Got 12 cylinders, uses ’em all! The dual stacks tell you this is a vee-type engine, but you don’t see many V12 tractors out there. The Big Bud 650/50 shown here belongs to Larry Addleman and it’s currently the only one of the two ag units still in the States, the other having been exported to Australia years ago. Addleman bought the tractor from Ron Harmon at Big Equipment 16 years ago. Harmon is the guy who put Big Bud on the map, and when it failed in the midst of the Twin-Disc fiasco, he created Big Equipment to support the 518 Big Buds that were built. This one had been used in Colorado, then sold it back to Harmon. Harmon refurbished it and sold to Addleman, who uses it on his large Southern Michigan farm. Addleman is a well-known Big Budd collector, with five in his stable. Besides the 650/50 he has a 525/50, 400/30, 400/20, and a 450, which is the last Big Bud tractor ever built. year was preventing the two monster plows from working up all the ground before the little guys could dip their plowshares.
On August 28, 2018, giants walked the earth at Alvordton, Ohio. On that day, the second biggest Big Bud tractor model, the 12V-92 Detroitpowered 650/50, and the next biggest, a Big Bud 525/50 (see Diesel World January 2018 or go to DieselWorldMag.com), plowed side by side at the Alvordton Plow Days. That was momentous enough, but the 650/50 plowed with the biggest moldboard plow ever made, the 21-bottom DMI plow, built in 1978 to be a show stopper.