Sunday, December 11, 2011

IH 1066 Custom...

I've been working on the next tractor in line for a couple of weeks now. It's going to be a 1066 with some custom chrome parts to match the client real tractor.

Here's the starting point, this photo was taken 10/27/2011. It's a Cub Cadet 124.
It's starting to look like a tractor now.

Finished shots I'll use for advertising...


At home with it's Daddy...

More later...

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Trikes... here we come.

These 2 tractors have been a lot of fun to build. The customer wanted tricycles, so I started thinking...

The near tractor is a 107 (10 horsepower) and will be the 1206, the far machine is a 147 (14 horsepower) and will be the 1456.

A friend of the family has a machine shop. He took my chicken scratch design, and designed and built this part for me. I simply welded his part into the frame. It turned out very nice, and I think it would support the weight of a REAL 1206. He only built one to start with so we could work the bugs out. (We only found one little bug to work out...)








More later...
Kurt

Monday, September 5, 2011

Mini International 826

This tractor started The Little Tractor Co...

I built this 1/2 scale IH 826 tractor from a 1968 Cub Cadet 125. It is heavily modified, and I had to do a lot of custom fabrication. I built this tractor for myself, for fun in my spare time. I never thought I'd earn a living doing it again... I have about 230 hours invested in this tractor over the course of a year, working in my spare time. I could now build a duplicate in about a month once I get started.
This is what the tractor looked like the day I brought it home.
This is an "in-progress" photo of it...
Here's some Photoshop magic to show how much the machine grew.
This is the tractor turning some soil at a Plow Day that a friend and I held at one of my parents farms this summer.
Here's a shot of the 3-point hitch...
Here's a shot of the 12 inch plow mounted...

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Virginia "Little Tractor"

About a year ago, I spoke with a young man from Virginia who asked me if I'd consider building parts that he could assemble into a little tractor himself. I thought about it and said sure. Then we both discovered that a farm boy in Michigan could make parts, ship them to a farm boy in Virginia, and when we were all done, there would be a very nice "Little Tractor..."

I must admit that it was kind of strange to see one of "my" tractors come together that I never touched.


 Jason did a great job on this tractor, and a family friend, Calvin Davis did all of the final paint. I'm sure Jason's two son's will remember the tractor that "Daddy made" for the rest of their lives.
This is a picture Justin and Trevor with their tractor and their Grandpa's "Shiny Tractor." I'm sure they will tell their own children about the year that their "Daddy made your uncle and I our own little tractor."
I love my work! Jason, I hope you and your kids make some great memories with those tractors!

Kurt




Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The "Twins" IH 656 & IH 1206...

This Cub Cadet 147 will become an IH 656.
This Cub Cadet 127 will become an IH 1206.

Drum roll please... they are starting to look like tractors.


Here's the 1206 all done...

Here's the 656 all done...

This pictures was taken before we left for Red Power.
This was the truck and trailer all loaded up for Red Power 2011... I think the red truck finished it nicely... I had a lot of questions at the gas stations on the way. :o) My Dad and I had a blast at Red Power, it was great meeting so many people. Here are the tractors at the 2011 Red Power Round Up. This was the last picture of the three together. The 656 lives in the state of Washington, and the 1206 lives in Oaklahoma.

About the Little Tractors...

       Hello, I thought I'd address a few questions about these custom, hand made, half scale tractors. ...