australians ship 1950's tractors to drive across america

[1LIFE2LIVE]

There are a group of australians that are planning to drive there vintage 1950's tractors across america. There starting in my back yard of westminster MD and finish in los angelos california. The tractors were shipped to baltimore from australia and will pull campers behind them to sleep in. The tractors can maintain a speed of 30 mph and have a bench seat for two and canvas tops to protect the m from rain. They expect the trip will take them about ten weeks and plan on hitting many different destinations along the way.

I got a chance to meet one of the guys today as they are staying at my parents hotel until they leave on sat. He was working on his motor home that he bought in arkansas when he arrived to the states and drove up to md to travel with the tractors and carry some supplies and have an extra place to sleep for the others traveling on tractors.

This group of men and woman have done this thing several times before in there homeland and have even raised money for cancer on there 7000 mile trek across australia on there tractors. When the tractors were first built in the 50s a group of guys from the company took one of tractors and entered it into a car rally across australia and were the tail vehicle for the event and helped any broke down cars in the event make it to the next checkpoint. One of the guys who was on that team who was 22 at the time is the one who set up this adventure and is now in his 70's and is on the trip with i believe the smae tractor from the rally in the 50's.

You can check out there website http://www.transworldtractortreks.com/ which has there itinerary of where they are traveling so if they are coming through your town be sure to stop and talk to them. They are a great group and are doing something pretty neat.

[1LIFE2LIVE]

heres a shot of one of the tractors on a trip in australia

[belair]

I think a little Aussie craziness is needed over here.

[Shifty Shifterton]

That is some crazy sh*t and a whole lot of heart.

[STEPHEN FIELDS]

30 mph!!! alittle to slow for me....

[moon.dog62]

I have seen these tractors and they drive them everywhere. Thats awesome

[1LIFE2LIVE]

one of the tractors on the trip has been modified with a newer diesel that will rev to a wopping 3000 rpm instead of the standard 2000 rpm and will do 50 mph but will keep the speed down to stay with the rest of the group

[Evil Wicked Mean & Nasty]

I didn't know there was an Alabama in Australia.

[LOW LID DUDE]

30 mph yikes,With the high speed traffic we have here in the US it sounds like a accident waiting to happen.I hope the best luck for them .I think they will need it.They better stay away from the big cities.The road rage morons will be shooting at them.

[tattedfordguy]

Are you gonna post pics...

[RAY With]

Seems like a lot of fun and a good adventure but 30 mph would do me in.

[cvstl]

Wow. Thanks for the post. I'm gonna try to catch them when they are running by St. Louis. We had a team of mules and wagon that did the trail of tears and oregon trails back 15 - 20 yrs ago. Tractors would be a LOT easier.... and probably more fun.

[senior fried]

Originally Posted by RAY With

Seems like a lot of fun and a good adventure but 30 mph would do me in.

It could be a lot more fun if they were going through Texas, but they are not visiting any of the south or southwest states....

[ClayMart]

Please keep us updated on their progress. It looks like they're planning to travel thru my area near Ft Wayne, Ind. and I'd sure like to get some shots of them as they pass thru.

[8flat]

You typically don't want to get a tractor much over 35mph anyway.....no suspension, terrible steering, etc. I know this from experience...LOL

It would be a cool way to see the country, going that slow with no cab, taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells...

Edit: I see on their site they do have cabs on some of the tractors. Good for keeping the weather out I guess.

[36couper]

What a fantastic trip! I wish they would venture north of the border.
Let's hope the state troopers across the country don't give them a hard time.

[wingnutz]

Looks like Wisconsin will see lots of orange triangles soon...!!!

Typical farmer... back and forth all day long at 5 mph... "(That's Fast for a farmer!)

It'll remind me of the Griswalds... "Look kids... the Eiffel tower"...!

and several hours later... "look kids... the Eiffel tower"...!

Next we'll see "plowboy" accompanying them with his "Bubble top" tractor!

[jahoota]

Originally Posted by wingnutz

Next we'll see "plowboy" accompanying them with his "Bubble top" tractor!

Now there's a set of pics I'd love to see!

[1LIFE2LIVE]

little update: The tractors are supposed to arrive to the arcadia fairgrounds where the group is camping at the moment. The tractors are a day late arriving and im not sure if they have made it their yet. My father and I offered are shop to them in case they have to work through the night to get them ready. They have to wire lights for the campers and some of them have to enlarge the hole on the drawbar for a ball hitch to fit. I am going to stop by there after work and will try to take some shots of everything and am going to help them out any way i can so they are on schedule for tommorow.

They do not plan on getting on any major highways as that is against the law and i believe they have checked with most of the states to make sure they will have no issues passing through. They originally wanted to drive the tractors to niagra falls but somewhere along the way they werent allowed to travel through certain counties or something.

More to come...

[1LIFE2LIVE]

Here are some of the pics i took of the tractors this evening when i stopped over to the fair grounds where the guys were camping to see if they needed anyhelp with the tractors. One of the guys was having troubles with a bad ground on his tractor which was giving his tail lights/ turn signals a fit when the tractor wasnt running but when it was running the alternator pushed enough amps to override the short and allow the lights to work. I had to leave before they figured out the problem but will see them tommorow to see if they got it fixed.