Welcome! Please use the navigational links to explore our website.
PartsASAP LogoCompany Logo Auction Link (800) 853-2651

Shop Now

   Allis Chalmers Case Farmall IH Ford 8N,9N,2N Ford
   Ferguson John Deere Massey Ferguson Minn. Moline Oliver

Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels

Welcome Guest, Log in or Register
Author 
gwb

11-03-2004 11:36:44




Report to Moderator

Just curious...what is the longest 'road trip' folks here have taken on their tractor, under its own power and on its own wheels, for delivery, relocation, adventure, or any other reason?

I'm thinking of all the guys who drove their tractors to D.C. some years back.




[Log in to Reply]   [No Email]
G-MAN

11-04-2004 16:28:45




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
I spent the biggest part of a day tooling around on my JD "60" once. I imagine that by the time I was done I had covered most of 50 miles or more driving around on the backroads and around town some. I've had to road tractors and combines 20-25 miles or more as a JD technician.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
thurlow

11-04-2004 17:04:36




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to G-MAN, 11-04-2004 16:28:45  
Friend of mine was a mechanic at the local A C dealer for many years. Their wheeled equipment used to come into Memphis (which was about 50 miles South of us on a two-lane road) on the railroad. Another railroad ran within a mile of the dealer, but he often chose to pick up the equipment (in South Memphis), drive it thru town and then the 50 miles home. Friend and set-up guy went down in bob-truck, which was what they hauled stuff on in those days, put combine header on truck and my friend started home with the combine; can't remember, it was a "F" or "C" or some such. Stopped too quickly at a red light and the combine turned up on its front end; he was sitting there at a major intersection in Memphis with the steering wheel in his stomach and his nose about 6 inches from the pavement; front windshield came out in one piece ..... ...

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Dale

11-03-2004 18:21:20




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
Wasn't all that far, about 24 miles driving our loader tractor home from the dealer on Christmas Eve so we'd have it to feed the cows in the morning. It's just that it was an open tractor, driving north the whole way into a 50mph wind out of the north and it was already -45 without the wind chill.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Mike (WA)

11-04-2004 08:09:43




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to Dale, 11-03-2004 18:21:20  
Of all the stories in this thread, I think yours was the looooo ngest trip.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Frankie

11-03-2004 18:35:51




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to Dale, 11-03-2004 18:21:20  
How long did it take for your tractor to warm up in that cold of a comdition???



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
RJ-AZ

11-03-2004 17:49:57




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
When I was 16 Dad sent me to town with our Chevy C60 bobtail to haul our MTA home that was in the shop getting the TA fixed. When I got there they said another day? I said we have hay down that has to be baled, so they gave me a trade in IH 400 that was in tough shape. The wheels were set way out for working beets and wouldn't fit on the truck so I roaded it home 45 miles. We didn't have phones in our neck of the woods yet so I couldn't call home for instructions and dad was pretty impressed. Four days later I headed that tractor back to town and some throttle linkage broke and I found a piece of fence wire to work till I got to a neighbors ranch (nobody home)and used his shop, tools and torch to fabricate and braze a new piece. Got that POS back to the dealer and loaded the MTA and then got it back home.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Skipper

11-03-2004 16:50:58




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
In 1998 Glenn and Betty Martin took a road trip from Dalton Ohio to Fairbanks Alaska and back. 126-days and 9,500 miles. They had a 1950 John Deere "A" named "Dandelion" with a special seat made for both of them to sit on and pulled a travel trailer to sleep in. They wrote a book about it called "to Alaska on a Tractor" printed by Carlisle Printing



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Mark - IN.

11-03-2004 16:39:27




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
Not very darn far. Late this past May or early June, I showed up at the nascar track in Joliet to get ready for an upcoming event, and there was a group of tractors there (couple hundred I figure) of every make and model. Not quite sure what they called themselves, but made a road trip from there that lasted like 3 days (camping and stuff). Never seen anything like that before. Didn't know about it in advance, and sure didn't have a camera. I'll ask the track who they were, and if they'll do it again next year. Only seen probably less than 10 flatbeds, and unless someone parked the other flatbeds at the end of the roadtrip, there was only one way they got there, and they weren't all from nearby. Never seen so much beautiful old iron from Cubs and B's to 5020's and 2150's. Plenty of Fords, McCormicks, Cases - everything was covered. Man, that was something to see, better to partake. I'll ask and post it.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Leland

11-03-2004 16:23:27




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
Drove a 2505 terra gator about 75 miles something that big on 2 lane road that was fun . Rode like a caddy with 5 big floaters on it.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
JWC

11-03-2004 15:33:59




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
I bought a CII Gleaner from the original owner back in 1988 and drove it 200 miles home. I changed all the fluids the day before the trip left at 8:00 a.m. that morning got home at 4:30 a.m. the next morning slept 3 hours remounted the header and strarted cutting wheat after lunch. The machine had always been shedded and was in excellant shape.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
JPatton

11-03-2004 15:15:38




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
Well, I know the first guy doesn"t have a chance when it comes to story tellin but in January of 1978, I took of on a 4320 John Deere from Topeka, Kansas headed to Washington, DC. (approx 1600 miles)as part of the American Agriculture Movement to bring attention to the farm plight. My father got the tractor to Topeka from western Kansas. If you look at Map Quest, it only shows a little over 1100 miles, but we didn"t always take the shortest route. I towed a 4 wheel drove pickup with a camper which I slept in. We traveled about 100 miles a day. I traveled with a group of about 100 other tractors (plus support vehicles). One guy had a 4020 with a PTO generator that would provide electricity for our group each nite when we camped right on the shoulder of the hi way. We had Hi way Patrol escorts all the way and traveled on Interstate Highway the entire distance except Missouri where the Governor thought it was too dangerous so he made us drive on old winding 2 lane roads. When we were driving with that many tractors (read that TRACTORCADE) we would be strung out for about 3 to 5 miles. We always had the slowest tractor in the front so the rest of us didn"t have much trouble keeping up. We didn"t travel on Sundays and it took us 16 days to get there. One of the guys in our group had his tractor impounded while in DC. When he finally got it back, he donated that 930 Case to the Smithsonian. It was still there the last time I went back! That is an experience I will never forget.

