Don Buelke wanted an easier and faster way to wind up old fence wire, so he decided to use one of the rear wheels on his tractor to do the job.
He came up with a way to attach four 10-inch-long pipes to the studs that protrude from the tractor hub. To wind up wire, he just jacks up the wheel and puts the tractor’s transmission in gear.
“It works great and results in neat, reusable wire rolls,” says Buelke. “I use the idea on my old Oliver 55 tractor, but it would work on any tractor. I stick a crowbar in the ground in front of the wheel to guide wire onto the rolls. It takes only about 10 minutes to wind up 1,000 feet of wire.”
To attach the pipes to the wheels, he welded a 5/8-inch nut inside the 1-inch-diameter pipes so he can simply turn them onto the tractor bolts. To weld the nut in place, he drilled a 1/4-inch-diameter hole in the side of the pipe about an inch up from the end. Then he screwed the nut onto a short bolt and inserted it inside so he could weld it in place. Once the nut is welded solidly inside the pipe, the bolt can be unscrewed and removed.
