A homebuilt tractor which might be of interest.

                                                                
                                                                       

My Father Duane bought a brand new Cub Lowboy with a belly mower to mow his acreage back in the late seventies. I recall going home and looking it over and thinking with my background as an auto tech I should be able to build one similar using cast off auto parts.

 

This write up details the following build which after a long crooked road gave our family a little home-built which has done everything we have asked, and more. No project I have been involved in has gave more satisfaction, a better return on the time and money spent.

Some of the parts used are no longer readily available making an exact copy difficult to build. Some of the ideas though I hope will spark interest and get your head thinking, yes, I could build that, I could do that. Hang on, here we go.

I first thought of using a 1600 CC Datsun L-16 engine from an early Datsun pickup truck. I was familiar with the motor and they were very available all the body's having rusted off them. The problem, one you will run smack into, is they are too long. Not the motor itself but the package. Almost all rear wheel drives setups like this have a long tail-shaft on the transmission. This would not be so bad but you need to slow the speed down which calls for a second transmission. Add the second transmission and you now have the engine perched way up front hanging out over the front tires while the back transmission is under your butt with the differential flipped around so the input shaft is pointing backwards driven with a chain off the second transmissions tail shaft. 

  A spare 84 Nissan transfer case.

In short a cobbled up mess. One day I was looking under the hood of a customers little Nissan Sentra, 1984 or so, when it the solution struck me. If I used a front wheel drive power-train all the length problems were resolved. Pay attention here as this is the key to the build.

The little five speed manual trans-axle not only has the five speeds, and reverse, but a further 3.5 to 1 reduction gear set after the five speed, all this built into one very compact case, no long tail-shafts. And hang on, it just keeps getting better. In the Sentra, as in most front wheel drive cars the engine sits sideways the driveshafts sticking out to the right and the left going directly to the front wheels.

What if we turn the engine 180 degrees so the front of the engine points to the front the axles now pointing to the front and the back? And what if we take the trans-axle apart and weld up the spider gears in the differential so we can throw the back drive shaft away? What is left is one CV shaft pointing forward running along the right frame to the front of the tractor. 

 

 

Now to take this geared down power source and direct it to the back axle where we need it. The 1984 Nissan 4WD pickups incorporated a divorced transfer case. Rather then hanging off the back of the transmission these units were frame mounted and had flanges to which were bolted three separate shafts, one in and two out. Taking one of these units and bolting it to our frame right in front of the engine we can hook our output shaft from the trans-axle to the input and use the flange that formerly drove the front axle of the pickup truck to power up our rear end though a driveshaft which passes right under the engine. 

 

 

And that is the breakthrough without which our little home-built would be a cobbled up mess. What this shortened set up allowed us to do was locate the engine and transmission where it best fit the build. I was able to have it on temporary mounts I could slide up and down the frame. This lets you locate your seating position and slide the power-train unit forward and back until it sits right where wanted.

My plans for this story include pictures of individual projects involved, the steering, the differential used, the wheel adapters, fenders, power steering, hydraulics, front axle, ect..along with some account of how problems were met and resolved. For now though a account of how the tractor has performed.

What we ended up with, a five speed manual with high low range. Power steering, small separate pump for hydraulics. A simple hoist or cherry picker off the back of the tractor capable of lifting a small block Chevy with heads. The cherry picker is also used as the lift for the three point hitch. 

 

Our little tractor has been up and going for nearly 30 years now. It has held up surprisingly well. Several years ago we replaced the clutch due to its slipping. If was not for doing some tractor pulling I am sure our original would still be in place. One other failure is the spider gears in the nine inch Ford differential would shatter every time we got into a hard pull on a tacky pulling track. We put in a unit with an extra set of pinion gears in it to resolve this issue. During normal use we just have not seen any breakage. I thought the welded spiders in the little five speed trans-axle, the ones welded up, would be the weak link, they have never been an issue. 

 

The first five years the home-built was used to mow grass. Took an old five foot Arts-Way PTO finish mower and modified it to be driven with a 16 horse Briggs Van Guard engine. It was a little awkward around trees and obstacles but was much faster than what we had before. County fair time we put a straight pipe on and go tractor pulling. We run the 3000 and 3500 lb classes. On a good day we can beat a B John Deere. Wind it up, slip the clutch, get it going and then hammer down. Not really competitive we do make lot of noise and have a lot of fun.

With a front mounted boom and rear mounted tank it is our chief spraying tractor. We have one small pasture and about ten residential yards to spray each year. We now have other tractors but the home-built works best for spraying. A bonus is the heavy duty flat top fenders. In the pasture spot spraying thistles with the hand wand you can stand on them to get a little more distance and better see what is out there.

