Oddball Tractor...

[hobbyfarm]

Maybe the Swiss should stick to making watches. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I stumbled on this website snooping around a Swiss Ag Expo.

<font color="brown">Rigi Trac</font> They are around 100-120HP, Deutz power. Built with rigid Axles in a flexible frame.
Tried to download the action movie, but apparently their 286 server is maxed out doing other things. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
The website photos show some wild slopes that they farm on over there. I imagine there are some hairy slopes here too. (stricly a flatlander here.. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif)

 

[GaryE]

I downloaded the video…. Took a while. Since I don’t speak Swiss, I did not understand much. But I was I impressed with the 4 wheel steering. Looked like a pretty tough machine.

Gary

 

[beenthere]

Their slopes are near to verticle there. Most don't allow any kind of wheeled vehicle. Only down hill skiers /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Why the 'oddball' suggestion? Maybe unconventional for us, but built to be functional for their hills. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Egon]

Looks like a very versitile tractor.

Egon

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Not speaking to anyone in particular, but there would be several brands of tractors that would qualify as "oddballs" stricktly based on the operator. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

But that's another story, for another thread. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Those don't look much different than many other European tractors. They farm under much different conditions than we in "The States". With much more seasonal rain, they deal with mud and wet conditions on a more regular basis, explaining the need for all the tires on what would be a mid-sized farm tractor in the U.S.

Brought to you by the same people who gave you cheese with holes in it! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[hobbyfarm]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( there would be several brands of tractors that would qualify as "oddballs" )</font>
Yep,
all through tractor history, there's been the tractors represnting thinking "outside the box".
Namely the guy who thought up the Allis Chalmers G or the old Cubs.

To me, what's odd is its frame. Built more like a HD truck than a tractor.
But you've got to love the steering system!

 

[Birdhunter1]

Looks like a pretty neat machine!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Green Magazine (John Deere collectors mag.) and Farm Collector Mag. have ran several articles lately on some of the first serious attempts at 4WD tractors in this country. Wagner, Big Bud, Stieger, Versatile, and a few others used axles from big quarry type loaders (Mostly Clarke) and then RoadRanger truck transmissions, setting between "home-made" frame rails, powered by big "over-the-road" truck engines. Wagner was one of the first to SUCCESSFULLY build an articulate steering 4WD tractor.

Stieger was the first to mass produce a successful SELLING 4WD.

Case built one that had steering axles, front and back. It allowed "crab-steering", usefull on steep hillsides.

We almost take for granted the ease and efficientcy of todays 4WD's. It wasn't until the late '50's that it was even considered "usefull".

 

[hobbyfarm]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Case built one that had steering axles, front and back )</font>
Yup, I drove one of those. That steering was pretty useful.

 

[oliver28472]

IH had them too but no crab steer on ours.

 

[MikeIA]

I used one once (my aunt borrowed one from a dealer)...I just remember going down the road, messing with that lever, trying to get the back wheels to follow the front ones and stop dog-tracking... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[hobbyfarm]

Uhmmm Mike,
I don't think that you're supposed to mess with it during transport. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You could give the oncoming drivers a heart attack!

 

[Egon]

Articulated or dual steering tractors should have a lockout on the rear wheels for highway driving.

Could get real interesting otherwise.
Egon
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MikeIA]

Yeah, I know that now. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Actually, it was only 3/4 of a mile, on a gravel road.
That day is probably the only time my Dad's farm has seen a four wheel drive...my uncle had just passed away, so the dealer let my aunt have the use of the tractor for free to do the chisel work, and we tried it out, pretty much just for the novelty. So we were moving every lever and seeing what it did.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Articulated tractors don't usually have independent steering. Only the row crop Steigers did that I can think of and that was a very limited turn angle. The only way an articulated tractor can turn is in the center and if you lock that out you better hope your road is very straight /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I know on the old Case trencher I use to play with there was no lock out. Of course the top speed on that thing was about 1 mph (at least that is how it felt /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif).