Strange marriage of tractors, carmakers
Farm equipment seemed a natural crossover
Sometime in the mid-1930s, an employee from the Otaco farm equipment company in Orillia, Ont., went to Illinois to see an interesting device.
It was called the Pulford, and it turned an old car into a tractor. It was made by two brothers in a shop behind their house, and they made Otaco an offer that was impossible to resist. If the company bought one for $85, it could make an unlimited number of copies, at no charge, to sell in Canada.
Pulford was one of about 40 American companies making similar kits. Tractors started out as massive steampowered machines in the 1870s, but switched to gasoline and gradually downsized alongside the automobile’s development. A key event came in 1917, when Henry Ford introduced his massproduced Fordson tractor.
Some crossover between cars and tractors was logical. Most of the population lived in rural areas, and it made sense to put both products into one sales outlet. International Harvester briefly made motorized versions of its horse-drawn wagons, while the Velie auto, made by John Deere’s grandson, was sold by tractor dealers.
But while tractors were now cheaper than ever, they could still be $600 or more — too much for many smallscale farmers — while most conversion kits cost less than half that. They replaced the car’s rear end with tractor-style wheels, gears, pinion, and rear axle. Used cars could often be bought for as little as $10, and most farmers could do the installation themselves. The conversions weren’t as good as a real tractor. The car kept its front axle, which wasn’t as strong, and overheating could be a problem if the stock radiator wasn’t swapped out for a larger one. But if you couldn’t afford a tractor, it was the nextbest thing.
Otaco had an automotive background, growing out of a blacksmith shop that had added a carriage company. It built the Tudhope motorized buggy from 1908 to 1913, and got into farm equipment through a partnership with a Winnipeg agricultural firm.
The Pulford was named because it was made specifically for Ford cars, which, thanks to the Model T, were easy to find. Otaco only used the Pulford’s basic design, and its version, the Autotrac, could be fitted to just about anything. The company claimed it had spent $40,000 alone on metal-strength research, and gave a six-year warranty on the gears.
Most of the companies making conversion kits ceased production by 1940, but possibly because of Canadians’ more frugal nature, the Autotrac soldiered on, and Otaco made them right into the early 1960s. The final tally is believed to be around 6,200 units, and they’re popular with collectors today.
Overseas firms also have a history with farm equipment. Lamborghini started as a tractor company, and that division is still around. There was a Porsche tractor, Fiat bought most of the New Holland company in the 1990s from Ford, and Mitsubishi makes tractors in conjunction with India’s Mahindra.
For the most part, North American carmakers left tractors to the agricultural companies, but there were some oddities. After the Second World War, small tractors that were perfect for nurseries or for cultivating just a few acres were introduced, such as International’s Farmall Cub or the Canadianbuilt Massey-Harris Pony.
That gave Powel Crosley an idea. He’d made his money manufacturing radios and the first refrigerators with shelves in the doors. In 1939 he started building tiny, lightweight cars, including little station wagons, convertibles, and sedans.
In 1950, Crosley added a new model, the Farm-O-Road, which he intended as a work vehicle that could also get the family to town. It came with a 26-horsepower engine and pickup box or dump bed, while its options included dual rear wheels, canvas top, hydraulically-operated draw bar, and front or rear power takeoffs for powering machinery. Implements such as a plow, mower or cultivator could be attached to the back.
At $895 it wasn’t the priciest Crosley, but it was a lot of money for something that wasn’t really a great tractor or, for that matter, much of a car either. It lasted for three model years until Crosley itself went under, and only around 600 or so were built.
If a car as a tractor seems odd, there was one even stranger: the 1938 Minneapolis-Moline UDLX Comfortractor, a tractor that was also meant to be a car.
The UDLX was a tractor under the skin, but Minneapolis-Moline outfitted it with full fenders, car-style hood and grille, and the tractor industry’s first factory-equipped closed cab. In addition to all-weather comfort when plowing, the Comfortractor could be driven into town like a car. It didn’t have any suspension, and its top speed was 65 km/h. It cost $1,900, almost double the price of a comparably-sized plain tractor, and more than most farmers wanted to pay.
About 150 were built, but some 50 unsold ones were returned to the factory, to be stripped down and sold as regular tractors. Today, restored ones have brought as much as $200,000 at auction.