By WENDY LEDBETTER
Arkansas Correspondent TEXARKANA, Ark. — If there’s a joke about toy tractors, Larry Smallwood and Mike Cobb have probably heard it.
The two have been building replicas of early-models for the past several years. The result is, as Smallwood says, just right for a grandkid to ride upon – the tractors are not to scale, but are roughly one-third the size of their full-sized counterparts.
Cobb said he got the idea for the little tractors after having seen one at a show. He looked it over and decided he could build one as well, but planned to improve on the design. His goal was to make his tractor “rider-friendly,” as opposed to the one he’d seen which was just for show.
He put his mind to the practical aspects of design and then put his friend, Smallwood, to work machining some of the parts. “I didn’t even know what I was building at first,” Smallwood said.
In theory, it’s a simple idea: make a small version of a real tractor, make all the parts fit and make it run. In reality, there were some challenges. Cobb said they came up with the idea to use Volkswagen wheels or the “donut-sized spares” from cars as the back wheels. The inner parts were hollowed out, spokes added and tires mounted. The front wheels were a little easier – “Wheelbarrow wheels,” Cobb said.
The mechanical aspect, according to Smallwood, is the easier part of the process. The tractors shift in an “H” pattern, just like a stick shift in a car. The engines include batteries and starters, so it’s a matter of putting the key in the ignition and cranking her up.
Fabricating the body parts falls mainly to Cobb. “Mike’s dad was a blacksmith,” Smallwood said. “He was good at it.”
Cobb picked up his love of manufacturing there and spends a great deal of time in the “details,” such as grinding and “making it look good.” He bends the fenders by hand as well as the “body” of the tractor. Foot pedals may be iron or even rebar.
Smallwood takes care of most machined parts, including bushings. He said the actual mechanics of the tractor is only about a quarter of the total project.
The first part of the process was running around the area in search of parts. Cobb said the seats are old tractor seats, readily available at flea markets. The steering mechanisms are planters from an old John Deere. Gas tanks are from lawn mowers. They use Kohler single-cylinder motors as the engines in most of these, and transmissions off Cub Cadets.
“We don’t really need parts now,” he said. “But I can’t resist stopping and looking.”
The two have made several John Deere replicas and recently, a Farmall. Smallwood selected the Farmall because it was the only tractor with a slanted steering column. The idea behind that design was to give the grown-up drivers a little more legroom.
“I thought it was going to be a freak, but it looked pretty good,” Cobb said.
Some of the tractors roll off the Cobb and Smallwood “assembly line” in as little as four to six weeks. Both admit there are plans and then there are some happy accidents. In the case of one tractor, there’s something just a little “off” with the engine, so that the little tractor sounds like a “popping Johnny,” the name used to refer to the old John Deere tractors because of their distinctive sound.
“We don’t know what’s wrong and we don’t care,” Smallwood said.
The next project for Cobb and Smallwood will likely be a John Deere D.
They said the motor will have to be lowered and there are some other design changes they’ll have to make for this tractor, which they say is more “beefy” than most they’ve made. While Cobb readily admits the first tractor took a long time, he said once he had the design figured out, the manufacturing now goes pretty quickly.
The men have built seven between them, and say ownership is a moot point. “It doesn’t really matter whose name you put on it,” Smallwood said.
The love of old tractors is a family interest, and Smallwood’s son restores full-sized tractors. At one show, Smallwood rode the miniature version of a tractor his son had restored. One weekend in early April, Smallwood was preparing for a trip to North Carolina to pick up the next restoration project.
The small tractors are complemented by “farm wagons” built to the same size as the tractors. The wagons are designed to be pulled behind the tractors and are a hit at regional parades and tractor shows.
“We go, have a good time, visit with friends,’ Cobb said. “Everybody’s looking for us. Everybody expects us.” Their favorite shows and parades are those that are “kid friendly.”
“When the grandkids can drive and we walk alongside and let them drive,” Smallwood said, “that’s more fun.”
The interest is so intense that the men have been flagged down on the interstate by prospective customers who want to know, “How much?” The reaction at parades and shows, according to Cobb and Smallwood, is the same almost everywhere they take their tractors. “Everybody wants to laugh at first,” Cobb said.
“Then, they want to buy it,” added Smallwood. |
