2025 - Volume #49, Issue #2, Page #02
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65-Year-Old Shop-Built Tractor Wins Special Award
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Zuleger says, “One of his timeless inventions was a small tractor he built over four years from 1960 to 1964. I have the tractor now and take it to tractor and car shows and drive it in parades. In 2024, I received a special award called ‘Father’s Choice,’ which seems very fitting since my dad took a lot of pride in building the tractor.”
Earl Zuleger built the tractor from an unusual collection of parts, including a 1952 Crosley 44-cu. in. engine with a Volkswagen carburetor and a Ford tractor governor. He used the Crosley’s three-speed transmission and added a second one with the steering gearbox. The front wheel hubs are from a 1938 DeSoto car, and the rear axle is from a 1959 Ford car. The hydraulic system is powered by a starter motor. A gas engine on the back provides live hydraulics to lift attachments. With the governor operating correctly, the tractor will do 20 mph.
“The tractor has a steering mechanism perfectly timed for tight corners,” Zuleger says. “The front tires won’t skid because he patterned it after the cross members on a Ford tractor.”
The shop-built tractor is 6 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and weighs about 1,600 lbs. It’s fitted with a hydraulic loader that Zuleger built a few years after completing the tractor. He also has an 8-in. moldboard plow for it.
“A few years ago, we struggled to get it started, and I realized the oil pressure was low. I located parts for the Crosley and put in rings, wrist pins, bushings, gaskets and a new oil pump,” Zuleger says. “Now it produces 45 lbs. of pressure with 30 wt. oil.”
Zuleger says his dad had a rare mechanical ability, even though he only completed 8th grade. He attended tech school to learn to read blueprints and worked for many years at Fox Tractor Manufacturing in Appleton, Wis.
“He told me he started building things as a young adult and never stopped,” Zuleger says. “When he got out of the Army, he built a vehicle with a flipped-over Buick front car axle, a Buick engine and two transmissions. He also took the rear end and transmission from a Massey-Harris 44 tractor and built a vehicle powered with a Chevy 235-cu. in. truck engine. He built a cab for it and mounted a loader with an 80-in. wide bucket so he could plow snow at our church.”
Zuleger is now reading through his father’s collection of FARM SHOW magazines, which date back several years.
“That was probably his favorite publication because he enjoyed learning about other people’s inventions. Not everyone has the imagination and skill to create machines and equipment out of totally different parts, but he sure did.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Duane Zuleger (duaneweld@yahoo.com).
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