World’s largest two-wheel drive tractor to be displayed at Henty

Visitors to the 2023 Henty Machinery Field Days, which will run from September 19 to 21 this year, will be treated to a special blast-from-the-past display of Upton tractors, which were created and manufactured in Corowa, NSW, over 50 years ago.

The Upton MT-855 is claimed to be one of the rarest in the world, with only eight units ever made. Another product of Upton Engineering, the HT 14/350, featured a 350hp engine and was claimed to be the biggest two-wheel drive tractor in the world, with only one ever made before production ceased in 1981.

The business started out originally converting ex-army vehicles and tanks into bulldozers for scrub clearing back in the 1960s but ended up producing one of Australia’s most famous tractors.

Designer Carl Upton made each MT-855 to order to fit customer’s specifications, which is why they’re so unique and rare.

Upton tractor collectors will be bringing their machines from Corowa, Albury, Ardlethan, Swan Hill, Mudgee and Dookie to the field days for the display.

Visitors will be able to see the first tractor, Heavy Harry, built in the early 1960s by business founder, Arthur Upton, using a Japanese UD diesel engine and tank transmission and final drive.

Heavy Harry is now owned by Steve Pleming of Dookie, Victoria. It was first publicly demonstrated at Urana in 1967.

Mudgee collector, Robert Allen, has three Upton tractors in the family and is bringing a MT-855 to Henty. The other MT-855s will come from Andrew Taylor from Ardlethan, NSW and Allan Arthur from Albury, NSW.

There will also be a couple of Upton 180s on display at Henty that will come from Bill Petzke from Corowa, NSW and Doug Carroll from Swan Hill, VIC.

Corowa engineer, Daryl Leahy, built Heavy Harry with a 671 Series GM but switched to UD diesel engines after a visit to Japan by Arthur Upton.

“We originally built the tractor as a demonstration vehicle for the engine,” he said.

“At the time the biggest, most powerful rubber tyred tractor in Australia was made by John Deere and Allis Chalmers at around 110hp.

“Everyone needed a bit more horsepower so they could double up on the tillage machinery behind.

“The 180hp made that possible. The idea of Heavy Harry was to demonstrate the engine for repowering existing tractors, trucks and buses.”

Leahy said the distinctive mushroom pink colour scheme of the early units was designed to differentiate away from other brands in red and green.

The Model 225 Upton tractor was offered in 1969 with a UD 225hp supercharged engine, and rubber torsion block front axle suspension.

The first of the MT-Series was built in 1976 and fitted with a Hercules six cylinder 200hp engine but a few months later was repowered with a Cummins NTC-290.

Still a two-wheel drive tractor, the MT sold for $48,000 in 1976. The following year at the Henty Machinery Field Days, it sported a V8 Scania 300hp engine.

Carl’s vision of building the world’s biggest two wheel drive tractors unfolded with the MT Series. The MT Series were custom built machines designed to take any 200 to 300hp engine – Scania, Cummins, GM, Mercedes or Caterpillar.

Fitted with a 200-gallon tank, the tractor could work day and night between fills. The fuel tank weighed 1.5 tonnes empty and was built of 5/8 inch thick steel plate.

The mighty HT 14/350 was then launched in 1978 as the world’s largest two-wheel drive tractor – the biggest yet designed by Carl and features a 350hp engine, 14-speed Spicer gearbox and Eaton drive.

Today, the HT 14/350 is owned by a farmer at Goolwa, South Australia.

Carl had drawn concept plans for a 4WD tractor up to 600hp but a downturn in the rural economy put a stop to his plans and resulted in the business ceasing its tractor manufacturing in 1981.

Today, Upton Engineering is still active in the industry specialising in irrigation equipment.

Field day visitors will be able to see the Upton tractor display in the machinery demonstration area next to the agronomy plots.

There will also be a display of memorabilia and history of Carl Upton and his involvement with the design and build of the tractor at the field days. Carl and his original team from the 1970s who helped build the tractors will be in attendance at the field days as well, and will be holding a special dedication to the Upton tractor on Wednesday, September 20 at 9.30am.