Dibnah

It started life as a Workhorse 700 but came to me with a 3.5 Honda in it. the first engine I put in it was a BSA unit 420cc- but that was rope start not recoil. That was removed and replaced with the current engine- a Honda 390 13hp unit and was still belt driven. This was approximately 2001/2 and I used it for landscaping jobs with an adapted Barford cultivator pulled from the tow hitch. Not happy with this situation- Namely belt drive- gearing- no implement lift, and the narrow rear track. I brought her back and dismantled it- out went the 3 speed box- the rear seat pan chassis- the lower half of the steering column mount. On went a 8 speed box- the Honda 390 engine moved forward to accommodate a 4 speed box tucked in behind the engine- sprocket drive from engine to gearbox/clutch- secondary drive chain down to sprocket now fitted to 8 speed box. Bottom half of steering column mount was replaced with a double acting pump from a hand stacking unit and steering column fits back on top. New seat pan/ three point hitch was fabricated from 3/16 sheet- an old trolley jack was adapted for the lift arms, hydraulic cylinder fits inside seat pan- taken from a trailer braking system. All linkages were then made up for the three point hitch including a PUH working separate from the lift arms.
To the engine sprocket was added a pulley to drive a PTO on the front of the tractor for various attachments Rear wheel spacers were made to widen the track so she stands "square". The fuel tank is made from 3/16 steel and is blended into the instrument console. Due to moving the engine forward a make up piece as welded to the tank to meet the bonnet. In a nutshell- she's stable- has plenty of power- (ask Digger James!)has gears for every job- benefits from the three point hitch and is capable of running front mounted attachments.

Thanks Dibnah, not only is it diarrhea brown, some parts are now "gut rot grey" 
 
Well chaps, I'm sick of fillering and even though it's far from perfect it will do for now..  Just the flange thingy in the middle to sort then it can be brown oxided
 

 

 
 
The slots on the front of the bonnet have now been widened.. They need a little tidy up but they look so much better for being wider.
 

 
 
And some wire mesh came my way yesterday.. It will look good sprayed mat black and tucked behind the slots
 

AWESOME, THE DIARRHOEA DRAGSTER! Top work.

Thanks Mark, yep it's about that decal thinking time.. It's about time you headed down too
 
 
 
We have take off!!    I did wonder why the steering went everywhere, I was going a bit to fast to notice I was almost airborne
 
 
 
She does indeed.
 
 
 
Thanks Ewan
 
 
 
Ta muchly Charlie
 
 
 
I will try not to break her Norm
 
 
And now the moment you have all been waiting for.. That's me included...  Yest it's test drive video time
 

Thanks Norm
 
Have a photo of a rather narrow Reliant axle housing
 

 
 
And here's how I narrowed it
 

Hi all here is a few more pics of the build

and some more

Thought I would join in with these mysterious home build guessing games

Hi all I've had another night fabricating various buts and pieces I've decided to make it into a ballast / tractor unit I've tacked on the rear ballast area but I've decided I'm going to make it a bit wider , I've also started to make the twin exhaust system here is what I've done so far !

With no more steel to hand to make any more of the frame (an order was put in today), I turned my thought to narrowing the rear axle.. Time to get serious and work out how narrow it needs to go.
 
So the chassis was welded to some bit's of box at the right height... This is the rear..   Did I mention I like MIG welding?
 

 
 
And once I was sure the chassis was central on the bench (I had drawn a big rectangle around the bench with a line right through the center), the bit's of box were firmly screwed down.. The chassis isn't going anywhere now
 

 
 
So out came the wheels, bit's of bodywork and the odd bit of wood for some mocking up..   Moving the rear wheel in and out, backward and forwards until I hit the "Grin spot".!
The "Grin spot" is when you know you have got it just right and a big grin breaks out on ones face quite often followed by some silly giggling
 

 

 
 
Once I'd had a coffee and calmed down a bit, out came the tripe measure followed by some scribbling and head scratching..
 
The standard width Reliant  axle is 1288mm hub to hub..
I need one that's 780mm in width..
So I need to narrow it by 508mm or 254mm each side, or the bit between the masking tape need to be cut out!!
 

 
 
I won't be doing any cutting here though, Nigel has a powersaw thingy that's far more accurate than anything I have here..   So see you soon for some metal sawing Nigel
 
 
Oh, for me one of the best views of Why Not is from the front.. The trouble is there is not enough space to get a camera in to take the shot....
 
So I tried the Panarama setting on my phones camera... Not quite the result I was after
 

 
 
Thought I'd better add this as well...  The latest Project "Why Not " video
 


 
Thanks Mark

Paul at Meetens
http://www.meetens.co.uk
or
Mike Hitchins at
http://www.guypartsandservice.co.uk

I will have a proper test at weekend once I got throttle sorted better

James ---I already know!

Nathan
 
I thought Dibnah was Paul
 
Why do you call him Tom??

Well done Nathan - get yourself a pump I have some cylinders =BULLDOZER.

Hi all progress has been a little slow but I have made some head way I've been contemplating an original one but I think it wouldn't look right , so I've took the wheels and hubs off an old quad and this is what I've come up with let me no your opinions please !

Ahh, fell for my cunning ploy! I need to make a modified one for widestrides winch fitment so may as as well make two.

Well done Nathan - get yourself a pump I have some cylinders =BULLDOZER.

here's the rest...not my hood - stole it from Ewan, also still 4x2 - I needed the tin work in place before I finished the idler and 4WD select/difflock
 

 

 

 
 
 
and the obligatory video
 

A short video of tonight's adventures with the crawler on its first test run

Agreed, pushing snow is one of the most fun things to do on a tractor. I think I may have already posted this picture already somewhere, but it is one of my favourites
 

 
I broke a weld on mine a while back pushing soil. I must fix that before the winter. If we get a bit of snow it would be good if everyone posted some snow pushing pictures or videos.
 
Iain
 
 

I'll second the snow plough....
Awesome fun, heres a vid I did a few years ago

Replacement plough discs can be made from old circular saw blades- grind or cut to required diameter and are very hard wearing.

Well I've been to the workshop today and thought I would spend a quick ten min on the crawler what actually turned into 4 hours. Hope you like the photos and video I have only rebuilt it too see what it looks like as I have never seen one before it will get restriped ready for restoration.














 
Please use the link below too view the video thanks.

if tom says the sky is purple its purple lol