How does it drive? As Bob Dylan would say, “Smooth as a rhapsody.” Honestly it drives like a dream, best part of it. We have a nice little Kubota L3000DT. About the same size as the home-built it has ag tires which are rough on smooth roads. The 3000 tops out at maybe twelve MPH. A four speed with hi/low range you have to pick your gear before starting out as the gears are not synchronized. 

 

Our little home-built has relatively smooth tires on it giving a nice quiet ride. All five gears are synchronized so shifting is smooth. Fifth gear hi range our home-built will run along nicely at about twenty or so. Feel racy you can open it up and it will run just over fifty. You can accomplish almost anything you wish to do in high range, dropping it into low will slow all gears by about one half. We do all our pulling in low range, second gear. Great traction, getting stuck has never been an issue. We do have a set of chains for the rears, they certainly take the smooth out of it. 

 

Not what it was built for but what our little tractor is best for is after supper summer tractor rides. With plenty of gravel roads and quiet black tops available here in north west Iowa my Grandson Evan and I, we have put in side by side seating, enjoy taking it out for spins. We often go ten or even fifteen miles out just poking along and enjoying the sights and feel of an Iowa summers evening. For this task it has no equal, way better than a motorcycle or side by side. 

 

As mentioned I will be following up with some pictures and details of the build. In the meantime I hope this has got your interest up and your brain to thinking about what you could build.

A link to a video explaining our tractor.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rWrNm9uKWs8&t=15s

 

Video to a short run down the road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHVhtQNVnVQ&t=5s

 

Old Grouch.


We were maybe twelve. Dave Deirens older brother Dean had been into go karts and one had filtered down to us kids. As I recall it had went first to cousin Paul who when he tired of it sold it to me.

I put an old 1&1/2 horse cast Iron Briggs on it, direct drive, no clutch, no governor. It was a cool cart, slicks and mags all round, only about a half inch off the ground, this was at the time a pro kart, McCullach as I recall.

 Yes they made mostly motors but we were told they built some carts too, and this was one of them.

Lester was a small town, no police. Like always, mostly we were just bored. With no other cart to race against we got a stop watch from somewhere and took turns doing time trials around the block. 28 seconds seems right, but I could be wrong.

Aware of the danger we posted lookouts on each corner during runs to stop traffic until the cart cleared. The roads were summer slick, hot blacktop and pea gravel. we were having a ball.
John Folkens, Dave Deiren, Lyle Fecht and I imagine a couple others.

 I was at the wheel southbound down the hill past Matilda Agesons going to beat the band when a car approached the corner from the south. Couple of our boys posted in the middle of the road raised their hands to stop it.

Some older guy and his wife, fancy car, As i skated around the corner spewing gravel I glanced up to see as big a scowl as you can imagine.
Run done he went his way, I mine.

It is a gorgeous January day 55 some years after the event. For some reason the scene pops into my mind.
It all came back, the warm summer sun, the pea gravel, the smell of raw fuel, the sound of the open exhaust, and the thought of what an old sour puss he must have been to not be able to enjoy the experience also. To not see the Norman Rockwell beauty, to only feel the inconvenience.

Out of towner, none of us kids had ever seen he or his wife before.

And I remind myself, never be that guy.

Realized I had never posted the story about losing my Father Duane. Chair is doing just fine, use it every day.

January 22-09

Dads old chair just gave out, came home one weekend and the
recliner mechanism had broke. The chair meant a lot to Dad,
not in a sentimental way but because he just did not get
around good anymore mostly he sat in his chair and watched,
watched the news, watched the neighbors come and go, watched
the trains headed north with coal.

There was another in the basement, my nephew Travis and I
were tasked to bring it up, we plunked it into place. It was
far nicer looking then the old one, rich brown leather. No
swivel though, that and it sat low, hard for Dad to get out
of it. Just four stout legs with the reclining feature.

Even in his younger years, back when he was putting in long
hours building his business Dad appreciated a good chair.
Now when he needed one the most it did not have a swivel. He
could buy another but not today, He was not a patient man.

I went to the garage, found some plywood then tore the
swivel off his old chair and brought them both into the
living room. Seeing the possibilities Dad perked right up,
excited now he told me where some screws were, directed me
to the saw and his drill. It went quite well, Dad watched
every move made, offered suggestions. My sister Laura was
worried, worried when we ran dri-wall screws into the nice
legs, worried the extra four inches would dump Dad over when
he tilted it back. Dad and I weren't concerned with pretty,
just function, plywood and two by fours screwed together, no
mitered ends, no sanding or staining. When finished it
looked like a lumber truck had crashed.

. Dad was ecstatic. He just could not get over how well it
worked.

Every Sunday I came home now, every Sunday when leaving I
would pause at the door where Dad sat in his chair, grasp
his hand and tell him I loved him, he could never say it
back.

