Tractor grill

DrJ · April 09, 2009, 11:23:59 AM

Quote from: "tomslik"cockshutt's are cooooolllll....

As are late '40's Olivers.
The one Crosley has picked out doesn't suck either!

I'm a city boy so I didn't grow up around tractors but i got this movie about the early history of them and in the movie they talk about Farmers buying new tractors and taking them to the farm and immediately adapting cultivation tools to them and making modifications to them so they will work better for the type of farming they do.
Then it says the tractor makers consulted with the farmers, and went back to the factory and added these adaptations to the next tractor model.
Farmers modifying an engine powered vehicle?
Sounds like hot rodding to me!
So, I think using a tractor shell is a fair tribute to what might be the genesis of hot rodding in the first place!

purplepickup · April 09, 2009, 02:12:04 PM

Quote from: "phat46"Looks like we're heading down the same road Tony..

Joe, I took the liberty to put a little radius at the center bar of your grill to match the outside corners of the opening and brought the nose down a bit. ....just messing around.

Using tractor grill shells brings lots of opportunities to get a unique look using real American heritage parts. I agree with DrJ's reasoning.

phat46 · April 09, 2009, 04:37:48 PM

Funny that you'd do that George, I have already cut the bottom so I can make it "rounder" to match the top. I'll have to cut the outside corners at the bottom too so they can be pulled out to match. I am also thinking of making it two inches taller to match the cowl height and get more rad in it.

GPster · April 09, 2009, 05:04:47 PM

Quote from: "phat46"Funny that you'd do that George, I have already cut the bottom so I can make it "rounder" to match the top. I'll have to cut the outside corners at the bottom too so they can be pulled out to match. I am also thinking of making it two inches taller to match the cowl height and get more rad in it.

What if you found another one and used the top turned upside-down? maybe George could computor graphic that. GPster

phat46 · April 09, 2009, 10:07:07 PM

Quote from: "GPster"
Quote from: "phat46"Funny that you'd do that George, I have already cut the bottom so I can make it "rounder" to match the top. I'll have to cut the outside corners at the bottom too so they can be pulled out to match. I am also thinking of making it two inches taller to match the cowl height and get more rad in it.
What if you found another one and used the top turned upside-down? maybe George could computor graphic that. GPster

Hmmm, I kinda like that idea Joe. ... and I happen to know where there is another one, but it's 552 miles away at deer camp...

47convert · April 20, 2009, 11:49:17 PM

Mom always said if you can't say something nice; Shut the _____ Up, so I will say tractor grilles look really nice on tractors. Just my 2 cents. If I liked something I wouldn't care at all whether or not someone else did or didn't soas long as you like it have fun.

Uncle Bob · April 24, 2009, 12:20:34 AM

Quote from: "DrJ"
Quote from: "tomslik"cockshutt's are cooooolllll....

As are late '40's Olivers.

The Oliver model 70 has a shape that looks nearly like a track roadster nose. This one has had the rad fill shaved, but otherwise original in shape.

jaybee · April 24, 2009, 12:01:22 PM

That Oliver grill looks as if it might have been built for a car or truck, it doesn't scream "tractor" the way some of them do.

DrJ · April 24, 2009, 04:08:09 PM

Quote from: "jaybee"That Oliver grill looks as if it might have been built for a car or truck, it doesn't scream "tractor" the way some of them do.

They were on the tractors around the time they had full smooth bodies on the "Orchard tractors".
The idea was to not have mechanical protrusions that might damage the trees or fruit as the tractor went down the lanes.
The whole tractor was very streamlined and car looking.