Vinnetrow

As Wheel Horse, Bolens and Cub Cadet's are thin on the ground over here my only other option is to build my own. So i have started collecting parts that will be required for the build.
Managed to find an old generator engine Cheep! A Honda GX270 9hp, it might be a little under powered for what i want to do with it but it will do until i find something bigger.

Next up i got a hold of a Suzuki Vitara axle with a 5.12:1 ratio which will be narrowed Panzer style. Roughly 12 inches will need to be cut out of each side.

After a couple of hours cleaning, cutting off brackets and a coat of primer it now looks like this. Just need to build up the courage now to break out the grinder and start chopping up the axle.

A couple of rims were found next. 6x16. O/A height of the rear wheels will be about 28inches.

I already had the front axle that came with the chassis for the silage harvester,so that will be used with larger wheels. The axle is a heavy cast iron unit so should be plenty strong enough.

Last part for now is two new 4.00x8 three rib front tyres. O/A height 16inches.

Thats all the parts for now, going on Thursday night to have a look at a Bedford CF gearbox, it might be a bit of overkill but at least i wont have to make any wheel weights up to get traction.

This one is a bit of a work in progress, so it may be sometime before it gets finished.
So, started of with half a rolling chassis from a Yardman AN5175.

After a couple of hours cleaning and stripping it looked like this.

Removed rear section of chassis as it isnt required, found a 12hp engine to power it and a 42in deck.

The white masking tape sections are where the out riggers will go to carry the wheels. The yellow handle is where the drawbar will go.

One of the out riggers attached and a lift handle to adjust the deck height made.


This is as far as i have got. The swan neck is fully adjustable to allow transporting behind the tractor or cutting to the side.


Next step will be to find a garden leaf vacuum to help blow the grass up the delivery spout. Mount a battery,make a dash pannel, get a better fuel tank, and tidy it up a bit with a few body pannels.
Well that it for now, might be a while before any more updates as im having problems finding a leaf vacuum at a decent price.

Hate this bit, lots of priming, sanding, undercoating and painting, its like watching paint dry, oh wait it was !! 
 

 

 

 
This will give you the idea of why i call it "Kermit".
 

 
And here it is all put back together.
 

 

 
Since then it has received new wheels and cleated rear tyres.
 

 
Future plans are for a new exhaust that exits at the rear axle and a three point hitch.
Thanks for looking.

About four years ago my mate Gary and myself made this little tractor over the Christmas holidays. It was made from bits and peices we had lying around so realy didn't cost that much.
 
We started with a Mountfield 8/30 similar to the one below, which i pulled out of a skip.
 

 
You can guess what condition it was in when you see the gearbox.
 

 
We salvaged the engine which was a Briggs and Stratton 8hp, the 3 speed transmission and the rear axle, everything else went back in the skip.
A new chassis was made from 2x2 angle, a NOS bonnet sourced from a local dealer and an adjustable seat so my little daughter and myself can both ride it. Also fabed up a front axle and steering box (gearbox from an automatic door).
 

 
Front grill and dash pannel was next.
 

 
 

 
 
Now to close in the back, rear arches and side steps next.
 

 

 
Thats most of the fab work done, a bit of paint next.

Got tired of getting a sore back when working at the tractors so knocked up a work bench out of some old fencing.

I had my first visit to the workshop yesterday.. I didn't get anything much done but a few parcels had turned up..
 
New Landrover coils.. Not bad at just over £7 a pop.
 

 
 
And this bag of electrical bits...
 

 
 
More about the bits when I start installing them

very unusual camper made by trojan the firm that made the toraktor
 

Only a very small update as not much has been happening on this project..
 
As much as I love my old Southbend lathe it was struggling with the large slab of steel so I put it on my Monoturn lathe. The drill chuck is only there to stop the slab from flying across the workshop should it break loose!
 

 
 
As nice as it looks it is way too heavy and would act like a flywheel on the wheels, so I need to find a way of cutting it in half to make 2 thinner wheel thingys or turn 1/2 inch off it's width on the lathe!
 

