ranger

Some more picsand a couple of my wife cuddling an owl.

Been to the show today,no Wheelhorses, but here`s some pics of others displayed by the 'Starting Handle' club. some more later.

Who says engineering skills and innovation are disappearing from the UK, They should join this forum. and have their eyes opened. :bow:

These pic`s are of some kind of weeder/cultivator a farmer friend gave me. I have no idea who made it,The bar across the legs has been welded on at some time. I have some more legs somewhere. With the bar off the width is adjustable. It looks like it`s meant for a walk behind of some description.

Yes, but fitted with Showmans rowcrop type front end & long handlebars it`ll make an awesome Wheelhorse trike! 'KCC' (Kent County Choppers).

How about continuing the 'oriental' theme and fitting a suzuki sj rear axle cut down on one side to take two of the short halfshafts,use a chain reduction to the dif, turn the axle upside down if the rotation is wrong. Wasn`t the 'Ride away Senior' built along those lines?

Not sure the bar across the bottom has been welded on, I have some more legs somewhere for it, I think maybe it`s some sort of cultivator/weeder for a walk behind ? without the welded on bar tyhe width is adjustable. Perhaps I`ll put up a "what is it post" .

Should this be in the 'Home built items' section? Pulled this out of the spare stable/hay barn, I made this a couple of years ago out of an old oxy bottle, some scrap channel, an old oak fence post, (for bearings) J D front wheels and other assorted pieces from the 'come in handy' pile. My original intention was to make a smaller version of the fold up rollers the big boys use and pull it behind the Wheelhorse, but I ran out of spare bottles. With the wheels in place it fits nicely through the stable door. By pulling the lever the roll is lifted or lowered. The spike tooth harrow is one of a set of three I bought from the 'Cheffins' machinery sale a couple of months ago

In Cambridgeshire we don`t put metal in the hedges, we leave it in the nettles, this makes sure they contain plenty of iron for the livestock! Just been having a dig in the undergrowth behind the stables.Didn`t realise these things were so sought after.

Hi Ian, some pic`s of the gearbox I was given, it has slight damage to the keyway on the output shaft, I`m not sure what Kubota deck it came off but it was quite big,rough dim`s are 150 x 150 x 120mm output shaft is approx 150mm long & 25mm dia. No doubt you can find something similar, I was told these things new are around £1500. Could you not use the internals from the bike hub & fabricate a case to suit ? Having seen previous examples of your work I`m sure it would not be too dificult

It`ll look like a mini Turner "Yeoman of England" tractor with that engine fitted, :) If I get around to fitting the 3cyl Kubota diesel in my Raider, I have a Kubota cutting deck right angle gearbox, 1 to 1 ratio to connect to the flywheel with a pulley on the other shaft for the belt pulley, it looks an easy way to turn the drive 90deg and keep the belt

That looks very similar to one of my rollers,tows beautifully

Well Done :thumbs:

She`s a retired skewbald- got brown on her, not just the mud! The flail is a Rousseau front mounted unit for a quad. I fitted the front wheels from my 312-8 on a frame adjusted by an old jockey wheel jack, casters on the front and a 9hp Honda. I`ve just bought another BCS complete with flail and wood chipper/shredder attachments.pics when I get the chance.

Our two four legged drive grass cutters-my wife on the Westwood towing the modified flail mower

one day I hope to get them as clean & shiny as yours. the exhaust on the C121 is off a Kubota 2 cylinder engine, the 312-8 is a stainless silencer copy of the original except for the stack. The original rusted out so I cut it up & measured everything even down to the number and size of the holes in the baffles in an attempt to maintain the correct backpressure, sad really. but then I bought a carb with adjustable main jet so I needn`t have bothered. The company Northern Tools sell trailer hubs with I think a 1" bore bearing size,You could fit these with a sleeve 3/4" to 1" I think they have either a 4" or 100mm pcd. so nice narrow 8" trailer wheels would fit. I would imagine any trailer / caravan / camping / good motorist shop will probably stock these as well. The downside is You have to buy them,so much better when you can scrounge/recycle things.

just bought a couple through Amazon 1-1/8" x 1-3/8" x 1/8" SKF 11050 for the 8 speed, not sure if the hydro`s have a differant o/d.

