“Ugly” Tractor Is A Champion Puller

2015 - Volume #39, Issue #6, Page #24

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“A friend of mine found me an old Panzer garden tractor equipped with a belly-mount mower. It was all rusted and ugly. I decided to modify it for use as a pulling tractor, and it has become a real winner,” says Tom Demers, Bethlehem, Conn.
    Demers has entered the tractor in numerous garden tractor pulling contests over the last 9 years, in which he pulls an old stone boat with 50-lb. increment cement blocks loaded onto it.
    “No one thinks a tractor this small and ugly can win anything, but we like being the underdog. It’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” says Demers. “I spent a lot of time thinking before I modified it and did everything I could think of to win. We pull 2,200 lbs. of weights on the sled. People are impressed to see such a small tractor pulling that much weight.”
    According to Demers, the Panzer tractor was built in Maryland from the early 1950’s until 1970. It was powered by a 7 hp Briggs & Stratton engine and came with a narrowed-up Plymouth automotive rear axle, backing plates and brakes.
    When Demers got his Panzer, the engine was shot and the tires were flat. He replaced the engine with a 9 hp Kawasaki engine off a Deere AMT utility vehicle. He installed new 23-in. high by 10-in. extra wide Titan rear wheels, and 8-in. high front wheels off another riding mower. He kept the mower deck, which weighs 150 lbs., for added traction. And he mounted a pair of 10-in. high wheelie bar wheels off a push mower on back of the tractor, instead of a traditional flat metal skid, to keep ground friction to a minimum.
    “My family and I love this tractor and have taken it to many pulling tractor competitions. We’ve won a lot of ribbons,” says Demers. “My son would lean way back in the seat and push forward on the hand clutch, causing the tractor to stand up on its rear wheels, vibrate, and ‘walk’ slowly down the track as it pulled the sled.
    “The tractors we compete against are gorgeous and painted, whereas ours is ugly and rusted. We’ve never painted the tractor so it doesn’t look pretty, but ‘pretty’ doesn’t make a tractor pull any better. The Panzer is built heavy, which is why it works so good for pulling. The rear axle was designed for a 3,000-lb. car with a 90 hp engine, so we can put all kinds of power through the rear end without damaging the differential. There’s no way you’re going to break a car rear end with a 9 hp engine.”
    Demers says he added as much weight to the tractor as possible within the rules. For example, he installed a heavy weight over the mower deck and behind one of the front wheels. “When the driver does a wheelie, the opposite front wheel goes up in the air but the other wheel stays down on the ground so the driver can still steer,” he says. A heavy 1/2-in. steel plate supports the battery to add more weight.
    The extra wide rear wheels have only about 4 lbs. of air pressure in them to achieve the biggest footprint possible.
    “We kept the tractor’s original steel seat and didn’t want a backrest because then the driver can’t lean back to get more leverage on the rear wheels,” notes Demers.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Demers, 267 Hard Hill Rd. N., Bethlehem, Conn. 06751 (ph 203 266-6297 or 203 266-5767; tdemers350@hotmail.com).

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“Ugly” Tractor Is A Champion Puller TRACTORS Made-It-Myself “A friend of mine found me an old Panzer garden tractor equipped with a belly-mount mower It was all rusted and ugly I decided to modify it for use as a pulling tractor and it has become a real winner ” says Tom Demers Bethlehem Conn Demers has entered the tractor in numerous garden tractor pulling contests over the last 9 years in which he pulls an old stone boat with 50-lb increment cement blocks loaded onto it “No one thinks a tractor this small and ugly can win anything but we like being the underdog It’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing ” says Demers “I spent a lot of time thinking before I modified it and did everything I could think of to win We pull 2 200 lbs of weights on the sled People are impressed to see such a small tractor pulling that much weight ” According to Demers the Panzer tractor was built in Maryland from the early 1950’s until 1970 It was powered by a 7 hp Briggs & Stratton engine and came with a narrowed-up Plymouth automotive rear axle backing plates and brakes When Demers got his Panzer the engine was shot and the tires were flat He replaced the engine with a 9 hp Kawasaki engine off a Deere AMT utility vehicle He installed new 23-in high by 10-in extra wide Titan rear wheels and 8-in high front wheels off another riding mower He kept the mower deck which weighs 150 lbs for added traction And he mounted a pair of 10-in high wheelie bar wheels off a push mower on back of the tractor instead of a traditional flat metal skid to keep ground friction to a minimum “My family and I love this tractor and have taken it to many pulling tractor competitions We’ve won a lot of ribbons ” says Demers “My son would lean way back in the seat and push forward on the hand clutch causing the tractor to stand up on its rear wheels vibrate and ‘walk’ slowly down the track as it pulled the sled “The tractors we compete against are gorgeous and painted whereas ours is ugly and rusted We’ve never painted the tractor so it doesn’t look pretty but ‘pretty’ doesn’t make a tractor pull any better The Panzer is built heavy which is why it works so good for pulling The rear axle was designed for a 3 000-lb car with a 90 hp engine so we can put all kinds of power through the rear end without damaging the differential There’s no way you’re going to break a car rear end with a 9 hp engine ” Demers says he added as much weight to the tractor as possible within the rules For example he installed a heavy weight over the mower deck and behind one of the front wheels “When the driver does a wheelie the opposite front wheel goes up in the air but the other wheel stays down on the ground so the driver can still steer ” he says A heavy 1/2-in steel plate supports the battery to add more weight The extra wide rear wheels have only about 4 lbs of air pressure in them to achieve the biggest footprint possible “We kept the tractor’s original steel seat and didn’t want a backrest because then the driver can’t lean back to get more leverage on the rear wheels ” notes Demers Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tom Demers 267 Hard Hill Rd N Bethlehem Conn 06751 ph 203 266-6297 or 203 266-5767; tdemers350@hotmail com

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