World's First And Only Walking Tractor

World's First and Only Walking Tractor AG WORLD Ag World 17-1-17 Stanley Reynolds, Wetaskiwin, Alberta, recently finished restoring what he claims is the only "walking tractor" in the world - a six-footed "Multi-Ped", made in Alberta in 1949. Reynolds's "walking" tractor has three 9-ft. long steel pads, or feet, on each side operated by rotating cams. The cams are powered by the rear axle of a 1936 Case model S tractor - the heart of the machine. As the cams rotate, they lift the feet up and down, propelling the tractor ahead. "It was designed for use on soft or muddy ground, or to work in the woods," says Reynolds, who exhibits the tractor at his on-farm museum which features hundreds of antique tractors, trucks, planes, military vehicles, etc. "The feet on each side of the tractor move in sequence. One foot lifts up, goes forward, and comes down, then the next foot does the same, and so on. A hydraulic cylinder is used to stop the for-ward motion of either walking, assembly in order to turn the tractor. When the operator hits a lever, the feet on one side stop while the other side keeps going. The bottom of each foot is lined with a rubber pad to improve the grip on hard surfaces. "The walking tractor was designed and built under the supervision of Edward Snell who was one of the owners of a lumber mill at Pigeon Lake, Alberta in the 1930's. He sold lumber to my father in the 1930's. Snell used it to pull logs to the mill. It was thought that feet that `walked' would work better than wheels. It worked alright on level ground but not on rough ground because each foot lifts up only about 1 ft. The tractor was never manufactured because Snell was unable to sell enough shares in the company. I got the tractor in 1960." The tractor is powered by a 4-cyl. gas engine that has 20 drawbar hp. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stanley G. Reynolds, Reynolds Museum, 4118-57 St., Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada T9A 2B6 (ph 403 352-5201 or 352-6201).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.