Design Ingenuity and Practical Engineering
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace Brush Mountain outside Blacksburg – down Glade Road on the way to McCoy – is known for its rugged terrain and beautiful vistas. Even though it’s close to town, it feels a world away. That’s part of what attracted Bill Reasor to the area. An accountant and gardener, he owns a farm on Brush Mountain. The first thing he bought after acquiring the farm was a Ventrac 4500z, a compact all-terrain, all-wheel drive tractor. “It’s great for maintaining steep land. There’s some here on the farm which was quite overgrown,” Reasor states. “With the Ventrac, I am able to keep everything under control.” The Ventrac has an articulating 36
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frame, with separate rear and front sections, connected at the middle. That design permits the unusual vehicle to make sharp turns. The 4500z model has an impressive 50.6 foot-pounds of torque. “It’s geared very low. It crawls.” But it also has double rear wheels, which permit the machine to maneuver on steep slopes – up to a 58% grade. In fact, even though Reasor bought the machine for his farm, he’s finding his gardening clients clamoring for him to use it to mow their steep and hard-to-manage lands. He’s already used it around barns and stables and other rough ground in the New River Valley. Reasor, who has roots in the
area, settled in Blacksburg last August, bringing with him his two businesses, The Village Bookkeeper and The Village Gardener. While his accounting business keeps him busy year-round, it’s particularly busy in tax season in the early months of the year. That means when tax time passes and the weather gets warmer, he’s ready to get outside, working the land for his gardening business customers. “I like going back and forth between office work and my outside jobs.” It’s hard to resist using his new tractor, too. Reasor can use the Ventrac to bush hog slopes many people would find difficult to traverse by foot. At first it’s remarkable to watch
S ept/Oct 2021
