A 1977 Big Bud Goes Back to Work in Montana, Now With 700 Cummins Horsepower

On a Montana wheat operation, a 1977 Big Bud is pulling its weight again. Welker Farms put the tractor back into service for the wheat harvest after fitting it with a Cummins engine rated at 700 horsepower. The Big Bud ranks among the largest tractors ever built anywhere, and an example from 1977 is a machine collectors know on sight. This one is not sitting in a shed or on a show field. Welker Farms chose to give it a new heart and send it to the wheat. That 700-horsepower figure is the number owners of heavy iron will notice first. Collectors usually admire a machine of this size and vintage as a survivor. At Welker Farms it is also a working tractor again, with a current Cummins powerplant and a harvest to bring in.

With reporting from The Drive.