Farmers are just plain awesome. It does not matter where they are, what they are growing, or how long they have been in the business, they all share some common bonds. One of them is the ability to meet the needs of their business by nearly any means necessary.
In the case of Greg and Glenn Honey of Bracken, Saskatchewan, it was the need for horsepower that brought them together to build what you see here. A massive custom tractor called The Honey Bee. Constructed in the winter of 1979 from scratch, the ‘Bee would go onto work for nearly 20 years unabated into the 1990s. This tractor worked so well that the guys built a second one! That tractor is still on their farm awaiting the nut and bolt restoration that this one has already gone through.
It is great to hear Greg Honey tell the story of this tractor and the thought process behind it. Yes, it is a two wheel drive and if you think that’s a problem, Honey has a great line to explain it. While mentioning that it is not the best in a mud hole, he says that if you drive it where you are supposed to drive it there are no problems.
The engine is a V12 Cummins that makes about 500hp, the transmission is unit from a big rig (we’re guessing an automatic), and there’s a massive planetary style axle in the rear. The tires are what we’d find on a big front end loader and the fronts are the style normally found on the rear of turf tractors.
This is the epitome of BangShift approved. Building a monster to meet the needs of a big farm and getting more than 6,000 hours of laborious work out of it is just freaking fantastic.
