Little Big Tractors

[gcoleman]

Sounds like those wheels were prone to fail then? Cast iron seems to be the favorite for weight, not strength if Im following along correctly. And I cant say Ive ever seen a wheatland that was actually labeled as such like the industrials were, and most look to be aftermarket modifications to the wheels, tires and fenders and thats about the only differences I see so far...

My tractors definitely not correct by IH production standards lol, there was never a 1466 hydro (that I know of, Dennis pointed out that only the 1066 could be both a turbo and a hydro), my exhaust is on the wrong side of the hood and comes through like the JD's do (conflict in interest right?) and its an industrial with wheatland front feet on it lol, not to mention CAT yellow instead of the federal yellow, I will say this though, only one like it Ive seen! And I do eventually plan to relocate the exhaust to the correct side of the tractor and add narrow frame spidnles to the front to lift it a touch more, and to add the big tractor look as well as add the vertical intake also on the correct side of the tractor, though I dont think I'll add the neat little vacuum tube, however Ive already come up with a couple ideas on a functioning pre screener and pre cleaner like the 1456's and so on used.

 

[aschmidt]

Glen, that tractor is coming along beautiful. I have done the bolt in centers on some of my tractors with custom centers. It works great. I only used .3125" thick steel and it doesnt flex a bit. Would be a great look. With our laser and the blank 10 1/2" wide rims i use, can maybe be of help to ya down the road. Love the look of them Titans - would look really cool on your tractor.

 

[gcoleman]

Aaron, everything you make gives me SO many ideas, and I can come up with so many uses for all your neat implements and additions. I like the custom wheels you made for your V6 782, reminds me of the cast spoke hub wheels on trucks from yesteryear (the 982D is another one of my favorites of yours) I saw a power king tractor with the standard truck "wagon" spoke wheels on it, they actually looked halfway like tractor wheels except for the Dick Cepeck on em haha...trust me once it comes time for some serious wheels on my tractor, youre the man for the job. I can only imagine what that laser table can produce, and here I thought messin with a little 25 amp plasma cutter was hot stuff haha. I definitely wouldve thought youd have to use much thicker steel to make the new wheel centers, and I do like Dennis' idea for the thick centers to add weight, however I fear that when I do upgrade to either 24 or 26x12 rear tires and fill them that my little 12HP will fight turning em, or, that Ill break something because of the increased traction.

As far as the "Frankencub" goes, I really love the V61s, they float effortlessly over my yard and you cant tell where I turned or anything unlike the old tri ribs. They get about the same amount of traction too, though Ive yet to try them with the dozer blade on the front under load, very curious to see how they do in the snow.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Here you go Glen. Some pictures of some IH Wheatland tractors. Swensontractor

 

[dfrisk]

GLEN - There were some issues with the early clamp-style cast wheels breaking on IH tractors when clamp-on duals were used, the cast centers on M's & H's, and newer tractors up to the 56-series when IH released the Wedge-Lock wheels. But both my Super H and M have had clamp-on duals for field work for several years each without a problem.

The cast centers were just "heavy", as were the four sizes of rims with those mallable iron lugs riveted to them. They really weren't weak, the IH Engineers in Hinsdale just thought the steel disc dual-type wheels would be weaker. Many pullers years ago used the same tractor in several weight classes, small tractors from 5000 to 9000 pounds and larger tractors from 6000-7000 pounds up to 12,000 pounds. Most of the weight was added as wheel weights on pipes welded to the wwheel centers and rims which pretty much meant they had to use steel disc wheels, but there were many pullers using cast centers with those lugged rims.

Aaron - Yes, thinner steel like your 5/16" thick centers would work but the reason I planned to use thicker steel was to reduce the number of wheel weights I'd have to use. It really doesn't apply to wheels as tiny as the rears on a CC but on the smaller sized 9-bolt hub style dual wheels there were flexing & cracking problems with the bolt pattern on the larger tractors that used them, 130-145 HP. Anything over 150 HP got the larger ten-on-13" circle wheels which are still common on new tractors today with 250-300 HP. The IH spec'd wheels were made from pretty thin steel, 5/16" I think, but a couple after-market companies made centers an INCH thick on some wheels.

My Brother-in-law has had several wheels fail on his combine, the bolt circle breaks out from flexing. Always happens on a side hill with a full grain tank. So far the combine hasn't rolled over but it still scares him to death!

 

[aaytay]

Somebody needs to come up with a cast-center for a GT-wheel. That would be da-bomb!!!

 

[dfrisk]

ART - Back when I still had "Connections" at a selection of good iron foundries I had a wooden pattern for a pair of CC wheel weights ball-park quoted, plus the castings. By the time I bought the pattern, got 100 castings, drilled the four bolt holes in them myself, I was even going to grind the little bit of parting line flash myself, and drive the 1-1/2 to 2 hours to pick up the 2600# of castings because diesel fuel and my time was cheaper than paying for freight. Bottom line was I'd just break even at $50 EACH, not a pair, hoping I could drill the four holes in about ten minutes and pay myself a whopping $4-5/hour. There were cheaper foundries I could have had quote them, but the cheapest foundry made "boat ankors" that had so much porosity they could float. Plus burned in sand is instant Death to cheap drill bits.

