Soundgards' a plenty

As promised earlier this year here are the new soundgard tractors with front wheel assist. Besides having more realistic FWA than earlier models that had regular sized flotation tires with shallow treads, these tractors have a few extra details. Most notably all three of these tractors have cab glass. My only real criticism of these models is that all of them have real singles, and many of the real machines you see on the farm day to day have duals. Also I think the front wheels would look better if the hubs were painted yellow to match the rest of the wheel.
Above is the 4955. Notice the single step and brand new front and rear wheel casting. THis is the first time these wheels have been used to my knowledge.
The 4850 is the model I have been especially excited about since there were many of these around my house when I was growing up, and I customized a few 2 wheel drive soundgards to have FWA and 4850 graphics. Look for a future article that shows how to put duals on.
Above is the 4960 also featuring new front and rear wheels and a 3 step ladder.
All three models ready for the fall harvest.

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The New John Deere Soundgards - 4850, 4955, 4960

Pretty soon (April 27 according to http://www.vankleyfarmtoys.com/) Ertl will be releasing models of the 4850, 4955, and 4960 based on the soundgard tractors that they have been producing for about the past 5 years. The castings are different, and they have added cab glass and more realistic FWA, but these are basically the same level of casting detail as the others. When Ertl released this set it was a VAST improvement over the original soundgards that I remember from my childhood. When this new set is released I will be buying it, but I just wanted to post and show everyone a 4850 that I made from a 4450 casting. These are fun because the castings are relatively thin and I was able to morph FWA into these so that they were more accurate than the weak attempt by ertl of just using treadded front tires (Note: The new tractors look like they have really nice FWA wheels and tires). I also made some custom 4850 graphics, painted the wheels, added front hubs, and a hand railing.

Here is the original picture from the Ertl catalog that shows what the models are based on. Its always fun when the manufacturer doesn't have pictures of the prototype to put in the catalog or doesn't want to release a picture of the toy because it leaves us collectors to speculate as to what the configuration will be. I have seen people in heated arguments debating whether the 4850 will have duals or not.

Here is an updated picture from VanKley's website (below) that shows what the toys may look like. As you can see the FWA looks better, but using history as a guide about 50% of the time on a new model something will be different from the original publication photo. Usually its a model number, wheels or tires, cab glass, or in the case of the recent 9870 combine what header it is packaged with. Nevertheless these models look great and I will be reviewing them fully when they are released.