Later as he got weaker and it was more difficult for him to
reach the phone I built him a shelf alongside the chair arm,
we screwed it right to the side arm, my sister Laura again
winced, this time as we drove screws right through the
leather on the sides. We told her, told her not only was it
just a used chair, it was Dad's used chair, and if he wanted
to drive screws through it was is business. Screwed the
phone right down to the shelf also, big screws, ugly screws.
Dad loved it.

I noticed now when I was preparing to go Dad would look at
me and get his hand ready, and when I grasped it he would
hold on a little longer, our eyes would meet and feelings
would flow between us, still the words could not come.

Time passed and now even the chair was not a comfort, he was
getting sores and had trouble finding a position did not
hurt. Then the day came he could no longer make it to his
chair. My sister Karen the nurse came for the week, I showed
up Friday evening to take my sons place, my sister Laura was
getting ready to leave. Dad seemed OK but strangely both
Laura and my son Alan kept dragging their feet and ended up
staying also.

In the early morning Dad started to slip away from us, oddly
the kitchen drain picked this occasion to plug, Mom was in
the room with us, not altogether with it, sort of groggy but
still quipping about what we were going to have for supper.
We all sat on the bed and rubbed and held Dad, he pursed his
lips, we thought to say something, no he wanted Mom to kiss
him, one last time. Then he was gone. We sat with him for
some time. It felt right to be there, not hard like you
might think. I was so glad Karen had came down, and so glad
Laura and Alan had stayed.. We all felt very close,as close
as we ever have.

In time we gathered in the kitchen, the hospice nurse Marge
showed up followed by the fellow from the funeral home, they
put Dad on a gurney, I helped them carry him out past his
chair and place him in the hearse.

He never did say it, nor did he have to, his eyes said it
when he looked at me waiting with his outstretched hand, in
his custom built chair.

 The Littlest Christmas tree.

When you are young no time is more special then Christmas. How I and my three siblings Larry, Karen and Laura looked forward to it.

In our small town of Lester Iowa the season kicked off when the Christmas trees arrived at J.D. Chamberlain's lumber yard and hardware store. J.D.s was a fixture on main street his main building being cement block which my Father told me were cast by hand from molds mail ordered from Sears and Roebuck The trees arrived and were set out in front for all to see, my youngest sister Karen and I begged our father Duane to buy one.

I do not recall how long it took to persuade him, days or weeks, but I do remember looking them all over with Dad in tow. A small one caught our eye, short needled not over four and a half or five foot tall. Dad grabbed it with a strong hand stamping the trunk on the pavement to shake out the snow and get and idea of it's spread. We fell in love with the little tree.

Once home we set it up in the corner of our living room and over the next day it's branches spread.

Typically one side of a tree has a bald spot, a missing branch. Common practice is to set the ugly side to the wall. Our little tree was absolutely perfect no matter from what side it was viewed. Karen and I being the youngest were so proud of it. We simply beamed when company came, could not wait to tell the story of finding our tree, to show them how perfect it was. I remember Dad and Mom smiling as we told our story.

At the time I thought they were proud of the tree also, now at 66 with children, and grandchildren, of my own, I realize they were not so much proud of the tree but of us kids for being so happy with it, proud of us being so pleased with such a simply thing.

Christmas over our little tree was set outside in the snow where it was covered with popcorn strings the the ground around it covered with old bread heals, this for the birds to feast on.

For the past two weeks running up to this Christmas of 2017 not a day has gone by I don’t think of our little tree and how special it made our family’s Christmas back in 1958.

Times, events, as a child, are like seeds scattered on the ground. Many never germinate, others sprout soon to fade away. But sometimes the least likely grow and grow into a wonderful memory we can carry and cherish our entire life.

It is the time of year to remember one of our most important jobs is to scatter those seeds, and to not be discouraged when sometimes they do not grow, to have faith, absolute faith, that some of them, as always, will live on long after we are gone. Merry Christmas to all.

Building a home built tractor.

Plan on getting some pictures taken to go along with the following text but for know this is what I have.

I always admired my Father Duane’s ability to fashion something workable from others scrap. Feed mills, payloaders, semi trailers, he was simply a wizard.

Some twenty odd years ago I built a small tractor which worked out better then I could have imagined. We have used it to spray, push cars into the shop, mow the lawn, pull at the local tractor pull, lift up motors and other heavy items with the back cherry picker, and most importantly, take nice long drives on gravel roads during warm Iowa summer evenings.

I would like to share my design with you and in particular point out the solution I stumbled onto which resolved the problem of multiple transmissions which stretch the drive-line out in length and make most home-built designs awkward with the engine hanging out over the front axle and the back transmission under your butt.

