Fall Work with an IH 544
by Jason Rhodes
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| IH 544 with wood splitter |
Fall was always a nice time of the year growing up in Pennsylvania. The hard labor of haying was finished for the most part, and the chores got a little more fun. When I was young, one of the surest signs that fall had arrived, was when we would put the hydraulic wood-splitter on the three-point hitch of the International 544.
My grandparents heated their house with wood, so we would cut and split lots of wood every fall. When I was five or six I got to operate the wood splitter while the rest of my family cut and piled wood. That was always a lot of fun. I really enjoyed playing with the massive power of hydraulics.
When I learned of the fall theme for this issue, those days popped into my head. I figured I would build a nice model of that International 544 with a wood splitter to stick with the theme. I started with an old Ertl International 544 casting that had seen better days. Like most of them, the castings were semi split, and there dents here and there. I cut the axels and wheels off of the casting and went to work.
Detailed IH 544
The first step was to clamp the castings together while I drilled two holes in the hood for the exhaust and gas cap. From there I used a Dremel to remove the hitch, seat and other small areas. After the hitch was removed, I scratch built a steel three-point hitch to dress up the area. I also made and added a detailed PTO area with take off lever, and two-outlet hydraulics with lines leading to controls by the seat.
From there, I scratch built a new seat and grill, and made and added all the levers for hydraulics, throttle, shifting and torque. To finish the building phase of the model, I added a wide front axel, weight bracket and a turned aluminum exhaust.
After the building phase on the 544 was completed, I turned my attention to the wood splitter. That only took about five hours of total build time. The hydraulic cylinder is made of 1/2" aluminum rod with a 3/16" piece of break line epoxy inside. The hydraulic lines are made of the wire used on cheap headphones that you can buy at any dollar store. I scratch build the fitting for the lines one at a time. The wood splitter is removable so the tractor can be displayed in other ways as well.
Wood Splitter
After primer, paint and decals I had invested about eighteen hours of labor into the tractor. I've built a couple other versions of this model as well. This is by far the most accurate and detailed one though. If you would like more information about this model or how it came together, you can email me at jason@modeltractors.com . I hope everyone has a great fall, because winter will be here before you know it!
 IH 544 with splitter |
 Splitter on IH 544 |
Splitter
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| Pulling
Tractors and Customs
Custom built to order Pulling tractors and some models ready to ship. E-mail or Call for models available. Jeff Blackburn 683 Beech Wood CT #29 Ripon, WI 54971 E-Mail: Polarisjb@charter.net Phone: 920-410-4375
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