Driving Home A Tractor
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=149481
Printed Date: 23 Aug 2025 at 4:56am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Driving Home A Tractor
Posted By: Unit3
Subject: Driving Home A Tractor
Date Posted: 14 Apr 2018 at 11:08pm
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Housemover is asking the question about driving a tractor home. Victoryallis told of a couple of his. So it got me to thinking, have you ever bought a tractor or combine and headed down the road at 20 mph or less? You never forget these trips. 7045 PS came from Emmetsburg, Ia - 30 miles NH9884 and 200 came from around Floyd, Ia - 90 miles Had a 7000 red belly that was driven up from around Ames, Ia - 115miles ------------- 2-8070FWA PS/8050PS/7080/7045PS/200/D15-II/2-WD45/WD/3-WC/UC/C |
Replies:
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 14 Apr 2018 at 11:13pm
| have done both lots of times! my last combine I drove home from about 50 miles away. have driven tractors over 100 miles lots of times. just think of it as driving from one end of a field to the other lots of times like all of them do when using them in the fields, just less turn arounds. |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 14 Apr 2018 at 11:16pm
| A guy my grandpa knew drove a Gleaner A from southwest Oklahoma from field to field on a harvest run all the way to North Dakota. After the harvest run, he wanted to keep the combine, but had no way to haul it home, so he drove it from ND to OK. I think it took him a few days, but was told it wasn't that bad. |
Posted By: Unit3
Date Posted: 14 Apr 2018 at 11:21pm
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!!!WOW!!! ------------- 2-8070FWA PS/8050PS/7080/7045PS/200/D15-II/2-WD45/WD/3-WC/UC/C |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 14 Apr 2018 at 11:25pm
| that reminds me Creston...an old farmer up here also farmed somewhere in MO. and every spring and fall would drive their tractors and combine and all support equipment down there and back. when the grandsons got older, they talked gramps into hauling the equipment down and back. soooooo....the first overpass they came to cleaned off the cab and grain tank of the combine! LMAO |
Posted By: EPALLIS
Date Posted: 14 Apr 2018 at 11:45pm
| Drove a D-17 Series IV 28 miles from the place of purchase to the farm. You are correct. You don't forget one minute of the trip, it's a life long memory.... |
Posted By: AaronSEIA
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 6:21am
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I ran dads new to him 7060 from Kalona, IA to Palo, IA the back way. Took a bit over 3 hours. AaronSEIA |
Posted By: Dakota Dave
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 7:12am
| I drive the tractor and batwing from the farm to the fields 22 miles mow 12 miles of roadside and drive it back to the farm another 20 miles all in the same day. |
Posted By: saele
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 7:16am
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A neighbor of mine, long since passed, purchased the first Steamer in the country. The Case Steamer and Thrashing Machine arrived by Train to Langdon, ND and he drove to his farm West of Alsen, ND about 30 + miles. It wasn't unusual for the custom combining crews to drive their combines, from this area to SD and then back again. This would have be in the 1950's and 60's. |
Posted By: DaveWisc.
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 7:48am
| I drove a H Mc Cormick 70 miles in the winter with just a Heathauser on it.When it got warmed up it had 20 pounds of oil pressure so had to overhaul it.The dealer was good gave me the overhaul kit.This was the early 70s young then I was early 20s. |
Posted By: darrel in ND
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 7:58am
| I knew a guy who had his hired hand drive an 1150 versatile over 250 miles to a new farm that he'd taken on. Can't remember if that was a two day trip or one looooooooong day. Darrel |
Posted By: IBWD MIke
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 8:26am
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Last spring I drove my 1066 about 35 miles one way to pick up a planter. The trip South was rather fun. After getting hooked up to the planter the lift assist wheels didn't swivel correctly. That made the trip home interesting. That and crossing the 'mile long bridge'. Had to have the sheriffs dept. come out and shut it down to go across. |
Posted By: jiminnd
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 9:18am
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Not the same but when we did the drive to the GOTO in Canada we drove 300 miles in three days, there were 25 of us crazy enough to do that. ------------- 1945 C, 1949 WF and WD, 1981 185, 1982 8030, unknown D14(nonrunner) |
Posted By: Wayne180d
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 10:02am
| Bought the Farmall M and WC that my dad and I both grew up on as a hired hand for the same guy. Dad hauled the WC home on my trailer and I drove the M home about 40 miles. Never will forget my joy and elation that day. Did not seem very long. |
Posted By: Gerald J.