I`ve just taken a spindle apart, only takes a few min`s.One bearing comes out with the spindle, the other stays in the housing. Photos of the parts, the spacer goes in before you press/bash in the second bearing. Doug.

No machining other than tapping threads for wheel bolts. The spindles were knocked out of the bearings, new bearings pressed in, (the same size) and the hubs fitted to the W/H front spindles just like the original wheels. The beauty of this conversion is being able to fit narrow wheels, I think the stud P.C.D ( pitch circle diameter) is either 100mm or 4") plenty of wheels like these are available. Check out the local mower shop, private or council and see what they have in the scrap bin. Councils seem to like the John Deere rideons. regards Doug.

Hi there, Just had a visit from my friend`s dad, Had to fit some new rear brake shoes to "General Lee" He is a 79 years young,ex carpenter & joiner, this is his latest robin.He bought it like this, it was fitted with "dixie" air horns but I took them off as he is deaf as a post and wouldn`t know if he blew them. The amazing thing is you can find him on youtube busking, playing a saw with a nail and singing in Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. Look for "Sawman".He is quoted on the internet as "officialy the country`s most tuneless busker"!

Thanks Ian. The mud on the 121 is the result of me trying to cut the buttercups in the horse paddock with a flail mower towed behind my Ranger, in the swamp at the bottom of one paddock (an underground spring) I got stuck and had to tow the car out with the 121, with extra weight on for traction + the wife, the 121 then completed the mowing with no trouble. I probably should have harnessed one of the swamp donkeys, "Oop`s sorry," Wife`s horses, to the car and used it instead, but it gave the 121 an outing. I usually tow the flail, a converted 48" quad front mounted unit now fitted with rear wheels,( Zero turn? ) behind a westwood D1200 which runs forever on a sniff of diesel,(except when the pikey mice chew through the fuel lines) but this is only any good if the fields are nice and dry. It`s also a lottery as to which gear your in,but it was a freebe so can`t complain. The paint? on the 312-8 1989 is falling of in sheets< I really need to do something to it before it gets too bad.It hasn`t been used since fitting the new exhaust. The front wheels are JD 289 8" which fit straight on. The 6" originals went onto the flail mower. More photos to follow when I get the chance. regards Doug.

The hubs are John Deere 279 mower deck blade mounting spindles with the spindle removed. These came from a council customer of ours, whose policy is replace the whole assembly if the bearings are worn. The bearing bore size is 3/4", the same as the Horse. I fitted new bearings and threaded the holes M10 for the wheel bolts.The wheels are Howard rotavator wheels. front tyres are 4 x 8 tri rib hay bob tyres. The rears are 7.00 x 12 I had to raise the rear fender to gain clearance for the tyres. The clevis hitch is homemade also, no cables or chains,all linkages are rods & clevises & rod ends.

Thanks. I`ve also got the cultivator that fits the frame. I don`t have the plough but I picked up a Lemken stubble plough section that looks to be about the right size with a bit of modification. Last year I bought a six furrow orchard/vinyard plough with mouldboards just the right size for a Wheelhorse. A friend saw it and begged me not to cut it up but to sell it to him, eventually I did, He then fell out with me when he found out I made £25 profit ! I didn`t want to sell it in the first place, I could have made 6 Wheelhorse ploughs out of it.

Hi again, some photos of the John Deere 279 mower deck spindles converted to front wheel hubs. The holes are not threaded as i thought, I threaded them M10. The wheels are off a Howard rotavator.

Managed to take some photos,rather dirty,rusty horses,the four legged ones are probably cleaner even after having rolled in the mud.