Hauling Versatile tractor home from Iowa

[Olivetroad]

i bought a four wheel drive tractor in Iowa a few weeks ago, so #2 boy, #3 boy, my retired neighbor, and I headed to pick it up. It was going to be over 100 degrees and the road tractor does not have cold air, so we took the Dodge one ton.

Tommy has to drive so I can work on the 'puter. He waited until we left the KFC buffet and I had a cup of sweet tea in my hand to slam on the brakes - I got a wet crotch - want to see a photo?

I complained about him jiggling me around so he played his sympathy violin:

I bought it kind of sight unseen, but the guy that sold it said he had it all ready to travel. We get there and this is what we see:

We get out and I am thinking CRAP, I don't want to fart around with a damn flat tire. The owner has a big laugh at my expense, then he slides around the grain bin and gets the tractor I bought - it has four wheels!

The trailer started to look kind of small!

I needed Otherdog to draw me a proper chain diagram, but we made it okay:

We get to looking around at the other goodies he has and we noticed something strange about this tractor. Can you tell what it is doing?

The guy told us a shorter way home - now I know why the GPS did not use that dirt road route:

We stopped to go wee wee and it was like "Children of the corn"

Are rock ends like burnt ends in a BBQ joint?

On the way home, we stopped by Superdog - Mike Harbison's house and checked out his collection. He had to leave and I snappped this photo of the tractor right when his hot red Dodge pickup zoomed off:

Tommy and the boys soaked up the shade while I took Mack photos - I will post them on another thread when I get a chance......

One more stop of beside the road wee-wee:

We may have been overloaded, but we were cool in the A/C!

[Green Dash]

Since it's too late to say no to the wet crotch photo...good luck with the new mosheen. Great photostory, as always.

[vision386]

These (the tractor) are VT-903 Cummins powered? or maybe another one i read a story about a Big-Bud? or something like that maybe? and not to worry about the "sweet tea" incident spilled? yeah right!,it happens to a lot of non-OTR rookies! LOL!....................Mark

[Rob]

Wet crotch from spilled drink eh? It's your story.

Rob

[vision386]

Is it all C&W from here on out? or "easy listening"? just curious.........................Mark

[Green Dash]

Is it all C&W from here on out? or "easy listening"? just curious.........................Mark

If this were the late 70's, there would be a second sign down the road that read "Disco Sucks".

[burnstransport]

Nice pics just curious what does one of those machines weigh? Just the shape and the cab of those 4WD tractors makes them look like a real behemoth but I'm guessing that if the one-ton towed it OK that it's prob a lot lighter than it really looks. Never seen a Versatile up close so was just wondering.

[randyp]

I turned screen this way, then that, got out magnifiers, (no, not talking bout the crotch shot), measured distance variables, calculated degrees, and tractor pears to be holding up steel cable so people can walk under it without tripping. Looks like sinking a pole would be cheaper. Yall sure do pee a lot up there. randyp

[Green Dash]

I turned screen this way, then that, got out magnifiers, (no, not talking bout the crotch shot), measured distance variables, calculated degrees, and tractor pears to be holding up steel cable so people can walk under it without tripping. Looks like sinking a pole would be cheaper. Yall sure do pee a lot up there. randyp

I thought they was preparating to take down that tall thing. That would be the result if I were running the circus.

[slpwlker]

cool pics. Big Bud is for sale I think it is in Ms on 61 thinking south of Greenville,Ms

[Olivetroad]

Nice pics just curious what does one of those machines weigh? Just the shape and the cab of those 4WD tractors makes them look like a real behemoth but I'm guessing that if the one-ton towed it OK that it's prob a lot lighter than it really looks. Never seen a Versatile up close so was just wondering.

I weighed it on my neighbors gravel scale, and the tractor weighed right at 18,000. The book said it weighed 17,000 pounds, but I think the difference is the 120 gallons of fuel the guy left in the tank - that was a nice bonus!

We went 60 - 65 all the way home, but you sure knew it was back there. The Dodge has good horsepower, but is light on springs and brakes for that load.

[Olivetroad]

I turned screen this way, then that, got out magnifiers, (no, not talking bout the crotch shot), measured distance variables, calculated degrees, and tractor pears to be holding up steel cable so people can walk under it without tripping. Looks like sinking a pole would be cheaper. Yall sure do pee a lot up there. randyp

The guy had tried to remove a tree and he dropped it on a guy wire for the elevator leg. He hooked the tractor to it until he can sink a new anchor. I wanted to go over and cut a couple of the cables when I pulled up and thought the broken down tractor was the one he sold me.

[Rob]

The Dodge has good horsepower, but is light on springs and brakes for that load.

The same reason I never ran the lo-pro trucks in the car hauling. Not enough brakes and suspension on 19.5" tires. Everything was smaller to fit the smaller rims.

Rob

[justincase]

Olive, So what's the combined weight there? How big is your trailer and is that a 1 ton or a 5500. Just curious because my skidder weighs a little less and wondered if I could safely move it with a bumper tow trailer behind a 1 ton. Looks like it was a fun trip for you guys and glad you kept cool. Justin

[Olivetroad]

These (the tractor) are VT-903 Cummins powered? or maybe another one i read a story about a Big-Bud? or something like that maybe? and not to worry about the "sweet tea" incident spilled? yeah right!,it happens to a lot of non-OTR rookies! LOL!....................Mark

Mark - it has a triple nickle non-turbo V555 cummins. The guy bought it new one year when he had three 1206 International tractors hooked together trying to pull a disc in wet ground. His son-in-law told us he got pissed off when they kept getting stuck, so he all of a sudden takes off in his truck and a couple of hours later, this tractor came driving up the road to save the day. It is not near as large as Big-Bud. This one is only rated at 200 horsepower.

Before I use it in the field, I plan to install a cup holder to hold my tea!

[Olivetroad]

Olive, So what's the combined weight there? How big is your trailer and is that a 1 ton or a 5500. Just curious because my skidder weighs a little less and wondered if I could safely move it with a bumper tow trailer behind a 1 ton. Looks like it was a fun trip for you guys and glad you kept cool. Justin

Justin - It is a 2004 Dodge 3500 four wheel drive one ton. I wish it was a 5500, I would like to trade it in on one, but I don't want to give up my 5.9 simpler engine. The trailer is only a 20,000 GVWR. It usually hauls a 15,000 pound backhoe around and the tractor actually hauled better on it than the backhoe as we can't get the backhoe loaded with the weight distributed right because we run out of room with the stick/boom. I have hauled an older Timberjack 230 on it before and like the tractor, it did fine because you can move it forward or back until you get the weight right for the truck.

I would not want to plan on hauling stuff like that everyday on it, especially if you have to get off the road to load and unload. The trailer has two Holland jack legs in the front and two drop down outrigger legs on the back corners which makes a nice solid platform to drive on and off with. That way if you bag a 20,000 pound Moose, you can just roll it up on there without it flying off the pintle hitch!

[justincase]

I like that set up. I would like to see a 20,000 lb moose too but I think I would run the other way. Thanks for the info. Justin

[HeavyGunner]

Fun fact: Big Buds were made near me in Havre, MT. The biggest tractor in the world is the Big Bud 747 located in Big Sandy MT at the Williams Bros. Farm. It has a V-16 Detroit (yea Ben a 16 cylinder screamer in a tractor) and I think it has somewhere around 1200HP. Look it up on YouTube if you want to see it.