It is a one wheeled tractor/cultivator/plow......one of my Uncles used to call this thing a 'mule'. He had it so long he has forgotten when or where he bought it!
I can't find any mfg name on it.
There is a large label that says " Power Wheel' , a smaller tag that says model 8500-001, yet another - serial# PW 102603 and to write to PO Box 1183, Des Moines Iowa 50311 for parts.
Engine is gasoline brigs and stratton - looks to be 3 to 5hp range. I haven't cleaned it up enough yet to get the model off of it.
Engine has a reduction gearbox attached to side, a v-belt & pulley drive to a jackshaft, chain drive from the other end of the jackshaft to the wheel. A lever on the handlebar tensions an idler pulley to engage the drive. Wheel is 12" diameter, 6" in wide steel with a
rubber 'lug' tire.
Plow or cultivator attachments bolt to arm you see dropping down straight below the front of the engine. The long extension out the front has a small wheel attached and is adjustable both side to side and shorter or longer to control implement depth.
the 'mule' by combean, on Flickr
the 'mule' - side view by combean, on Flickr
the 'mule' - operator's view by combean, on Flickr
.......It's a small world......was reading the posts 'old digger' (started by grani6) in the tools and implements section.....Dandy Dave mentioned operating a 22B Bucyrus-Erie crawler in Maple Hill NC ....
I picked up this contraption last week just a few miles down the road from Maple Hill, in Wallace NC !