Re: tandem tractors

Posted by john d on August 15, 2001 at 20:49:33 from (152.163.206.204):

In Reply to: tandem tractors posted by paul on August 14, 2001 at 12:50:50:

There were several tandem outfits in central Indiana back in the late 50's and early 60's. A friend of my dad plowed for several years with two Farmall M tractors hitched in tandem. The Indiana State Fair had several examples of these units on display back in those days, and a few small companies were actually building the hitches and controls to put them together. Most, however, were built by the local blacksmith or the farmer himself. I remember seeing JD, Allis, Farmall, Oliver, and Moline tractors paired in this manner, sometimes with the brands mixed!
I haven't been to the IN fair this year (got 4 more days to get there!) but last year (or the year before) there were two Allis WD45 tractors hitched in tandem and on display with the other old tractors.

Another fad which hit about the same time around here but never caught on to the same extent, was to rig a single tractor to plow WITHOUT a driver. An long arm, usually heavy pipe, was run on the right side of the tractor and extended about 5 feet ahead of the front wheels. A pair of wheels (and I use this term loosely, as I saw everthing from disk blades to pneumatic tires used this way) were positioned on the end of the pipe to follow the furrow perhaps 10' ahead of the right rear wheel. The pipe was connected to the steering so it could force the front wheels to move left or right so the tractor would follow the previously-plowed furrow. The arm was hinged to allow it some movement up and down. If it raised too far, however, or if it climbed out of the furrow, it killed the ignition and stopped the tractor. Controls for the clutch and throttle were extended behind the tractor to the rear portion of the plow. The operator could advance the throttle, engage the clutch and release the tractor to run on its own. The tractor would follow the furrow, plowing around the field from the outside to the inside. It worked fairly well in large fields of rectangular shape. Most farmers who were brave enough to do this ran another tractor in the same field to "watch" the one that was on its own and occasionally trim a little off the corners that would become a little too sharp after a while. It wasn't something that became really popular, but it DID work pretty well!

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: tandem tractors paul 22:09:01 08/15/01 (1)
  • Re: Re: Re: tandem tractors Frank 17:22:23 08/16/01 (0)

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