Archive through September 10, 2014

[mhomrighausen]

Mike P. If I were looking for cheapie rear weights then I'd be checking garage sales for used weight sets. Make a bracket so that you can slide on and off the weights for easy installation/removal.

Joshua S. I've also given some thought as to creating maybe a smaller roller mill using either thick walled pipe or solid round steel stock. Make it so the rollers could be adjusted to gently crack or crush the corn. Weld or have a bolt on set of flat steel for the crushing part. Use for a couple of pulleys from an older lawn tractor engine since they have two different size pulleys. Biggest hold back is finding time to work on such a critter.

Paul F. You're creations are just wonderful and keep up the great work of creating more of them.

 

[dfrisk]

MIKE - I have a dozen MWSC 10# suitcase weights I can put on the frt of any WF CC. They're $18.90 each and cheaper in volume. 5# weight is same price, plus they have alum. 3# weights.

I've read where you can buy 42# suitcase weights from that off-brand company thru a big box store for around $55 each with no freight cost on-line and pick them up locally. That's $1.31/#.

I thought about using my foundry contacts and re-casting the 26# rear weights 10-15 yrs ago. I was quoted around $0.80/# and I couldn't make money at that price. I have since run into a much cheaper domestic foundry but am scared of their quality. Their main product is boat anchors and they have a high scrap rate. There's so much porosity in the castings the anchors FLOAT! They may be in the $0.50/$0.60/# range.

There's a lot of costs involved in castings. The pattern to make the mold, then the metal, then you have to clean the casting, get all the burned in sand off via grinding or shot blasting/wheel-abrating, then grind any parting line flash, then shipping and storage... plus iron castings are HEAVY. I'd recommend priming or painting the casting before storage to prevent rust too.

 

[mpatterson]

I don't imagine the finished quality will be too bad really. The foundry I am talking about is about 25 minutes from my house. We truck for them into South Carolina. They make damper weights for Alcoa. Guess they put them on power lines or something to weight them down to slow the swinging process in storms?? Not really sure, that is what I was told years ago when I started. We bring in the sand for them out of Illinois for their castings. I figured I could paint them up, I guess I'd have to prime them with something first too. Just a thought I had the other day. I guess the other way of doing it would be to make a weight box and get scrap from them? I just wanted to keep it neat and a little more clean looking. I guess I figured a suit case weight would be better in the future if I wanted to put weight on the front to help when plowing? Its not like I would ever wear them out, that's for sure! I didn't really like the idea of loading up my rims with anymore weights if I could help it, sort of a pain to have weights inside and outside the rims isn't it? The bolts alone would be pricey I am sure. I don't think I could use threaded rod real easily? Just don't like something looking "slapped together". NO Insults towards anyone who does it this way, its your tractor, your pocket book, so nothing against anyone who does use threaded rod.

Anyone found that suit case weights on the tail creates a negative when working with the tractor in the snow? I figured I'd make the weight rack likely off the sleeve hitch so it would be easier to remove when not needed? My biggest thing would be to make sure I could still get to my drawbar hitch to pull the trailer around with wood in it.

 

[jbaker]

 

[dfrisk]

MIKE - I've had a couple CC's with internal brakes so I could run wheel weights inside the rear wheels. The 1/2 inch carriage bolts, nuts, lock washers & flat washers needed to install wheel weights are cheap. You really only need two bolts per weight even if you have 2-3 weights on the outside of the wheel. If you go 4 or more I'd use 4 bolts. Two weights on the inside is as much as you can mount.

The guy I bought my 982 from had a 782 with the 10# MWSC suitcase weights mounted up high almost seat height so he could still pull his Brinly plow with the tractor. Think he had 120# mounted up there. I've also seen a CC #72 with 252# of 42# weights mounted up there too PLUS a 250 pound operator jumping up and down on the weights popping the frt of the CC up in the air! ;-)

Just about ANY garden tractor wheel weight fits a CC. I have/had 6 pair of weights, only three are CC weights, the rest are whatever I could find. WEIGHT IS WEIGHT! What ever is cheapest works best!

 

[tbdavis]

While not pro driven, the Unicorn log splitters use the rear end to rotate that big medieval looking screw for splitting. Don't see many and don't have a pic but perhaps Charlie has one. Very interesting piece of equipment for those brave enough to use one. I personally am not that brave.

 

[tbdavis]

Sorry - pto driven, not pro driven.

 

[digger]

I HAD a little one, and a big one.
And they both worked GREAT!

 

[glippert]

Mike P - Here are a couple pics of the rear weight bracket I use. I don't have easy access to the weights right now to measure them, but you can get a pretty good idea of their size from the pics. They're 40# each. I don't use this tractor for towing anything, so there's no drawbar hitch access, but I'm thinking it wouldn't be too hard to add one to the bracket.

 

[mfrade]

We ran one of those screwy splitters for years. I'd wait for the dead of winter to work on next years woodpile and could split 4 foot long maple into quarters.. Can't do that with a hydraulic!

We had it on a cub PTO, not sure a cub cadet could do it and I think I'd find it to low to work. Maybe Charlie could comment on that aspect? Is ( or was ) it a really low working height? Was it hard on the back?