Strange Gravely Tractor?

DieselDaniel · Dec 26, 2008

Years ago, when I was a young boy, my dad had a used and unusual tractor. It was a Gravely but not your normal "walk-behind".

It was like a walk-behind but it was a full frame and steered the rear wheels. No it wasn't a sulky, it had a real steering wheel and no handle bars. To lift the front PTO a hydraulic tilted the whole engine transmission up. I remember mowing the lawn with it a few times (with it's front mounted mower), it was quite a BEAST (because it was so wide and LOUD). It had the dual wheels up front with turf tires. And I'm pretty sure the hood was fiberglass (much wider/bigger than any gravely I've every seen).

We lost it (and every thing else) in a fire in 1975. Now this thing is stuck in my memory and I don't know what it was. I've search a few of the Gravely sites and it doesn't exist (???) Is my memory fooling me? Was it something else? Does anyone every seen a rig like this? Pictures?

farmerboybill · Dec 26, 2008

Hey Dan,

They made steering sulkies for Gravely tractors. Steering sulkies had steering wheels on them. Here's a Pic I found of one

Are you sure it was a gravely? David bradley made a machine called the Tri-trac

krislu · Dec 26, 2008

DieselDaniel said:
Years ago, when I was a young boy, my dad had a used and unusual tractor. It was a Gravely but not your normal "walk-behind".

It was like a walk-behind but it was a full frame and steered the rear wheels. No it wasn't a sulky, it had a real steering wheel and no handle bars. To lift the front PTO a hydraulic tilted the whole engine transmission up. I remember mowing the lawn with it a few times (with it's front mounted mower), it was quite a BEAST (because it was so wide and LOUD). It had the dual wheels up front with turf tires. And I'm pretty sure the hood was fiberglass (much wider/bigger than any gravely I've every seen).

We lost it (and every thing else) in a fire in 1975. Now this thing is stuck in my memory and I don't know what it was. I've search a few of the Gravely sites and it doesn't exist (???) Is my memory fooling me? Was it something else? Does anyone every seen a rig like this? Pictures?

It sounds like you are describing Gravely's very first attempt at a riding tractor the Westchester tractor. Look here:

Gravely Tractors - Literature - Advertisement: Westchester Tractor - StevenChalmers.com

- Kris

DieselDaniel · Dec 27, 2008

DING!, DING!, DING!, We have a winner! Thanks Krislu, that what it was, the Westchester.

Although I remember some subtle differences from the one pictured that was basically the model. That hood was pretty big (for a young boy, LOL). Very unique machine with the full frame and hydraulically lifted (tilted) PTO. Just picture that one with duallies...

Man, I wish I had that thing now... Is there any more info on them? Seems to be a pretty rare bird.

krislu · Dec 27, 2008

DieselDaniel said:
DING!, DING!, DING!, We have a winner! Thanks Krislu, that what it was, the Westchester.

Although I remember some subtle differences from the one pictured that was basically the model. That hood was pretty big (for a young boy, LOL). Very unique machine with the full frame and hydraulically lifted (tilted) PTO. Just picture that one with duallies...

Man, I wish I had that thing now... Is there any more info on them? Seems to be a pretty rare bird.

The westchester was Gravelys first attempt at a 4 wheel rider tractor. It is made from an L tractor. It was considered a failure and Gravely tried to buy them back from consumers. They are kinda rare. A few people collect them. Mechanical parts you can get because they are L tractor parts but the seat and body and other things that are directly related to the Westchester are hard to come by. People who want a machine to use on a daily basis will go for the walkers or the more modern riders. A restored Westchester is more for the show circuit now. - Kris

farmerboybill · Dec 29, 2008

Hey,

That's a pretty neat unit. They're probably the jewel of any lucky owner's collection. I wonder how many still exist.

YesDeere · Dec 29, 2008

Man thats cool. Rode that dang sulkey on my Great Grandfathers Gravely. Knee and thigh bustin sum a b***h. Looked like a prehistoric walk behind with a kholer motor and a glass hood. GOOD memories