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 10:34am
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For a couple years after I bought my farm I kept my tractor (MF-135) at home and drove 8 miles to and from the farm. One trip it had snowed and I saw a fellow trying to shovel a very steep driveway, so I turned in and cleared most of it without asking for cash and was given a $20 for my effort. Later I was hauling my three point back hoe about 15 miles to a welding shop in Randall and a split in the inside sidewall of the right rear tire pinched the tube and the tractor and I took a bath in calcium chloride. The silver painted drive housing rusted instantly. When I got to Randall, I put the tire shop at the elevator to work emptying the remains of the calcium chloride from the two tires and got a ride home. My jeans were stiff enough to stand on their own. I spent a couple days shopping and got a pair of new rear tires and had the coop put them on without liquid weight. Now I live about 22 miles from the farm, but I'm not farming it. I have the MF-135 here and a 4020 at the farm in one of the sheds I've put up over the years and the 4020 now has the MF 276 loader which is a better fit than on the MF-135. Neither tractor is getting exercise and last time I used the MF-135 with a blade for moving snow it quit running, acts like a gummed up carburetor. Gerald J. |
Posted By: Mike Plotner
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 10:58am
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at work I used to drive tractors long distances between prison farms. mostly went from Lima to Mansfield with a 6215R Deere pulling knight spreader and Deere 230 disk. about 130 ish miles going the back way. went from Lime to London pulling a 15ft great plains drill once. only about 50 miles on that trip, but had to go through a couple good size towns ------------- 2001 Gleaner R42, 1978 7060, 1977 7000, 1966 190 XT, 1966 D-17 Series IV and 1952 WD and more keep my farm running! |
Posted By: Unit3
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 11:14am
Darrel, you reminded me of bring home mom and dad's NH 9884. It was bought at a winter time retirement auction. It only had one tiny little flaw. An O ring in the cab heater valve broke and I couldn't control the heat. I didn't want to shut it off because it was cold outside and you don't want to run it with a door open. You could have grown ferns in the cab that night.
------------- 2-8070FWA PS/8050PS/7080/7045PS/200/D15-II/2-WD45/WD/3-WC/UC/C |
darrel in ND wrote:Posted By: DanWi
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 11:49am
| Drove a few tractors 40-60 miles home from auctions. In the early 1980s I worked for another farmer when I got out of high school, he bought a massey 44 at an auction one winter day. He came home got me and 2 neighbors, and went to get the tractor. It wasn't all that far away maybe 5-10 miles but it was a cold and windy day. one of us took off with the tractor and the other 3 followed in the car. Every time we got to a stop sign it was chinese fire drill, one person got out of the car to drive the tractor and the tractor driver got to get in the car to warm up. The other memorable drive a friend bought an M2 right down by the border of southwest Wisconsin, almost a 3 hour drive by truck at the time. So 3 of us, in one pickup, drove down early one day to get the combine on the road. My friend takes off with the combine. There was another auction on the way home so the two of us went to the auction for a little while and probably drove thru a few machinery lots on the way. We grabbed a few burgers somewhere on the way and we had kind of figured that the combine had or hadn't gotten past us anyway I remember we ran up or down the road some miles before we located him. Other then a close call for the combine on a busy two lane the trip went ok. This was before cell phones so we had no way of locating each other. |
Posted By: Ed (Ont)
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 3:36pm
| My son drove my WD45 from home farm to my place. Took him 4hr to come to my place. Exactly 60 miles. So 15mph. Has bigger than original tires so goes a bit faster than listed in manual. He used GPS while driving and it showed same speed. |
Posted By: victoryallis
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 6:29pm
Heck some of us have fields further than that away. ------------- 8030 and 8050MFWD, 7580, 3 6080's, 160, 7060, 175, heirloom D17, Deere 8760 |
Posted By: Ray54
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 6:54pm
