Half-Scale Deere “A” Is A Crowd Pleaser

Half-Scale Deere “A” Is A Crowd Pleaser TRACTORS Made-It-Myself Eli Franker has been interested in old John Deere tractors ever since he was a kid “My great grandfather farmed with a Deere B ” he says So 3 years ago when an unfinished 1/2-scale 1936 John Deere A came up for sale at an auction he bought it and then finished building it with help from his 8-year-old son Jeffrey “The owner Dick Schallau had taken measurements off a real Deere A so it looks very much like a smaller version of the real tractor It also runs and drives like the real thing ” says Franker “I bought the tractor for Jeffrey to drive It was a fun project for us to work on together ” The engine was old and the transmission wasn’t hooked up so Franker ended up replacing the engine with a 1 hp 1-cyl engine out of an old REO push mower It belt-drives the transmission off a Deere 60 lawn tractor “The engine sounds somewhat similar to the ‘putt putt’ sound made by old Deere tractors ” says Franker “It took a lot of trial and error to get the tractor to run at the right speed using different pulleys and belts ” The tractor’s spoked rear wheels are off an old Deere 2-row planter while the ribbed front wheels were made by cutting and welding 2 different wheels together “The radiator is homemade but looks original ” says Franker “Schallau used angle iron for the tractor’s frame and sheet metal to make the hood We had the decals on the hood custom made by a local company ” Franker plans to display the tractor at the Clay County Fair this fall in his home town Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Eli Franker 2155 310 St Spencer Iowa 51301 ph 712 260-8841; elifranker@hotmail com

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