Dennis Post builds twin-engine tractor 'for fun'
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 08/12/2010 8:38 AM
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MAZEPPA, Minn. — Denis Post was getting to the point where he knew he'd go crazy if he had to replace another clutch.
"After you fix tractors for 30 years, you need to do something different," said Post, who went to mechanics school, worked in a John Deere shop and an Oliver shop and now farms with Allis Chalmers tractors.
Post needed a challenge.
He found an idea at the Orange Spectacular — held every year in Hutchinson — a tractor with two engines.
Post thought, "I can do that" and he did.
His daughter, Hilary, gave him a deadline: Aug. 29, 2009. It was her wedding day and she wanted a hayride from Woodville Chapel just down the road from their farm in rural Mazeppa to the reception at the community center in town.
He started working on the tractor in August 2008, buying a rusting Allis-Chalmers WD45 from a neighbor. The WD45 had sat neglected in the weeds for years. The rear tires were shot and the manure bucket hung useless on the tractor.
Post designed and built the custom WD45 as he went. He built the second engine using pieces and parts from his shed. There ares three hoods. The side frame came from tractors he'd junked out. He had to throw away the first set because they warped when he welded them together. The drive shaft is from two tractors and is joined between the engines with two end yokes.
The throttle runs to both engines with the back engine having the governor for both and the radiator in front cools both engines. The grill and radiator are from the WD45 he rescued from the weeds.
The rear tires are from an old Gleaner combine.
"Everything's Allis around here," Post said.
He built the tractor on rainy days and in the evenings after milking. He'd tune in the radio and listen to Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity while he worked. He'd come in the house around 11 p.m., eat, watch the Weather Channel and then head off to bed.
"It was a challenge," Post said.
His younger brother, Daniel, came from Nebraska for the wedding and helped put the finishing touches on the tractor the morning of the wedding. The paint was still sticky on the front wheels when they took off for the chapel, with the radiator springing a leak on the way.
"The day of the wedding was the maiden voyage," Post said.
The twin-engine WD45 worked fine after they fixed the radiator, carrying the wedding party of 20-plus to town in a red hay wagon with bales for seats and Post in his tux behind the wheel.
The tractor gets only two miles per gallon, Post said.
He's taken some ribbing from his John Deere friends who say an Allis-Chalmers needs two motors to keep up with a John Deere. Post counters that he couldn't drive as fast as his Allis would go in a parade because he was behind a John Deere that slowed him down.
Post drove the unique WD45 in the Mazeppa Daze with his grandson, Weston, throwing candy.
He wants to drive in some other local parades and he also plans to take the tractor to the Root River Antique Engine and Tractor Show when they feature Allis-Chalmers.
People always ask him why he did it and his answer's always the same: "for fun."
There's also a satisfaction in knowing he can do it and make it work.
His wife, Molly, praises her husband's handiwork.
"I think it's awesome … something to be proud of," she said.
The twin-engine WD45 likely won't be his last project. Daughter Annie wants the C in the shed fixed up so she can drive it in parades. Post is mulling over the idea of creating a siamese WD. He has plenty of potential drivers. He and Molly have six children and 11 grandchildren, with one on the way.
Post will also restore the Farmall 350 diesel sitting in the yard in honor of his brother, Daniel. Daniel was killed in a car accident in November and they brought the tractor back to Minnesota from Columbus, Neb.