Toys for Tots

Bob’s fleet consists of four units powered by small gas engines:
an Ertl International 56, an Ertl Case 1070, a Play-Trak (made by
David Bradley for Sears), and an Ertl John Deere 20. Each tractor
moves along at a sedate 2 mph, a perfect match for the average
preschooler. “The kids just love them,” he says. “Sometimes the
parents have to pull the kids off the tractors. A lot want to get
right back on.”

The seed for Bob’s fleet was planted when he saw a very young
boy pilot a motorized Farmall pedal tractor in a Pennsylvania
show’s parade. In 1995, while recuperating from major surgery, Bob
decided to tackle a similar project. A longtime collector of
vintage tractors and equipment, he was amply familiar with the
mechanics involved, and decades of experience working in power
plant maintenance had trained him well in safety issues.

Bob’s first project was the International 56. He began by
cutting out the cast engine area of the body and fitting the
tractor with an undermount frame. For power, Bob chose an old-style
1-1/4 hp Clinton because its internal oil pump ensures lubrication
at most angles. Bob mounted the Clinton engine on the sub-frame,
and he removed the engine’s top-mounted gasoline tank, replacing it
with two small tanks fitted under the hood, leaving the fuel supply
high enough to use the engine’s gravity-feed fuel system.

With the engine occupying the space where the steering shaft had
been, a new steering system was in order. Bob made a short steering
shaft for the steering wheel, passing through two bearings and with
a T-shaped coupling just inside the body. A long steering bar
extends vertically from the front axle through a bearing at the top
of the casing. At the end of the bar is another T-shaped coupling
just under the hood. Bob than ran cables from the rear coupling
over a small pulley and to each side of the forward coupling. That
system worked well, but cable failure was a problem until Bob
replaced the cables with weed whip cord.

The clutch on the International is a simple belt tensioner, but
since the power pulley is located on the engine’s left side, Bob
fabricated a crossover shaft for a gas pedal on the tractor’s right
side. That way, Bob notes, even very young children understand how
to make the vehicle “go.” Light pressure on the pedal moves the
machine forward; release, and the pedal tractor stops. It took
three gearing modifications, but Bob finally settled on a pair of
jack shafts and sprocket stepdowns to keep the tractor to a speed
safe for young operators. The rear wheel hubs are fitted with inner
and outer ball bearings and grease zerks for lubrication.

By show season in 1996, the little red tractor was ready for
use. If Bob had any doubts about the rig’s appeal, they were laid
to rest at the 1996 Red Power Roundup in Lebanon, Tenn. During that
event, more than 300 children took turns at the wheel.

That success prompted Bob to build a second unit later that
year. A collector of Case hydraulic drive garden tractors, he
decided to use the same concept in a pedal tractor. From Joe
O’Shea, Binghamton, N.Y., he acquired a Case 1070 tractor. Bob made
slight modifications: He mounted a small hydraulic motor on the
tractor’s left side where the pedal shaft came through. On the
right side, he installed a rotary valve with a spring return and
fitted with a foot pedal. As with the International, Bob modified
the rear axle hubs. But this time, he made a locking rear end so
both drive wheels would pull at all times. Next, he hooked a
trailer carrying a 2-1/4 hp Clinton engine to the tractor, with a
Cub Cadet hydraulic pump coupled to the engine. The hydraulic pump
feeds oil at 400-500 psi to a control valve on the tractor. The
control valve sends oil to the hydraulic motor that drives the
tractor, then back to an oil cooler and an expansion tank on the
trailer.

In 1997, Bob swapped a small motorcycle for a motorized pedal
tractor, a Play-Trak made by David Bradley for Sears in the early
1960s. Powered by a 2-1/2 hp Tecumseh engine, the unit is clutched
by a belt tensioner housed in an enclosed guard on the left side,
and a foot pedal on the right side. The rear axle is extended to
allow for an external ratchet on the inside of the rear wheels that
lets both wheels drive and slip as needed on turns.

The next tractor would prove to be Bob’s most challenging: a
hydraulic track-type motorized pedal tractor. This time he turned
to an Ertl-made John Deere Model 20 pedal tractor in his
collection. With a John Deere crawler in mind, Bob disassembled the
John Deere 20 and welded 5-1/2 inches of 1/8-inch aluminum stock
between the two cast body sides, making the unit wide enough to
hold a 2 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. Then it was back to
Binghamton, N.Y., to meet with O’Shea to discuss the tracks and
drives on the crawlers Joe had made. They settled on no. 40
agricultural chain, and Joe had 6-inch sprockets cast, using a corn
planter sprocket for a pattern.

Next, Bob built a frame to carry the engine, hydraulic pump, two
hydraulic motors, track adjustors, front sprockets and track roller
units. On the body of this machine, the final drive sprockets and
shafts all run on ball bearings. The expansion tank for the oil is
patterned after one on a John Deere 350 dozer tank. The control
valves and levers, seat and arm boxes are all part of the upper
body. “This unique design presented many challenges,” Bob says,
“but by using hoses we were able to have a pivot point in-line with
the final drives and I am able to unlatch the unit at the front and
tilt up the body for maintenance.” The two hydraulic motors used to
drive the tracks are controlled separately by two Parker-Hannifin
open-center valves mounted under the floor plate with short control
levers up through the floor.

PVC pipe is used for the two control levers, which provide even
the youngest operators plenty of leverage. This is also a safety
measure for the control valves: If a bigger child should push the
levers to the side, they will break off, protecting the valves.

Open-center valves allow this small engine to idle. The two
valves send pressure to each hydraulic motor. Steering is quick,
responsive and easy. “We have had 18-month-old kids with pacifiers
in their mouths coordinate and move this machine,” Bob says.

Safety is the key to Bob’s creations, and it’s a motivation he
takes very seriously. “I put a lot of thought into safety,” he
says. Indeed, he’s considered every element of each pedal tractor.
He’s put wheel weights on one to make it more stable. He’s covered
chains, sprockets and exhaust pipes to protect children’s hands and
feet from injury. He’s altered gearing to prevent any possibility
of a tractor or trailer from rolling on its own. He’s put a
protective guard around an exposed engine, installed valves to keep
pressure low, built shields to block access to tracks and added
control valves to ensure the tractor stops when pressure on the
foot pedal is released.

Bob’s concern for safety doesn’t end with the mechanicals. He
rarely runs more than one unit at a time. “We watch them real
close,” he says, “because you never know what a kid’s going to do.”
Every rider is carefully instructed to keep both feet on the
tractor at all times. Pedal tractors not in use are kept on
trailers out of reach of children who would clamber over them.
“Very few kids that age could start an engine anyway,” Bob says.
“But we still keep them off of the tractors when they’re not on a
ride.”

Some suggest that children should not be allowed to play with
such mechanical marvels. Bob wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s
no good to me if I can’t see kids having a good time,” he says. “I
just love seeing the kids have fun on them. I get a lot of
enjoyment out of that.”

– For more information: Bob Rentzel, 5380 Board Road, Mount
Wolf, PA 17347; (717) 266-4490.