DIY Custom Metal Art Tractor

Materials & Tools

- angle grinder

- welder

- sandblaster(choice)

- "1 1/2 metal tube

- screws

- gears

- other choices of metal

- washers

The first step is to find all your pieces. There are many different sources you can find metal. I chose to disassemble a transmission because it has a lot of gears and other pieces of metal that you can use. You can also use just little pieces of metal that you find anywhere.

For beginning the frame, you will need a flat piece of quarter inch strap iron that is 1 1/2 inches wide for the base. Next, you will need a 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch piece of square tubing for the engine cover. Now, you will want to cut out a half U shape, half square shape in your square tubing so you can put a engine inside of the tractor. After that you will want to weld a 1/4 inch piece of strap iron for the front grille.

After you have started on the frame, you will want to add on a bumper and extend the frame so you can add a seat later on. To do this, you can take a 1/4 inch piece of square tubing, cut it to a length of about two inches and weld it on the front right about where the bumper would be. To extend the frame, I took a 2 inch link of chain and welded it to the frame. If you do not have as big of a chain link, another piece of strap iron will work.

Next step is putting the engine into your tractor. For this you may want to use various scraps of metal such as small gears, springs, screws, and miscellaneous pieces of metal that you have remaining from the pieces you cut for the tractor. Weld them into the frame.

To add the seat and the steering wheel, you will need a washer or another type of metal that resembles a tractor seat. For putting the seat on, you will need a 3/16 bolt or bigger, or just a metal rod. For the steering wheel, you will also need a 3/16 bolt with a washer welded on top of the screw head.

For the wheels you can either use washers piled up in a stack, or gears (like these ones I found in a transmission). After you have finished everything else on the tractor, if you desire you can sandblast it to take all the rust and welding spatter off of the tractor's frame.