Three-wheeled tractors...

Many makers produced three-wheelers, what colour was it?

Memory says a darker red. Wish it hadn't been so long ago - close on 30 years now. (I'd wondered about International as the colour and size of a lot of their machines seems right, but I'm not sure if they ever did a true three-wheeler?)

Pneumatic tyres, incidentally, and I want to say that I don't remember it having a PTO / flywheel on the side (which would rule out the aforementioned Moline anyway). Had forks for the front wheel like a bicycle (i.e. not a single fork attached to one side only ala Oto). I think the pivot for the forks was just in front of the radiator/engine, not underneath it (as in the Nuffield pic I just found).

Beyond that I don't think I can cough up much detail, unfortunately (so it's possible I'll never know for sure!)

(around that time incidentally they had another couple of four-wheeled tractors - one green and one yellow - which sported metal mesh plated 'walkways' running down either side of the engines; does that ring any bells as something which was ever original equipment on a tractor? It's not something I ever recall seeing at shows, and could easily have been something rigged up once locally they entered service as boat launchers. Along with the three-wheeler they made for quite a trio!)

cheers

Jules

Having trawled through my photos of red tractors I found four possibles, see:

from your description the most likely candidate would seem to be the Case (these used enclosed chain drive). Other red tractors could include the Massey Harris range and the Massey Ferguson 65, all their row crop tractors that I have seen had the two wheels close together arrangement. Allis Chalmers used both the single and duel type arrangement so it is possible that Massey Harris and Massey Ferguson did the same.

Hope this helps.

--

Heck, thanks! Definitely seems to be either the Case or the Allis Chalmers

- my memory's telling me that the chassis in front of the radiator was the same width as the rest (as with the Allis Chalmers) - but also that there was some sort of exposed steering linkage / shaft arrangment (as the Case has), so I can't be sure between the two. The Allis looks to have a side PTO, but then if there wasn't a flywheel / large pulley on the one I saw then it's entirely possible I've just forgotten it was there.

Shame it likely met an early demise at the hands of the salt water, whatever it was (although there was always something rather awe-inspiring about watching half-submerged tractors dragging boats around)

(Fond memories incidentally of watching an uncle's Massey 65 trying hard to hook a bogie up to a loaded spud trailer on a bit of concrete pan - it had enough guts but not enough traction and just sat there spinning the wheels and disappearing in a cloud of tyre smoke. Fun sight for a young boy!) thanks again,

Jules

Pulleys were usually an extra cost option. If fitted as original equipment the pulley would serve no useful purpose for boat towing, it could well. have been removed

When I was a kid ('70s) we had a caravan in the Lakes and there was one plodding around for general site works, bin emptying etc. Probably the first IC vehicle I ever got to drive.

That's not the thing I remember, but I have seen one of those somewhee - East of England show, I think. All looks terribly home-made, which just adds to the charm :-) (which reminds me, I'm sure I saw a three-wheeled dumper truck once - almost identical to the typical four-wheelers, but with a single steering wheel at the back)

cheers

Jules

What about a Newman?

Then there was the Kendall, did that have 3 wheels?

Paul.

AFAIK, Farmall didn't make any 3 wheelers. They made 4-wheeler rowcrop tractors, with the front wheels extra-narrow-set. Some were set so close that they had to be cambered inwards to leave space for the hubs and steering pivot.

Rowcrop tractors have narrow tyres to fit between rows of crops and so the front axles is either extra-wide (same track front & back) to re- use the same ruts, or else they're "tricycle like" and leave three ruts. Wide-track tractors have a huge turning circle (limited by poor lock) and so the tricycle was generally more popular, except for more recent huge machines in big US fields.

The trouble with tricycles is that a rowcrop's narrow tyres tend to make quite a deep rut and a single tyre with no offset from the kingpin axis is near-impossible to steer out of a rut, especially if that's a single tyre with even more load on it. Farmall kept four wheels, for much this reason.

While I did not mention them by name, two of the photo's I included in the link I provided were of Farmalls, see:

The photo's in the above link show that International Farmall produced the single wheel as well as the close coupled front wheel types of row crop tractors. The same is true of Allis Chalmers, John Deere and very likely other makers.

While this is true of tractors without individual rear brakes, many tractors had them fitted by the 1930's and even sooner in some cases, these could turn in near enough their own length in any wheel configuration. Some Farmall's such as the F20 and F30 had a system whereby one side brake was operated by turning the steering wheel to full lock and the other side was operated by a lever, no dual breaking was provided. Loading one of these on a trailer is best done with a winch, trying it under the tractors power is akin to playing Russian Roulette.

True if does not have individual rear brakes, but not otherwise. During the war, it was a matter of making do with what turned up under the lend/lease scheme. Farmers in the flat parts of the country could make good use of most anything they could get, whereas a three wheel row crop tractor in the Welsh hills had very limited uses.

I think I may have seen one, but with a very wide, small-diameter front wheel (the wrong dimensions for the east-coast beastie I recall) - I've no idea if it was someone's after-market bodge or original equipment.

There's a couple of the "tricycle like" ones rotting away* on my street here in the US, in fact, and several more in a field next to the brother-in-law's place. Can't be sure of models as so many companies produced that configuration - John Deere, Farmall, IH / McCormick etc.

The chap who weekends in a cabin behind our place has a nice old John Deere row-crop in semi-restored condition.

• anyone have any idea roughly how much these things tend to weigh? I'm considering prodding the owners and attempting a 'rescue', but I'm not sure if they're simply too heavy to move on a dual-axle car trailer... (not to mention that the tyres will be shot, mechanicals probably completely seized etc. :-)

cheers

Jules

I guessed as much would exist somewhere - but as I did write they weren't ones that I knew of 8-)

FiL had an Allis Chalmers tricycle (amongst two dozen others)