Something like a cast rear wheel center would be neat, but to make it correctly you'd need a pretty good sized lathe, at least 12 inch swing. We know someone with a lathe like that but his cost/hour is higher than mine. Plus gray iron is really dirty to machine, machines like butter but the dust and dirt gets ALL over. Plus the wheel center would have to have holes bored as well as the ID & OD turned, two machines, two set-ups at least. More $$$$.

I still like my idea of the thicker steel from burned plate, but even flame cut edges machine harder than normal steel.

 

[gcoleman]

Met an interesting fella today while he was giving me an estimate for re-mill asphalt to line our new parking spot with so Im no longer parking in mud, he looked over and saw the yellow wheels and muffler sticking out from under the tarp and asked "That a cub cadet under that tarp son?" Come to find out he was the proud owner of a 107, 109, 129, 169, 128, 789, and a 982, best part is he's just up the road, so the conversation went from gravel and bobcat work to cubs, parts and shows. He had pictures of RPR in Indiana a few years back, told me about all of his cubs and how much worse his newer 1330 mower was (my grandpa has one with a spent trans) than the old ones and so on and so fourth. He was really excited to see the little 1466, as he has an 866 and a 1066 as well, asked me why it wasnt red, then I guess he thought about it and before I answered he said "its an industrial isnt it?" Glad to know theres more than just me in my neck of the woods that are cub crazy too.

As far as the cast wheels, that would be very cool, and Id imagine one could make axles that could be real clamp on drive style rears, though I dont know how strong theyd be. I keep thinking how neat it would be to take Kentuck's suggestion and turn a 1466 into a GIANT 149 hahaha. Thatd be neat too

 

[gcoleman]

Thank you very much for the pictures Marlin, Ive spent alot of time on that site taking notes of all the subtle details for both my current Frankencub and for future projects should I be fortunate enough to welcome another cub into my collection

 

[dfrisk]

GLEN - The full size clamp-on wheels have problems staying tight. Think the torque spec for the wedge-loc wheels is something like 500 pounds/feet then another half turn using a cheater bar on the wrench with a hoist or loader! And they still come loose and move...

I think bolting the cast center onto the five-bolt flange would work the best, then if your real ambitious you could fab up a "mock hub & axle extension" to make a dual wheel mount like a full size tractor. I forget who's it was but somebody had something like that @ PD #1 with 23-8.50 Firestones that looked really good.

IH knew a thing or two about welding, the weld joint between the axle shaft and wheel flange should be a weak spot, especially with dual wheels and I've NEVER seen or even heard of one failing. Seen a few axles twist in two internally at the splines but that's it.

Guy I bought my QA-36 snow blower from did tell me he broke an axle and axle carrier on his 982 by falling into a ditch pushing snow one year. He had a rear mounted 3-pt hitch twin impeller home made snow blower that was real heavy. I could see a diecast axle carrier snapping carrying something like that.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Dan Hoefler made adjustable rear hubs for his High Crop.

 

[gcoleman]

I envy Dan alot, it has to be so nice to be able to turn out those custom cubs as flawlessly as he does.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Here you go Glen (and others).

Mini Caterpillar Challenger.

Mini International T4 Crawler.

Buddy's Bulldozer. How it was made

This is really neat

Then just check out the other cool stuff on the side.

 

[gcoleman]

Marlin, I have to say the tiny international crawler is my favorite, and I could really use that custom chipper on that deere crawler, it never ceases to amaze me what people can create, and make it look so factory produced and or flawless.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Custom built cab

Glen C. I thought that you'd enjoy those. The above cab is "different".

 

[gcoleman]

That cab is certainly different (I like the song in the background too, Alter Bridge is the name of the band us young guns like to listen too way too loud) but it looks very robust and certainly practical. I also thought the adjacent video with the pneumatic crane on the trailer was very neat, that and a loader would be amazingly handy to have on my cub, I think Ive only ever seen one 1086 I think that had a loader on it. Ive seen another that had a bulldozer style blade that was lifted with hydraulic rams like a dozer but looked like it used to be on a DOT truck in the winter time (see that alot too)

 

[gcoleman]

I found these custom cubs while searching for ideas for a lift mount for my off topic snow blade, one looks like a 10 or 1566 black stripe mini:
http://www.tractorshed.com/photoads/upload/366627.jpg

And this ones a 1066 NF:

http://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64760

Anyone know anything about either one? Or by chance have more pictures of them?

 

[gcoleman]

Hey all I have an opinion question for you about steering wheels on the 1466 project, should I switch to the wire spoke wheel like the NF's use, the flat wheel like the 70/100's use, or the one the 982's use? The 982 (least the one listed as such on epay) looks the closest to the actual 1466 wheel, and I have an idea for the center cap, to have it made up to look just like the real one does (even though I have neither tilt column or power steering)

 

[rlittrell]

Check these out Glen.

http://www.thelittletractorco.blogspot.com/


Pretty cool huh!





Randy

 

[gcoleman]

Thanks Randy, I actually have communicated with the creator Kurt Smith who posted a few archives back here in this thread, I notice he uses the wire spoke NF wheels, and his replicas trump my little 1466 clone. Hes supposedly building a 1066 mini soon, and Id love to park mine and his next to eachother someday and see the comparison. Brad Datisman who is also a forum member here (if you dont already know him) has a 1466 mini as well, and he is who inspired me to make my 149 a 1466, I just spun mine into an industrial with wheatland wide tires. It is still and probably will always be a work in progress as I already have a mile long list of to do's and re-do's