Man builds life-size Tonka truck

Brad Doane, a tow truck driver from Menomonie in Wisconsin, is extremely proud of having built a life-size Tonka truck that actually drives. "You can't mistake what it is," smiles Brad. "'Dang, that looks like a Tonka truck.'" It looks like a Tonka truck, because in essence it is. It's a 16 foot long, 10 foot tall, two ton life-size fabrication of a Tonka Mighty Wrecker.



Brad rolled it out of the shop earlier this year and has been turning heads ever since. "He had every Tonka there ever was," said Lonna Doane about her 40-year-old son. Lonna gets credit for putting the bug in Brad's ear when she brought home to the shop a well-used toy Tonka tow truck she purchased at a charity auction.

"He said, 'Mom, I want to build the Tonka." Brad found a drive train in an 1984 Chevy pickup he purchased along a roadside for $700. He then spent a year cutting, bending and welding steel into a shape that mirrors the original Tonka, only at 12 times the size. "When you're driving down the road and you meet people, it's not like they give a double take; it's like a triple take," says Brad.


YouTube link.

Though the truck is fully functional and a registered vehicle, it won't be towing many cars. Like the toy it's based on, its winch has a hand crank. "I had to keep it true to the little guy you know," Brad laughs. Lonna describes her son's dedication to the project as a complete "labour of love for him." Brad plans to share the love by taking the truck to community parades and festivals.