Best Volkswagen Tractor Ever Made. But It's Broken.

I do not know who built this 1967 vw powered tractor but they did a great job. better then any store bought machine I have seen in a long time, some features are wipers, heat and defrost, power angle and lift plow with down pressure, hydraulic brakes and separate emergency brake, truck transmission and rear axle cut down, swivel seat, full dash, the list keeps going, but oil is pouring out of the bottom and the whole thing needs to come apart. Lets fix it.

[@Philc231]

Whoever made this was a decent engineer

[@GratefulEd907]

They probably put the plow on the weigh the front down.

[@bobmoe9221]

👍 a competent craftsman too.

[@midnightrunner684]

Whoever made this was " The Man "

[@majesticskeever]

Any other pearls of wisdom?

[@Texas4x]

@@GratefulEd907 I am guessing it was probably always meant to be just a plow and maybe some light towing. It's basically an overpowered lawn tractor, but pretty ingenious.

[@MrButtonpresser]

Full credit to whoever built this little beauty. What a great job.

[@staind288]

Yeah but would have been a better design to have made the engine come out a little easier lol

[@broken_font1881]

@@staind288 sometimes it's impossible to get every design element perfected. If removal of the engine is a little difficult but the tradeoff is the machine is highly serviceable and well built then that's acceptable in my book.

[@LewisMowersandBoats]

No kidding wow 😊

[@rexjolles]

@@staind288 well they probably assumed that they wouldn't need to ever rebuild the engine. I'm sure if it was used regularly since then it would have still worked. It was just sitting for a long time

[@davebrittain9216]

Ya really, I was admiring how they did things. Very well done!

[@skepticalobserver7484]

Someone really put a lot of time and skill into building this back in the day, and sadly it was likely destined to be pulled for parts and/or scrapped as there aren’t many guys willing to tackle something like this. Very cool! Props to the builder and to Mustie for keeping it going a while longer.

[@johnb5519]

Man, the guy who built that was a genius.

[@jodyc]

How many focusing on playful, old lab instead of the tractor at the beginning?

[@jeffh8803]

"Engines? don't care. Just THROW THE BALL"

[@elsdp-4560]

YES

[@gutshotgriz3936]

how could he ignore that puppy???😢

[@keiths8800]

Guilty of watching the dog.

[@calleolsen9359]

🐶

[@wherethereisfaith]

Mustie is like an old friend....he lets us come over to his garage and watch him work and learn some things. Thanks Mustie!!

[@davidsnyder2000]

I’m no mechanic, so thank you for explaining the end play on the crank. With an untrained eye I would’ve thought that amount of end play would’ve meant the motor was no good. I’m an autobody man of 30yrs, so I need to learn more about mechanical issues. I’m greatful Darren for all the time you invest in creating these videos. I can’t speak for everyone, but your videos teach a lot. Your decades of experience are so valuable 👍🙂

[@aliasfred]

46 year retired body/frame repairman here. From "rust belt" Michigan here, I hate rust repairs!

[@iamgriff]

i found a snow blower at the curb, I watched a video Darren made on a similar model. I had mine running like a song. I cleaned the sidewalks on both sides of my street feeling good about fixing my old MTD. Anyway I met my wife thanks to blowing her driveway! Since we have been married she helped my picked up a few snappers, and encouraged me to blow out their boxes, and carbs. Man she is a good woman!

[@rogercamp6071]

I remember when Dad fixed up a Beetle for my sister's first car and the engine had some end play so he took the engine apart and shimmed it up, this from someone who had never worked on a VW before

[@seeker1015]

I've rebuilt a few VeeDub engines and the end play is taken by the main bearing half shells side flanges. If end play is that bad, I'd be thinking a complete bearings, rings, gudgeons rebuild and throw in a valve job too. As the dad would say, while you've got it apart, do the lot and put a new throw out bearing in there too. I balanced and polished the ports on one of my rebuilds, there was lots of difference in weights of pistons and con-rods. It ran smooth like a Swiss watch after. I just figured out which part was the lightest then machined all the others to match using a simple beam balance. This was pre-digital scales days. I also put in an external oil filter. VW only have a near useless sieve, good for catching stray lumps but not the fine stuff that grinds the motor to death. I brazed two steel 3/4" elbows to the oil pump cover and plumbed a filter taken from a Valiant AP5, an beautiful Australian classic car but I bet you'd have an equivalent there. Well done guys.

[@shanemcdonald4956]

That VW tractor was built to hold up.Whoever built it took their time to tap all those holes and engineer a awesome unit. I can’t wait to see the finished product.Thanks

[@simontay4851]

Built to LAST!

[@davidshipulski4532]

I remember seeing this on Marketplace and thinking about buying it. Glad it went to you!🤣👍👍

[@stan9737]

Haven't seen Brian for a long time. Glad he's still around, hope he's doing well.