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I worked for a cousin that did a bit of custom harvesting out here and we moved 2,3,or 4 MH2 combines 30 to 60 miles without thinking about. On the longer moves a lot of it was on the highway from Paso Robles to King City Ca. Always with the headers on. The only close call was I put a car into the center median as I miss counted how many cars passed before I could pull around a parked car on the shoulder. The sons had been begging for permission to put CB radio in the cabs,but old man always said no. Well this changed his mind about them being us full. I also moved my old D6 Cat 7 miles from home by going across country and jeep trails. Took about 2 hours including opening and closing gates. I hauled the 18 foot disc as it didn't fit between trees and gates. |
Posted By: AveryD12
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 9:56pm
| Back in the mid 70’s my uncle worked at the IH dealer. A customer ordered a cotton picker. It was getting late in the harvesting season and the picker was still in Memphis, TN at the rail yard waiting for train to bring it further south. The customer needed the picker in a bad way so the dealer ship decided to send my uncle and another employee with a truck/trailer to haul it here - a little over 300 miles. When they arrived in Memphis they found the picker was too large for the truck/trailer. They ended up driving it here from Memphis. The customer complained about the wear on the tires. LOL. |
Posted By: Wdtractorman
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 10:12pm
My most memorable tractor drive was this little feller. http://s1166.photobucket.com/user/wdtractorman1984/media/Mobile%20Uploads/CF45E40E-2EF6-4C04-B37D-7F04D49BDB3F_zpscj8gfijy.jpg.html" rel="nofollow"> It wasnt but about 40 miles but i think it was about 5 hrs on two lanes having to dodge in and out behind the mail boxes and rd signs. Worst part was going up a long strech between a guardrail and rock wall and my flager keep letting cars through. |
Posted By: 180Puller
Date Posted: 15 Apr 2018 at 10:23pm
In 2006 I drove this 6030 JD 230 miles home from Lindsborg,KS...Here I am at Teeter Hill in the Kansas Flint Hills..In 2004 I drove a G-1000 Vista MM 280 miles home from Minneapolis,KS..It was the most fun that I've ever had..
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Posted By: JohnCO
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 12:51am
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When I was 10 or 11 my dad bought an Allis C and let me drive it home about 9 miles, not nearly as much traffic back then. Was a cold day, around 20 and no sun but I had a grin on my face the entire trip. I was telling the county sheriff about the trip a while ago, his dad sold us the tractor before the Sheriff was born. Their place is now a gas station and major intersection in town. ------------- "If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer" Allis Express participant |
Posted By: calico190xt68
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 11:18am
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I bought my 190xt about 1.5 years ago and I knew that the injection pump was bad because it was leaking badly. The tractor appeared to run fine so I drove it 35 miles and hoped I would make it. I left a stream of fuel on the pavement all the way home. It pumped far more out when I was at idle and/or stopped too. I had an extra 10 gallons of fuel in case I ran out. That's not the crazy part to the story though. My son was only 13 and didn't have a drivers license, but I was confident he could drive a truck following me at 17 mph and not get into any trouble. So, I didn't take an adult to help me drive the 2.5 hours home. He had been driving tractors and the pickup for a couple of years around the farm and on the road. We've all done it, right? So, I get on this single lane highway about 4 miles into my trip and as I came up on a hill I saw this little gray Honda wanting to pass me. I thought surely he will wait, but noooo. He takes off around my son in the pickup and I catch him out of the corner of my eye. Of course, since I was sitting up tall I knew there was another little red car coming up the hill. So, by the time he seems him, it is too late. We go 3 wide over the crest of that hill! I got over as far as I could, and so did the red car and everyone survived. That red car was going at least 55mph and he was probably shocked to see that Honda. My son and I did not tell my wife about it for many months. Of course, it wouldn't have been my fault had something gone wrong, but I would have had a hard time convincing an officer that I was driving both the truck and the tractor! ------------- 80 7010, 80 7020. 67 190XTD Series I w/500 Loader, AC 2000 Plow, Member Indiana A-C Partners, Member TAC |
