Written By Larry Gay
Versatile Manufacturing Ltd., a Canadian farm equipment company, entered the tractor market in 1966 with two models of articulated, 4-wheel-drive tractors. The D100 was equipped with a 6-cylinder, 363-cubic-inch Ford diesel engine with 128 engine horsepower and the G100 developed 135 engine horsepower with its 318-cubic-inch Chrysler V-8 gasoline engine. By the 1977 model year, Versatile was building nine models of 4-wheel-drive tractors at its Winnipeg, Manitoba, factory. The 950 Series 2 was the largest, producing 348 engine horsepower with its 903-cubic-inch Cummins V-8 turbocharged diesel engine. Its12-forward speeds ranged from 2.5 to 14.1 mph with 24.5-32 tires.
Versatile first exhibited a unique experimental tractor with an 8-wheel drive at the 1977 Farm Progress Show near Washington, Iowa. It was identified as the Model 1080, but was also known as “Big Roy,” being named for the company’s president, Roy Robinson. This articulated tractor was built with four drive axles, two under the front section and two under the section behind the articulated joint. It was 30.5-feet long and had an operating weight of 57,580 pounds.
The experimental 1080 featured a big increase in power over the production 950 Series 2 tractor as it was powered by a 6-cylinder, 1,150-cubic-inch Cummins diesel engine which was rated at 600 engine horsepower. The engine was located in the rear section of the tractor. The front section held the cab and the 550-gallon fuel tank. The manual 6-speed transmission provided speeds ranging from 3.7 to 13.2 mph with the 30.5-32 tires.
The cab was isolated with rubber mounts and equipped with a ROPS for rollover protection. There was an adjustable seat for the operator and two fixed seats for passengers. Since the cab was mounted low on the front section and the hood on the rear section was high, visibility to the rear was poor. Therefore, Big Roy was equipped with a camera at the rear of the tractor which projected a view of what was happening behind the tractor on a 9-inch monitor inside the cab.
Big Roy with its four drive axles and eight single tires could articulate 40 degrees in each direction. This gave it a turning radius of 26.6 feet, measured to the outside of the tires. However, the axles did not steer, so both the front and rear sections, each with two fixed axles, had to skid when the tractor made a turn. This resulted in more tire wear than with a conventional articulated, 4-wheel-drive tractor. Today Big Roy resides at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin, Manitoba.
Larry Gay is the author of four tractor books and the “Machinery Milestones” articles in Heritage Iron magazine. To learn more about this magazine which focuses on the 1960-1990 era, go to heritageiron.com or call 1-855-old iron.