[@robertopenheimer1451]

All this time I thought he was Daryl's brother, Daryl. 🙂

[@williambinns1631]

I thought Brian was Mustie's son for years. 😂

[@Jesselovespinball]

That thing is awesome! Built like a tank ! And a true testament to Musties knowledge. It’s one thing to work on a car they made a million of . It’s another thing to work on a tractor some guy made by hand in the 70’s . Well done Mustie ! Always enjoy your content!

[@gispel7058]

Built like a very small Panzer! But yeah a tank.

[@mustie1]

makes it fun to work on

[@user-hf9gn8vc6y]

Hi Mustie. Always amazes me how you can find these machines I have never seen before. I love it!!! Great video as always. You rock!!!

[@Hankie56]

Thought the same. Looks more like the machines find him 😂

[@mustie1]

the odd machines make them fun to work on for me

[@sixtyfiveford]

Mad respect for the guy who spent so many hours building this.

[@gregoryenste8459]

That thing is straight out of a 70’s childrens Christmas movie

[@kenstrayhorn5923]

Now that is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. If I ever come across something like that the first thing I would do is be reaching for my wallet. What a find! Greetings from North Carolina farm country.

[@paulwolfe3709]

My wallet would come out so fast, it would tear my pants!

[@Ubermeisteryyy]

A tip: On those seals, you can take the spring out, twist it apart, and then shorten it a bit. Then you twist it in again. The spiral spring has a split point in it.

[@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge]

Always knew of that trick but only used it a few times, either when it was some super obscure car that you just couldn't find the right size seal or doing a buddy a favor when it's 2 AM on a Sunday and we didn't feel like waiting over a day for shops to open. Otherwise a new seal is so cheap there's basically no reason not to get a new one.

[@mikescudder4621]

Hats off to the fella who fabricated this.... outstanding!

[@adrianrouse5148]

Agree with the comments. The guy who built this knew what he was doing and was not work shy.

[@k.kristianjonsson1537]

I can imagine sitting inside that cozy cabin plowing in heavy snowfall. Nice!

[@warmblood58]

love the diverter valves enclosed in the cab, a big leak could get kinda messy! Cool piece of work! Very ingenius

[@aaron71]

YOU BOUGHT IT!!! I was staring at that ad so hard but couldn't justify spending that much at the time. So glad you got this as now I can see what makes it tick!!

[@marksaunders2500]

Hi from uk mustie1 👋👍 yeah good call on rear main but I think you mentioned what I caught...the back of flywheel defo had wear Mark on it the markings of when was originally machined had smooth ring about 1cm ish of the crown on back of engine, to me that end float was questionable asif flywheel hitting/rubbing on seal housing? Am surprised when editing you had to of seen before you pulled 3 shims out you went to front and pulled pully to front of engine about 31:40 our side looked looked bad 😂 and I noticed in threads flywheel bolt looked bit chewed but hope all well that ends well 👌thanks for your time be safe and see you soon 👍 👋

[@WinterInTheForest]

Wow such an interesting contraption! Thanks Mustie

[@JonFJ1200]

Thanks for hiring an x-con as your helper dude. Nice y’all give folks a second chance

[@eunhyuekpark6159]

Man, that tractor musta been a fun build for the guy. Gotta respect that dedication to make your own tools.

[@veronicalerose6168]

DARREL GLAD TO SEE YOU ARE BACK IN YOUR ENVIROMENT VW WAS MY MAIN INTEREST 10 YEARS AGO WHEN I FIRST STARTED WATCHING YOU NOW WITH THE SHORTAGE OF VWs YOU HABE CHANGED YOUR FORMAT TKS AGAIN RON

[@PapiDoesIt]

That's some real Yankee ingenuity right there! Whoever build that thing really planned it out well. Impressive.

[@888johnmac]

Yankee engineering .. using ( mostly ) German parts

[@midnightrunner684]

Make America Great Again 😊

[@steelwheels327]

Wow!! someone was a real engineer!

[@5150mxVW]

GREAT to see you and Brian back in action! It took a year but you finally gave in and rescued this thing haha :))

[@wilsonlaidlaw]

It is so professionally made I wonder if it could have been for a light aircraft tug and snowplough for a local airport.

[@vayabroder729]

I second that; I am thinking it could’ve been built by a small company.

[@frank-t6857]

The minor mistake was to build the cabin part around the bell house and the transmission.

[@ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113]

@@frank-t6857 It was built that a way so as whoever built it could spend more time not ignoring their Canine companion.

[@rogerborg]

That joy that seller must have felt when they finally got a buyer showing up with a trailer, cash, and realistic expectations.

[@wanjockey]

Man, I love your funky stuff and the repairs. I learn something new everyday. Thank you for the videos.