Posted By: wfmurray
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 12:25pm
| Drove a small massey for brother in law .Had built him a trailor and he came to get it.It was cold and he was sick so i offered to drive it home for him.Only 7or 8 miles but 1/3 throudle that thing run back and forth across the road. Had to much toe in .Check things before making a trip. |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 1:39pm
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When my wife's family moved "north" to my area, they were about 80 miles away and drove 3 tractors and a combine up over a couple weeks time. I drove a JD 50 home from repair about 12 miles when I was 13. A few years later, drove a JD 630 30 mile round trip to get a loader put on it....that was a long day! Actually rotated with Dad a little bit on that trip because it was COLD. I didn't have driver license yet, because I was just turning 16, but I took a turn in the truck even so. When I bought my combine, it was the first piece of farm equipment I was totally responsible for the farm getting, and bought with my personal money, so I was nervous as all get out. Had the corn head on the front too, grain table on a trailer Dad was towing with the truck. Well, being I was so nervous, I was listening for every little groan and creek and expecting the worst all the time, I got 2 miles down the road and I thought HOLY CRAP, I'm going to be all night doing this......and realized I hadn't remembered to shift it into the highest gear. I got going a little faster as I got more comfortable, it was about 30 miles in all. Since then, drove it 35 miles to a buddy's farm for him to use, and a couple weeks later drove it back. I guess you could say I got more comfortable on that combine over the years. A couple years ago, I was transporting, and waaayyyy up ahead of me was a little old tractor. I thought he just pulled out, probably doesn't have far to go, no worries. Well, way sooner than I thought, I caught up to him. Kept slowing down more and more... finally said SCREW IT! Looked over my shoulder, poured the coals to the combine, and passed that little tractor! The look on the guy's face was absolutely priceless!!!
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Posted By: groundhog55
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 2:54pm
| Back in 1980 I drove a L2 combine from Towanda Il. to Rensselaer In. Which is about 140 miles. Then the next day drove another just like it from just north of Springfield Il. to Rensselaer In. 180 miles and did it in 9 hours. |
Posted By: Bill Long
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 4:20pm
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During WWII on the fourth of July - I do not remember the year - customer came to our dealership and picked up two combines. Brought his own tractors. Remember we were under a strict rationing for gasoline used for cars but not so bad for farming. Since it was the fourth of July we found USA Flags and placed them on the combines. I remember them driving away from our Dealership in Stevenson, MD They were doin there best "fitin the war". We all knew we had to win it. It was a time like no other. Made me very proud. Good Luck! Bill Long |
Posted By: truckerfarmer
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 8:49pm
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It's 17 miles from my house to in-laws place where I farm. Don't think twice about driving that short distance. I find it an enjoyable drive. You see things differently at a slower speed. ------------- Looking at the past to see the future. '53 WD, '53 WD45, WD snap coupler field cultivator, #53 plow,'53 HD5B dozer Duct tape.... Can't fix stupidity. But will muffle the sound of it! |
Posted By: ezlle71
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2018 at 10:00am
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I towed a 14 ft 1160 hesston hydroswing swather 100 miles home with my pickup here couple years ago. A good friend bought three gleaner C combines and drove them all home about 60 or so miles. I have to drive equipment 12 miles to farm the place i farm from the home place. If my 190xt would have had brakes i would have roaded it home the 25 miles when i bought it ------------- 190XT, 185, D15 SII, 7040 is living again, 7010 retired for parts. |