I made a side-trip to Southwest New York state to see Ron Meeder and the High-Wide Fifteen that he owns. The story is that this tractor was a prototype of some cultivator tractors being developed for use in Hawaii in the pineapple fields. It was tested in Georgia (I hope???) and found that various problems arose, one of which was the torque from the wide extensions when towing which was exacerbated by the spring on the front. The final result was to remove the front spring to put in a solid axle and remove a couple of inches on the extensions. I seem to remember he also said that they utilized a 22 transmission case to take advantage of the larger bolt pattern (I believe ???).
Anyways I believe to have told the story as correctly as I can remember!