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Automobile conversions and other homemade versions

The ingenuity of farm mechanics, coupled in some cases with OEM or aftermarket assistance, has often resulted in the conversion of automobiles for use as farm tractors. In the United States, this trend was especially strong from the 1910s through 1950s. It began early in the development of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, with blacksmiths and amateur mechanics tinkering in their shops. Especially during the interwar period, dozens of manufacturers (Montgomery Ward among them) marketed aftermarket kits for converting Ford Model Ts for use as tractors. (These were sometimes called 'Hoover wagons' during the Great Depression, although this term was usually reserved for automobiles converted to horse-drawn buggy use when gasoline was unavailable or unaffordable. During the same period, another common name was " Doodlebug ", after the popular kit by the same name.) Ford even considered producing an "official" optional kit. Many Model A Fords also were converted for this purpose. In later years, some farm mechanics have been known to convert more modern trucks or cars for use as tractors, more often as curiosities or for recreational purposes (rather than out of the earlier motives of pure necessity or frugality).

During World War II, a shortage of tractors in Sweden led to the development of the so-called "EPA" tractor (EPA was a chain of discount stores and it was often used to signify something lacking in quality). An EPA tractor was simply an automobile, truck or lorry, with the passenger space cut off behind the front seats, equipped with two gearboxes in a row. When done to an older car with a ladder frame, the result was similar to a tractor and could be used as one. After the war it remained popular as a way for young people without a driver's license to own something similar to a car. Since it was legally seen as a tractor, it could be driven from 16 years of age and only required a tractor license. Eventually, the legal loophole was closed and no new EPA tractors were allowed to be made, but the remaining ones were still legal, which led to inflated prices and many protests from people who preferred EPA tractors to ordinary cars.

The Swedish government eventually replaced them with the so called "A-tractor" which now had its speed limited to 30 km/h and allowed people aged 16 and older to drive the cars with a moped license.

The German occupation of Italy during World War II resulted in a severe shortage of mechanized farm equipment. The destruction of tractors was a sort of scorched-earth strategy used to reduce the independence of the conquered. The shortage of tractors in that area of Europe was the origin of Lamborghini. The war was also the inspiration for dual-purpose vehicles such as the Land Rover. Based on the Jeep, the company made a vehicle that combined PTO, tillage, 4wd, and transportation.

In March 1975, a similar type of vehicle was introduced in Sweden, the A tractor; the main difference is an A tractor has a top speed of 30 km/h. This is usually done by fitting two gearboxes in a row and only using one. The Volvo Duett was, for a long time, the primary choice for conversion to an EPA or A tractor, but since supplies have dried up, other cars have been used, in most cases another Volvo. The SFRO is a Swedish organization advocating homebuilt and modified vehicles.

Another type of homemade tractors are ones that are fabricated from scratch. The " from scratch " description is relative, as often individual components will be repurposed from earlier vehicles or machinery (e.g., engines, gearboxes, axle housings), but the tractor's overall chassis is essentially designed and built by the owner (e.g., a frame is welded from bar stock —channel stock, angle stock, flat stock, etc.). As with automobile conversions, the heyday of this type of tractor, at least in developed economies, lies in the past, when there were large populations of blue-collar workers for whom metalworking and farming were prevalent parts of their lives. (For example, many 19th- and 20th-century New England and Midwestern machinists and factory workers had grown up on farms.) Backyard fabrication was a natural activity to them (whereas it might seem daunting to most people today).