Custom Built: The Birth of a Tractor

By Glenn Thompson
Updated on January 25, 2024
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by Glenn Thompson

Humanity can be divided into two categories: The “I wish I had” people and the “Let’s get on with it” people. Allen Becker of Boerne, Texas, is one of the resourceful people in the second category. Back in the 1960s, Allen had a good job with a major airline, and he repaired lawnmowers and small engines on the side. Money was still tight. He had several children to support, his wife had major medical issues, and he and his family were building a house. So when the family needed a tractor for gardening and general tasks around the place, Allen felt that his best solution was to make one. The thought of designing and building one was appealing. Fortunately, he possessed a variety of fabricating skills inherited from his parents, plus others he acquired on his own.

Becker family members were collectors. Allen and his father both had a number of sheds filled with “precious stuff,” and there were piles of used items in and around the outbuildings. Allen did not lack for materials to draw upon; he was limited only by his own creativity. He also had an assortment of tools, among them a cutting torch, a grinder, a welder, a drill press, and common hand tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers.

In preparation for the project, Allen dug through piles of items and pulled together two three-speed automobile transmissions. One was from a 1931 Pontiac, and the other from a 1937 Plymouth. He found a differential and rims from a 1940 Ford pickup truck; heavy-duty, three-roller chains and sprockets from an irrigation pump given to Allen by his grandfather; the rear struts from the Ford pickup; the front axle, spindles, wheels and linkage from a Cushman golf cart; a steering wheel from a Model T Ford; a cast-iron seat from a hay rake; a steering gearbox from the Plymouth; two air cylinders from a motorcycle; rims from the Ford pickup; an assortment of scrap-metal pipes, rods, angle irons, plates, flat irons, etc. and buckets of old nuts, bolts and washers.

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