belly-mounted cultivator. The blade is raised and lowered by a short hydraulic cylinder attached to a homemade, scissors-type mechanism. The blade's angle is adjusted by changing the position of a steel pin.
A pair of hydraulic control valves, located next to the tractor seat, are used to operate both the backhoe and also the cylinder that raises and lowers the belly blade. "To operate the splitter, I put both levers up which delivers oil to the splitter's hydraulic pump."
Suan says the chore tractor gets a lot of use. "My sons and nephew borrow it all the time. My nephew used it recently when a sewer line collapsed and he had to dig up the line to his septic tank. Many times my sons have used it to dig water lines for their cattle."
The tractor still has its original generator, starter, and battery box. "My dad took good care of the tractor, Over the years I've had to replace only the muffler, tires, and brakes. I've never totally rebuilt the engine. However, now the sleeves and pistons are showing wear so it probably should be rebuilt."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Reginald Suan, 106A Suds Run Rd., Mt. Clare, W. Va. 26408 (ph 304 622-7421; regscab@wmconnect.com).
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