Here's a few more.
 

  One for Nigel to race against Ian on "Why Not". :D

A few photos from last weekend.
 
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It's been a busy but very enjoyable few days helping Nigel out with a Yanmar 1300d.
It came into Nigel's workshop to have a roll bar fitted and a harrow made to fit..
 
We soon found out during harrow testing just how rubbish the Yanmar was, it felt like a cheap Tonka toy with no weight behind it!  Even though the Yanmar is 4 wheel drive as soon as the harrow was dropped into the ground the problems started with the front right and rear left wheels just spinning!  With the diff lock on all 4 wheels span but it couldn't pull the harrow which at best was only a couple of inches underground!!!
 
The said harrow..
 

 
 
The solution.. Add some weight
 
Brackets were made to bolt on Gutbrod wheel weights and a Gutbrod front weight..
 

 

 
 
The price of buying a Yanmar roll bar was stupidly high, so we made one out of nice thick box section..
 

 

 
 
Making the mounting plate that bolts to the back of the gearbox was interesting!
 

 
 
So a busy but enjoyable few days, it was good to get away from WN and do something different
 
Oh.. The extra weight we added made it a different machine.. It now harrows happily

Hi Stormin
Nice pics here are some more glad you enjoyed your day it was a pleasure
 

Photo's as promised. First some exhibits.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Morning all, my back has kinda put me out of action for a while, so only a small update as it's all I've managed.
 
Now.. A couple of people have told me I'm mad for making my own wheel PCD adaptors and I should just buy some!!  All I can say to that is I'm making them because I can   All it's costing me is time... Lot's and lot's of time!
 
Starting with a slightly heavy 40mm thick square of steel. The center has been marked with a punch and a circle drawn so I know where to slice the corners off.
 

 
 
This is a bit hard to see but here's my workings out to see if the wheel PCD adaptors could actually be made and the two PCD's didn't clash!
 

 
 
As always when trying to get a 4 bolt PCD inside a 5 bolt PCD somewhere two of the bolt/stud holes are going to be close!
 

 
 
They get even closer when you put a socket on the wheel nut!  If your confused it may help if I mention that the small circle next to the socket is where a stud will be for bolt the new wheels onto.
 

 
 
And the wheel nuts for the Reliant axle will be countersunk so there is no wheel/stud/nut clearance problems..
 

 
 
Once the corners were sliced off the slab went on the lathe. One side was faced off and a couple of grooves cut to mark out the PCD's before I started boring out the center.
 

 
 
Once the center was bored out I turned the slab around to start on the other side.
Just about on the size limit for my lathe here! If the diameter been a 1/4 inch wider I wouldn't of been able to get a cutting tool on to make the slab round!
 

 
 
I'm just glad that after 8 years of owning the lathe I managed to work out how to bolt on a bracket and some cogs to give me power feed up and down the bed!  It does make lathe work a bit boring but at least I only have to turn the handles half as much
 

I did a terrible job a taking photos, but here's a video for whoever's intersted
 

This ingenious use of an old push bike was seen at a small show in Melbury Abbas, Dorset in 2011. the chain wheel, which is fitted with teeth, drives the tines which are built on the bicycle rear hub....
 

Here's a couple of photos of the hitch and the shiny plough after 2 days of hard ploughing

buy the end of the day we had chrisses horse ploughing well just needs narrow tyres and some wheel weights to make it surperb it realy suprised us both how good it was

Held near Lavant, Chichester, this show boasts a unique working area that allows for old combines, threshers and balers to be put into action
 







 
 

Held near Lavant, Chichester, this show boasts a unique working area that allows for old combines, threshers and balers to be put into action
 







 
 

Held near Lavant, Chichester, this show boasts a unique working area that allows for old combines, threshers and balers to be put into action
 







 
 

Held near Lavant, Chichester, this show boasts a unique working area that allows for old combines, threshers and balers to be put into action
 







 
 

Held near Lavant, Chichester, this show boasts a unique working area that allows for old combines, threshers and balers to be put into action