Art & Inspiration Traditional Hot Rod... Tractor??!

Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post:

Traditional Hot Rod... Tractor??!

Continue reading the Original Blog Post

 

This reminds me of these young farm boys that lived down below the shop, 2 of them had these old IH tractors that they had 'fixed up', all stock but some new paint here and there, stainless exhaust stack, I donated some new plug wires for them and on the first Friday of each month they'd bring'em to town, they had the honor of being the 'pull back' tractors at the local tractor pull. They'd come into town early in the afternoon and park them 'just so' at an angle out in front of the Ace Hardware store and wax that that old paint, apply transmission fluid to the tires to shine'em up and just hang out waiting for the gates to open at the tractor pull. There was no mistaking the love those boys had of those old tractors.

 

that tractor is rare and as you stated very valuable....only seen one in person

 

Work the farm and drive it to church on Sunday.

 

Wild!

 

Thats very cool!

 

The Trantor was a British take on the same concept some 40 years later:

 

Now that is some Big and littles

 

there was one at the Detroit Autorama a few years ago.

 

I can imagine the rear tire bounce factor at 40 mph!!

 

Yup, plow your field all day then take the wife to supper then the drive-in!

 

I love it !! I almost dropped my morning coffee when I saw this beautiful tractor on the HAMB.......now that is Traditional !!.

I have been blessed to actually see two UDLX tractors at events in Iowa and Wisconsin including the annual Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant Iowa and the Badger Engine Show in Baraboo Wisconsin. Sat in the shade under a giant oak tree and took in the sights and sounds of antique horsepower for almost two hours during the daily parade. The UDLX paint scheme and overall styling is something to behold in the bright August sun.

 

Minneapolis-Moline built some beautiful tractors in their day. There's a reason that their stuff goes so high, it was innovative and well designed.And that usually hastens a brands departure.

 

Tractors pioneered a lot of hot rod stuff around the turn of the century, that’s 1900. I went to the auction of the largest collection of tractors in the world twenty years or so ago in Montana. I saw one tractor that had hemi heads, rollor lifers, rack and pinion steering, locker rear end and was a 1904 model. There was a company in the fifties that put the Ford flathead in the 8N Ford Tractor. Lotsa good ideas that came around early. I’ve got ten Molines in my collection of tractors on the farm, but no Deluxes. Bones

 

There is truth in humor. This were designed as "town and country" vehicles that the farmer could use for a night on the town. We go to an antique tractor & farm implement show twice a year. A few of these show up. They are cool indeed.

 

Yep. Funk Brothers did these conversions.

 

Southern Minnesota in the late '70's. An implement dealer had one of these tractors. One night it was stolen and not found. About 25 or so years later an old farmer in the area died. His son decided to fix up that old tractor that had sat in Dad's shed for years. The son located a nearby dealer that specialized in old Minneapolis Moline equipment to get some parts. Sure enough, it was the same dealer the tractor was stolen from! The thief had driven the tractor to his farm, hid it and never drove it again. At least the owner got his rare tractor back, no doubt worth a lot more money!

 

These kits are being reproduced so you can still put a flattie in your 8N.

 

That was fun to see Jive-Bomber! A pretty cool looking tractor. I imagine a lot of farmers would have liked to have one.

 

Imagine someone re-popping that steel today! Surely there is a unknown market for it!

 

... did i hear hotrod tractor?

 

Here's an early one with the optional 'Mother-In-Laws' seat.

 

That's pretty cool. But I'll hang on to my 9N. Don't have to worry about it getting dirty...or broken!

 

If I build that tomorrow,
Post the concepts and renderings here, first your gonna tell me no rat rods. I'd say oh no it's a hot rod. There'd be drama , Then if it survives you're gonna tell the it's a fucking tractor. And delete it.

Wish there was a "mod for a day" give away.

 

No.

 

As a kid growing up in Minneapolis in the 1950's, we used to drive by the Minneapolis Moline factory on Lake Street. The fenced in yard facing Lake Street was full of new orange tractors waiting to be shipped to the dealers. My next door neighbor even worked for Moline for a while before they went under. I believe they were bought out by White.

 

There still out there...

 

My mom took this picture in the 30's I believe, not really quite like the original post, but interesting none the less. Maybe this one set the stage for big & little tires for the mud drags before hard surface roads in the rural midwest