[@artemiasalina1860]

Very cool little machine! Quite well made, too.

[@peterwalton1502]

More of the Lab please👏👏👏

[@paulcooper2897]

That is a well built machine! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦

[@Scodiddly]

Brian: "Toss me some gloves if they're handy" Best straight man ever.

[@mattthescrapwhisperer]

I love the home built doodle bug type stuff. I have a couple my self and they are awesome. I am currently building one similar to this using a Yanmar single cylinder rice paddy diesel engine for the power plant. Great video Mustie!

[@Adamyup32]

Deff an engineer. Built like a tank. But zero thoughts and forgiveness for the people working on it lol

[@mindeloman]

Most people don't know that the Bosche 009 distributors was designed for stationary engine industrial applications. Like, VW engines to power water pumps or generators. Which is why 009 distributors do not have vacuum advance. It makes me wonder if there are VW carburetor systems out there for stationary power applications so that the throttle is governed under load. Which would be a great addition to this tractor.

[@MachineGunJelly584]

There are! I used to have air-cooled vw engine for water pump (for firefighters) and it used to have the system. Unfortunately, someone took it away before I got it.

[@jmpsavescars]

Saw this on marketplace and now i see you couldnt resist! Hey neighbor neat find what a beast!

[@vzjtothalo1]

Good to see Brian wrenching with you. 😊

[@jeffcard3623]

Hundreds if not thousands of hours must have gone in to the design, acquisition and fabrication of parts and final build of this unit. Very impressive demonstration of knowledge and skill.

[@72polara]

What a wonderful little machine. It must have been the pride and joy of the builder.

[@bevdiiorio5697]

I just love watching and listening to your videos. I have watched numerous hours and have learned a lot of things over the years. Your ability to explain even the simplest things so that I can understand them is great. Its also wonderful that you explain repairs and how things work to an "invisible" novice is so useful. Thanks for the knowledge and the humor.

[@CriticalThinker08]

I know I would just keep adding oil to the machine and use a very thick viscosity product to slow the leak. Put a $1 store oil catch plastic pan under it wherever you store it just to keep environment good. Kudos for fixing it right instead of just adding more oil like most would if it were used sparingly

[@pauljackson5482]

Just great to see Brian. I wondered where he'd gone. !! Sir!!!

[@lawrenceengel3330]

That is a really cool custom rig! Looking forward to seeing more of this one 👌

[@EVCarGuy]

Told a friend about your stuff, Mustie and now you have another subscriber! I look forward to your videos all darned WEEK!🤣

[@SeaSurfnBird]

Mustie1 Sunday Church. Man, I love it when you work on VWs! Your right, that thing was built awesome! Great little aircooled tractor and great informational video Darren!

[@Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

After all these years, you and your friend are still in sixth grade together! Fantastic..... Don't ever let the world stop your dreams!

[@rossthomas945]

Need a tractor in the 70's and couldn't afford one ok just build yourself one. A few of us can still make due but for the most part these men are few and far in-between like Mustie. Thx for sharing.

[@taurota1554]

Awesome as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along

[@fonhollohan2908]

I don't know how you manage to find so many rare and unusually items. That thing is built like a miniature tank. I live in Canada that would be the perfect rig to help clear away snow. That thing looks like it has massive torque with that heavy duty drive train and it looks like its been built really well. I would've bought that in a second, once that thing gets fix and that governor situated, your gonna have a descent snow plow.

[@vincentshelpfulhints4085]

Wow what a great build, you sure found a gem

[@gregstillman5197]

Good to see VWNut with you; haven't seen him on his channel for awhile.

[@stefanzaharuk7701]

Woo! Been waiting for more VW content, thanks Mustie! Have a great sunday.

[@CallMeAllan]

Like your new assistant, seems like a good mechanic.

[@jeffh8803]

Mustie, good to see you have taken on one of those millennial kids as an apprentice. Joking, I'm a 40 yo millennial and appreciate your collaboration with Brian, you'd be an awesome mentor for a (real) young mechanic.

[@SkaterStimm]

I learn so much more from stuff like this than any other VW wrenching video.

[@cynturner906]

Dang Mustie you always find the coolest stuff. This rig is sweet. Can’t wait to see it in action!! Thanks for another awesome video.

[@KOSMOS1701A]

whoever made this thing put a ton of time and thought into it, this thing looks mega professional.

[@tedwalker1370]

The builder of that thing was a genius.

[@graemetoobux8953]

Well done again, something a bit different, a lot vw but still keeping it fresh, always an interesting watch .

[@terratrekker28]

Wow…that was incredibly well made..very thought out and no shortcuts from what i can see

[@jimmyb1559]

Really enjoy seeing something built so well with great attention to detail. Especially since I don’t have the patience or talent to accomplish something like this.

