Archive through January 11, 2009

[mphelps]

A bit more progress, the trunions are now connected, I didn't want to resize the cable so it curves around the front of the engine and is attached to the bottom of the front unit and the top of the rear and they both move in the same direction (but I won't get into that!!!) I used a spring on the front control to take up the slack you get on a push pull cable because of the cable to casing clearance, there is now no slack between the units due to the fwd spring and they can be adjusted as per the book, so far so good.
I want to run a mower, snowblade and an under body grader so I need to decide which end will be the front, a snow blade out front of the grill would put a lot of weight about 6 ft in front of the fwd set of wheels, might be a bit much. Switching drive directions would be easy by flipping the carriers in the rear ends.

 

[dfrisk]

TOM H. - re: Penfield....I remember SON & I walking along the pulling track to go out and watch the Cubbies plow and You were running down the track with "Mein Kub"...and You were in a bit of a hurry....quick stab at the throttle and OFF You went with the Dust flying. THAT really was a nice Cub Cadet.

MATT P. - I agree, going across that articulation joint the longer the cable tying the Hydro's together the better.

 

[thoffman]

I knew I had these images someplace. I guess the HT-340 was red. Here's some shots from the RPRU in Pennfield a few years back.....

 

[aschmidt]

A bit more progress here also. Everything is in place under the hood. Drive shaft is bought and ready to be installed. Fuel tank is next. Custom stainless steel under the fenders in the battery area like the 782D's. Pretty soon it will be time to fire it up. Picked up another 782 in the background with a blown motor. What should I repower that one with. Hmmmm.....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Aaron, looking good! Ummm, are you sure you want to use that phrase "Pretty soon it will be time to fire it up."?

 

[jlhayes]

That V 6 is really lookin good Aaron !!
Just wonderin if that motor mount is solid you think it may need some give? lota vibration there. might want to pull mount a little wider and mount some shock rubbers in there.

 

[aschmidt]

Yea Kraig - I better rephrase it to "Start it up... dont want to jinx myself at this point!

Jim, Unfortunately this thing will make your BB's vibrate cause the motor is now part of the frame - which allowe the tractors frame to be cut down to a minimal. Im hoping that I will not have to pick my teeth off the tunnel cover the first time that I drive it!

The stainless tank is being lasered out today and will be TIG welding it tonight. A little progress here and there -

 

[daweber]

mat~
Do you have a source or part numbers for those pillow blocks, including the self aligning one?

 

[mphelps]

Well it's progressing; if a person didn't have to eat or sleep you sure could get a lot done. The steering seems to work real good sitting on the table with my weight on the tractor I can palm the steering wheel easily from stop to stop

Dan W, I don't have a part no, as I threw the boxes away so I could fondle the bearings, I bought them through a bearing supply place, (BC Bearing in Campbell River) but any farm dealership should have them in stock

I think there is going to be an issue with the clearance between the seat support and the rear fenders during a turn on uneven ground, I may have to raise the seat strut about 2in

Next is the steering support, floor boards and foot control

 

[jcarson]

matt, looks real good. im thinking of making one now.i have a couple tractors that are all but parted out!!!,can you tell me what the ross box for the steering is off of.i have one of a jeep ,i bet it would work,jared

 

[mphelps]

Jared, the steering box is out of a M39 49 Mercury 1/2 ton pickup (which I should have never sold)

 

[kmcconaughey]

Mat, interesting setup. I see your making it a rear engine, what are your plans for it, a loader tractor, or?

 

[mphelps]

Kraig, so far the plan is to have it set up for snow plowing and grading, I'll have the stock snowblade and an under body grader blade hooked up and probably the mowerdeck, but the options are open for a small loader mounted of the (front) drive unit that that way I could stop breaking shovel handles (-:

 

[bhoyt]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this because its not totally correct (OEM), but close.
I recently bought the yellow cub mainly because the PO wouldn't seperate the deck from the tractor. As a bonus it came with fenders and runs great. The.... well, green one I have had for about a year and plan to change the color to the red and white.
I've been rebuilding the deck and have a few pictures. The deck is made from 3/16 steel which should last forever, or at least out last me.

 

[mphelps]

Brennan, looks good, oh to have a press brake and a shear, it would sure make things easier, if you bend that deck you were going way to fast!!!!

 

[bbrigham]

Brennan, Nice..I like you're thinkin..that deck should last forever.Takes some serious tools to bend something that thick. My mother's BF has a huge brake...well, more of a press for bending steel plate. It hasn't been used in probably 15 years. I've been trying to get a bug in him bout getting it going again. I am building a new improved extended frame for my O this year, it would be nice to be able to bend up the 1/4" plate myself instead of taking it to the fab shop plus it wouldn't cost anything to have it done. I can already think of 50 other uses for it. Need to chew his ear some more I guess.

 

[aschmidt]

Had to take a break from the V6 project and the R&D Dept. said we should have removeable wings on the 54" blade. Should make moving the 2" droppings of crystal snow a lot quicker, and they remove with 2 bolts on each side. I made the cutting edges up 1/2" from the main cutting edge so that they dont hook and dig in. As soon as the sun breaks tomorrow, it time for some seat time.

 

[thoffman]

Aaron,
That should work slicker than snot on the light fluffy stuff. Very nice!

 

[mmorrison]

Hay Aaron just wondering what you are going to use for a trans!. will the stock rear end take that torc.

 

[aschmidt]

So far the stock rear end and trans has taken all the abuse I can throw at it in my 782D with the large plow. Did a bunch of plowing with it last weekend and worked great. We will see what happens with the 782.8 (2.8 V6) project.

I found out that a 6' plow takes up a lot of room in the shop and garage and as we all know, floor space is valuable. So I decided to make a quick attack plate to quickly remove it and leave the plow outside and put the tractor in. Here are some pics.

New modified custom built attachment plate. Utilizes the frankenstein bolts and the 3/4" hole in the frame. Takes 30 sec. to install with no tools. This will stay on the tractor at all times. I built latches with locking pins that rotate up and down and lock the blade pins in.

With latches up, slide blade into hooks.

Flip latches down,

Insert locking pins,

Hook up lift chain and go.

This took under a minute to put plow on tractor. Taking off is just as easy. Now I can leave the blade outside and hook it up when needed.