Model A Ford Turned Tractor: The Sears Thrifty Farmer Tractor Conversion Kit

This conversion kit was built by Peru (Ill.) Plow Works, and sold by Sears, Roebuck & Co. for $92.50 plus shipping.

It was named the Sears Thrifty Farmer tractor. The kit could be ordered with adapters to fit a Ford Model A or Model T, or an early Chevrolet. It is said that as many as 80 companies manufactured similar kits.

Peru Plow was in operation from 1851 to 1941, and built turning plows, wheels for varied types of machinery and tractor kits. The kits were made at a time when ready-made tractors were scarce and expensive. The kit tractor was said to be capable of replacing two or three horses on the farm.

These were factory-made kits and should not be confused with homemade Model A doodlebugs. Steel front wheels could be ordered; rear wheels could be on rubber, steel lugs or angle cleats. This tractor had angle cleats, but I removed them and instead used old cut-down tractor tires for treads so it could be operated on the road (and cause less damage to grass).

Installation of the kit was not complicated. It just required removing part of the body, rear spring and rear hub and brake housing, and installation of the pinion gear. Also, the rear differential had to be turned over, since the ring gear’s teeth are on the outside, to avoid having only one forward speed and three in reverse.

My Thrifty Farmer kit is attached to a 1930 Model A Ford chassis I’ve owned for about 20 years and restored while trying to locate a kit. I own three restored Model A Fords and wanted one of these as a crossover to my other hobby, vintage tractors. The collection my sons and I have built includes a John Deere 760, John Deere D, Ford 8N, Ford 700, Farmall Cub, John Deere MT and a 1923 Fordson.