[@dwebster50]

Awesome machine , repurposed vw . What a good builder. Glad you found and fixed ! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🍆😊

[@peewee3ie]

I am a mazed of how well this was built and I will be waiting for the next video. As others said full credit to who ever built it and they must have been a excellent mechanic

[@gtrplr778]

This tractor is built, quite well in fact. You should have it going strong in no time. Mustie has an amazing mechanical mind, and the skills to make things work. Kool vid.

[@davekauffman8727]

A very well constructed machine,a lot of time went into it. I think you could make some adjustments to the design and make the drivetrain more easy to service, though.

[@ngalyod7275]

The man who made this did a great time for the time it was built. It looks like he put alot of work into it.

[@Zachry86]

This is an awsome project. Somebody really had skills and knowledge and took their time to make this. Hope they had the chance to use it. As a mechanical engineer and "maker" myself im impressed beyond words.

[@jeffbren2151]

Loved everything about this video (as I do all videos on this channel). Except! This time I felt bad for the black lab. He clearly put that ball down so it could be thrown. I could feel his disappointment in my heart.

[@skipperbrown9502]

Excellent video, cool little machine! The man was a genius that made this, and put it together so well!! Thank you for letting us into your world!! Every Sunday I live to see a new video from you!

[@WisconsinWanderer]

Very interesting thanks for taking us along really enjoyed the video 😊

[@sarto7bellys]

To quote Jeff Bradshaw, "I ain't never seen one like that before"

[@Crewsy]

I look forward to seeing more of this. It’s very interesting to see how what appears to be a 3 spd was fitted to the VW engine and clutch and then with a chain down to whatever they used for an axle. Definitely an engineering marvel.

[@privateer0561]

OCD Labrador Retriever. You WILL throw this ball for me.

[@patjohnson3100]

Whoever built this machine is a AAA+++ great DIY mechanic. I'm glad it's being saved.

[@mikemcguire8351]

That fellow was a great engineer/fabricator. Very interesting video, truly enjoyed. Have a great week. 👍

[@jasonpalmer1552]

I lost it at "Dust protection" LOL. What an awesome dude.

[@markg9674]

Really good to see you working with Brian, Mustie. He's a good man.

[@PAUL-1961.]

Who ever built that is a genius

[@JoriDiculous]

Nice of you to get your helper in doing the boring wrenching and heavy lifting :) (Good work Brian) What a cool machine, and a great build. Really great job with the hydraulic lines. Should come in handy!

[@SMKreitzer1968]

Thanks for the shop time Mustie1! Look forward to the next installment...

[@henryescat1104]

You score the coolest stuff! It looks like a little Hot Rod with the hood off. So cool!

[@Dragineez774]

The creativeness necessary to build something like that is impressive.

[@garycoppard3596]

It was great seeing Brian with you, I was sub on his channel but but was unsubscribed many times so gave up😂. Whoever built that plough really did a great job of it. Truly enjoyed watching this vid. Always watch your videos but this one is special somehow. Keep doing what you doing. Thanks for the effort and educational content. Take care mustie, and God bless you and your family 🎉❤

[@rexkars7867]

A interesting find for sure! Thanks for posting, great video!

[@ManxAndy]

Good afternoon Mustie crew…..I’m late to the main event today, so far it’s looking good, what a cool piece of kit….👍🇮🇲💪

[@renem6441]

That is one amazing contraption!! Thanks for sharing

[@jefferyrightmire9520]

Incredible. I knew an older German man that built a row-crop tractor from and old Austin automobile, he had two pickuptruck transmissions in line and a 9" Ford rear-end with low gears.

[@AntBangBang]

Wow! That thing is built. Someone had mad skills.

[@bhaebe6671]

Sleeve the flywheel where the new seal rides. The original builder did a great job.

[@Mtlmshr]

Interesting piece and right down your alley being based on a VW and the fact it’s a plow as well, couple of things you do appear to like.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Nations seals make wear sleeve for shafts to put over worn seal surfaces all different sizes . Nice job guy built that up old school . Awesome 👍

[@skipstein744]

A fine example of a craftsman, with a great vision of this tractor. As mentioned, with the tech of yesteryear, quite a unique invention. Onward!

[@eggy1962]

saw volkswagon and i was hooked , love any vids you do messing with the old vw engines

[@elwoodwatson9906]

Love that Brian (VWNut67) and it's almost spring and time for his head shave. And his line "Gernades, that's something I know about " shor nuff miss seeing him ahelpin ya and providing all the muscle since you got all Hi-tec an all.

[@Paul-FrancisB]

Morning all from the UK 🇬🇧

[@heatherkohlwey8379]

That would be a superstar at Garden Tractor Daze in WI. We are trying for 1000 tractors this year.