Jerry

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Mike (WA)

11-03-2004 15:03:55




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
We had a neighbor of Norwegian descent back in the mid '50's who couldn't keep a driver's license because of his taste for "demon rum". We lived in western Washington, and he was from "Nort Dakota". Ford N models were bringing around $1,000 out here, but you could apparently get them for $500 and less in North Dakota. On at least one occasion, he got some capital together, rode the bus back to his old neighborhood, bought 2 N-model Fords and a flatbed trailer- put 1 on the trailer, and towed it with the other, from North Dakota to Washington. Didn't have to have a driver's license. Was reportedly able to keep warm by chemical means.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
JMS/MN

11-03-2004 15:00:52




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
Cousin and I bought our first combine 140 miles from home in 1976. Drove it home with the bean head on it, with the two-row corn head in the back of my pickup. Left home after the morning milking, I had a sub for the evening, but he did not. I was some distance behind him in the pickup when the fuel pump failed, pulled into a farmer's yard at Fairfax, Mn. Told him the situation, he said take my pickup, catch up to your cousin so he can get home for milking. I got the combine home that night at 10:30, went back the next day and fixed my truck. He wouldn't take anymore than gas to fill his truck. Lloyd Hindeman was his name- said he understood since he used to milk cows too. Enjoyed visiting him a few years later when I was in the area. How many folks in a city would do that for anyone?

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Greywolf

11-04-2004 04:33:37




Report to Moderator
 Lots of Fairfax in reply to JMS/MN, 11-03-2004 15:00:52  
would have done the same. I think maybe over half the town is retired from the farm. You just don"t find better people than this area.

And I"ve traveled in 47 states and 4 in canada.

3 weeks ago, circuit breaker blew in the semi, put it dead in the water. Sitting at a stop sign half way to town loaded with beans. A late 20"s something guy stopped to help after I waved about 6 locals around me. He had a multimeter, we found the problem after about 20 minutes in the dark. He followed me home and would take nothing for his efforts. His wife even understood when she called his cell wondering what was taking so long.

Just like the song goes... "You don"t owe me a thing....."

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Ebbsspeed

11-03-2004 14:46:40




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
Sometime in the middle 30's my grandfathers brother drove his F-12 Farmall from Bridgewater, SD to Wessington Springs, SD. which would be a trip of right at 90 miles or so on today's roads, not sure how far it was back then. This was an F-12 on steel, but grandpa said they removed the lugs and just drove it on the rims. My longest trip on my own "wheels" was about a 200 mile round trip on a 90cc Kawasaki, back in the summer of 1971, to visit a girlfriend at her parents lake home. I was 16, and never did tell my folks about it. If they had known I went that far on that weedwacker-powered cycle they probably would have melted it down. Not to mention the fact that they weren't too fond of the girl, her being Catholic and me being Baptist.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Ryan

11-03-2004 14:28:29




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
My dad drove a combine 150 miles home once. JD 9600, pulled off whenever we could to let people around, ran one wheel on the median about all the time. We did it in 1.5 days but could have been done probably in one.


Ryan



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
John in Nebraska

11-03-2004 13:10:11




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
There is a story on the net, about a farmer/minister, that drove his John Deere 70? from his farm in Ohio, to Alaska! About ten years ago or so. john in nebraska



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Mike M

11-04-2004 04:58:50




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to John in Nebraska, 11-03-2004 13:10:11  
That"s the same guy that skipper mentions farther up the page. I have met him and it was a model A JD. Before this guy went to Alaska 2 other guys took 2 JD 2cyl.tractors Not sure of the models,and went from Lake Erie and drove clear down to Florida I think to the Gulf pulling campers also.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Orest Stuparek

11-03-2004 12:19:40




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
You should rent the movie "The Straight Story.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
earlschieb

11-03-2004 16:36:45




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to Orest Stuparek, 11-03-2004 12:19:40  
You are 100% correct on that, it is a darn good movie!



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
earlschieb

11-03-2004 16:43:35




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to earlschieb, 11-03-2004 16:36:45  
I used your link and checked the milage on that, hard to believe driving a John Deere lawn tractor at least 272 miles, one way, per yahoo maps.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
rustyfarmall

11-03-2004 12:12:43




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to gwb, 11-03-2004 11:36:44  
I drove my IH 856 about 40 miles to get it home when I bought it. I'm sure that doesn't hold a candle to what some have done.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Jerry Cent. Mi.

11-03-2004 13:26:28




Report to Moderator
 Re: Longest 'road trip' on your own wheels in reply to rustyfarmall, 11-03-2004 12:12:43  
Saw it on TV. Its was well worth watching.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
[Options]  [Printer Friendly]  [Posting Help]  [Return to Forum]   [Log in to Reply]

Hop to:


TRACTOR PARTS TRACTOR MANUALS
We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]

Home  |  Forums


Copyright © 1997-2023 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy

TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters

Website Accessibility Policy