It is over 30 years since the last Volvo BM tractor left the factory, but many of these reliable workhorses are still going strong on farms all over Europe. However, none of these ageing icons look anything like the 255hp version developed by Swedish spare parts supplier Olssons I Ellös. This firm supplies parts to many of the Volvo BM tractors in the Nordic region, after taking over responsibility for the stocking of spare parts for the Volvo BM in 2009. The tractor project began as a bit of a joke one evening at a trade show, when someone posed the question about what a new Volvo BM might have looked like today if production hadn’t ended in 1985. “We couldn’t stop thinking about it and a few days later decided to build one,” says Olsson mechanic Albin Carlsson.
Taking a year to build, the tractor’s first official outing was at the Swedish Elmia trade show last autumn. The brand of the carcass of the used tractor remains under wraps, but what we do know is that the 6cyl Sisu-powered 7664 was built using a selection of stock and custom parts and a great deal of imagination. Some parts were easy to obtain, while others were more of a struggle, and convincing management that it was worth fitting the tractor with an expensive stainless steel exhaust pipe was a challenge. However, the most difficult part of the project was to dream up the modern-day the styling of the engine hood. Shod with 650/65 R38 rear tyres and 540/65 R28 at the front, and fitted with a 36-speed powershift (18f x 18r), the metallic-painted tractor did indeed make it to Elmia, and in between appearing at Agromek in Denmark last month, the tractor was taken out into the field for a spot of ploughing. There has been a least one lucrative offer to buy the tractor, but the proud owner says it is not for sale. There are no plans to make another one, and the modern-day Volvo BM tractor will make a European tour next year. Let’s hope it comes to SIMA or Agritechnica.
