Looking for a Doodlebug in Connecticut

KGBnut

KGBnut

Well-known member
My father built a Model A tractor during the war when he was 15 years old. He kept using it until the 60s, but then it became yard art. He ended up trading it away and lost track of it.

The rumor is that it ended up in Ridgefield, Connecticut, possibly with a guy that collects doodlebugs.

It had a big double-reduction rear end that was made by the Torbenson Axle Company of Cleveland, Ohio. It also had dual transmissions.

Pop was just wondering what happened to it, so I thought I would ask. I figured somebody here on the Fordbarn may have it, or know who does.
 

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Bob,

I look forward to hearing what happened with it. I can't wait to tell Pop the tale.

Ken
 
Of all the cars, trucks, motorcycles and race cars I've had since 1966 this is the very first time a photo turned up of one of them asking about its history. Ken, please tell us about your Dad building it during WWII, that part is the special part of its history. Were did it live, bet I drove buy it many times not knowing it.
I was in the back yard one evening and a truck was coming up from the South unmuffled, got even louder as it came up the hill, then stopped. I went around front to see what it was. David who grew up two doors down from the old family homestead, was out of his beat up Chevy and in my driveway. Hadn't seen him in a few years, he held the record for most Tri 5 Chevies and MoPar muscle cars on the street in the late 1970's and was scraping cars now. The Doodle Bug was something he tought I may want, he was right. Forget what he wanted, but it wasn't much. Its life as a vehicle was over, but it sure was a good parts doner. The real interesting part was the Torbensen rear axle out of a 2 Ton truck, fairly certain the patent date was 1914. If my memory is correct there was a ring gear inside the brake drum that mated to a gear on the end of the axle. Real HEAVY item, it had a long life on eBay
One September I relisted it and mentioned that it would be easy for the winner to pick it up on the way to Hershey or on the way home. The winner took that to mean I'd deliver it to Hershey. I wanted it out of the yard and added it to the trailer load, single axle, with lots of toung weight now. Lost a right tire running with an 18 wheeler on a curve around Allentown, had is swapped out in NASCAR time and made it to Hershey. Think it was Thursday night that the winner finally showed up to get the Torbensen, sitting all by it self, and he had backed his pickup up to it. He started in with "It's a lot bigger than I thought, I don't supose you'd consider........... Before he could finish that thought, Ted,Mike and Bruce who were standing there had it in his truck. He paid me, and it make it to the other side of the Chocolate field, it may have made its way to up state New York. I'll ask if I see him in October. When I find the photos I'll post them. Bob
 
So Bob,

If I understand you right, the tractor was parted out, and the tale of going to Hershey was just the sale of that Torbenson rear end. Is that correct?

There is a lot of history to that Doodlebug. When I see Pop this weekend, I will get all I can. It will take me a while to write it all up.


The short version...

As I best remember, he scavenged one doodlebug to make another. I think that rear end was on another doodlebug (Studebaker?) that wasn't in great shape. He married it up to the Model A.

He hired himself out with that tractor all around New Canaan, where he lived most his life, and made okay money for those days.

I was born in '65 and I don't ever remember it running, but in my youth it was a my jungle gym. All the neighborhood kids would play on it.


I will get more detail and post it...likely early next week. I have more pictures, too.

Ken
 
Ken, When the Doodlebug arrived it was so far gone there wasn't a thought of doing anything other than parting it out. The two front wheels may be in the stack of 19 inchers I'm collecting for a yard art project, but there is know way to ID from the others. I don't remember if the guy that bought the Torbensen planned to put it in an old truck or what, it is the only unique to the vehicle item, so you could build a clone if he wants to part with it. Look forward to reading about your Dad building it and making a few bucks along the way. This is a part of Model A history that gets overlooked, having the photos is such a rare treat. Bob
 
That is not terribly surprising. I spoke to Pop this evening and he said that the last time he tried to do anything with that tractor (late 70s...early 80s) the engine was stuck.

He gave it to a guy named Bobby Pennoyer. Do you know if that is where your friend David got it?

A bit more on its history....

When Pop was 13 years old (1942), he got his hands on an abandoned doodlebug that was built from a 1918 Willys. He and his father got it running, and used it for plowing and other typical duties. However, he pretty quickly found that it was under-powered and hard to get parts.

After using it for a year, he bought a Model A chassis that a fella was using as a tractor. It was unmodified, other than the body being removed. Pop shortened the frame and added a second transmission. Pop then scavenged the Torbenson rear end from the Willys. With both transmissions in low gear, and with that double-reduction rear the thing would rip tree trunks out of the ground.

He fabricated a wooden dump body that could be dropped on to it, made a trailer to pull he tree sprayer, and added a winch on the front.

He used it to plow his back fields, used the dump body to haul all the dirt when they dug the basement for the addition on his father's house. At one point, his next door neighbor decided to move his house on his lot. He jacked the house up, slipped skids under it and cut the house in half with a hand saw to move it in two pieces...a hand saw!.... Can you imagine someone doing that today? He had hired a professional mover to drag the pieces across the skids, but couldn't budge it. This teenage kid pulled his Model A tractor over. It did strain at the job, but moved the house. The other guy packed up his tools and went home.

There is more to the story, but it is getting late. I will fill in more later.

Bob, Pop said if you would like to meet some time, he can tell you some more about it. Do you have other doodlebugs?
 
As soon as I find the photos I'll post them, this is a great story. I'd like to drive over to see the house that it moved. Moving houses was a common thing back in the 1800's into the early 1900's, I had a list of over 20 that I knew of here in Ridgefield, three are on my street all moved with horses, ropes and pullies. Bob
 
I'll have to double-check with Pop, but I think it is number 327.

Pop and I will be working on our 1930 Coupe most the day on Sunday, and we will be only about a mile from there. If you are interesting in meeting up, let me know and I will PM my contact information.
 
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