Simply put I incorporated a transverse frt. wheel drive trans-axle and engine and turned it around so the engine face forward. OK, now we have one drive axle pointing forward and another pointing backwards both hanging off to the right side of the center line.

As you only need to use one of the axles you will have to split the trans-axle and weld the spider gears up in the internal differential. Spiders welded up you can pull out the axle pointing to the rear and plug the hole left in the case. I simply fashioned a piece of aluminum which fit into the seal and then drove the seal into place.

The engine and drive-line I used came from a1984 Nissan Sentra. A garden variety 1600CC SOHC with a five speed manual trans-axle it was an engine , and trans-axle, I was familiar with and at the time of the build easy and cheap to procure.

Lets take a look at just what it gives us. A nice short little four cylinder overhead cam engine which runs smooth and is very reliable coupled with a quiet easy to shift fully synchronized five speed trans-axle Also tucked into the gear box is a final drive set which further reduces the rpm by about a 3.5 to one ratio.

Hi-Lo range

1984 Nissan 4x4 pickups used a divorced transfer case which rather then hanging on the back of the transmission were mounted to frame rail with a drive-shaft from the transmission powering it. Mounting one of these on the right hand frame rail in front of the engine allowed me to run the drive shaft from the trans-axle right into the transfer case then hook up to the output shaft which would have originally ran to the front axle with another drive-shaft which then had a straight shot at the nine inch Ford rear end in the back of the tractor.

Wow! What a difference this layout makes. I was able to set the engine and trans-axle in place and simply slide it back and fourth on the frame rails to a spot which gave the best balance. And talk about luck. I was able to use one of the stock drive-axles from the Nissan to couple to the transfer case and then the stock 84 Nissan pickup rear drive-shaft to couple to the nine inch Ford rear end.

All I had to do with the back driveshaft was hybridize the rear u-joint, the front axle shaft simply required an adaptor to couple to the transfer case.

The frame.

I used 3x3 3/16s square tubing . Tricky part with the frame is you need to know the height of the back and and the front axle. Better get the front axle and the rear end set up with the tires you plan on using. Your front axle is going to have to a pivot a few degrees so you need to determine how much clearance you need between the top of the axle and the bottom of the frame members. See specifications.

For me all that was required was to overlap the frame rails just ahead of the back axle. This gave us the three inch drop needed to keep everything level. See pictures.

One little tweak which worked out well. Before I tacked the frame together I laid the rails up in the drill press and put some holes through the rail centers both vertical and horizontal. Believe I used a ¾ inch bit. Holes in place I fitted them with short pieces of ½ inch black pipe welded into place and then ground flush with the frame surface. This gives nice mounting points to bolt any future attachments to. With the pipes welded into place you can cinch the bolts down tight without worrying about collapsing the frame. Much easier to do while the individual frame members can be placed in a drill press.

Rear end

The differential used was a Ford nine inch from a sixties something Ford pickup. A nice thing about the nine inch Ford is that ratios are available all the way down to about 6.5 to one. Initially went with the 6.5 to 1 set. Worked good, pulled tractor pulls in second gear low range. By over reving the engine to about 7 or 7.5 K RPM we were able to top 50 MPH in high high. Not recommended, but felt we had to do it once.

The width of the rear end was good the way it was, no narrowing of the housing or axle shortening needed. I will caution the back wheel studs stick out a little further then the widest point of the tires. Yo get used t it and not a problem. Certainly makes a mess though if you get to close to a woven wire fence.

I will mention the nine inch Ford will do anything within reason, very easy to work on and set up. That being said if we got a tacky track at the tractor pull it would crack the spider gears like walnuts. I was able to locate a twin pinon nine inch differential which has four rather then two spider gears. Since making the switch we have had no further problems . If I was building another one though I would move up to a fourteen bolt GM rear end.

When building the tractor I assumed the weak link was going to be the welded spider gears in the Sentra trans-axle. These are not much larger then a silver dollar. I was so in love with the drive-line layout I could not resist going against my better judgment and going forward with the build. The last thing I expected problems with was the nine inch ford.

The little spiders in the Sentra trans-axle have never given a bit of trouble whereas those Ford spiders caught between all the reduction in the drive-line and the height of those tall semi tires have not. I might also note the Sentra clutch, no bigger then a pie plate, has been replaced once in twenty some years and am sure if it wasn’t for starting out those heavy sleds at the pulls the original would still be doing fine.

Steering

Used a tilt steering column out of a 80s GM car. As you can see in the pictures rather then mount the column to the frame I mounted it to the trans-axle. This has worked well. I had thought I would use a steering box below the column and then transfer the motion forward via a drag link to a pivot which would hook to the tie rod between the two front wheels.

What we ended up mounting a power steering rack from a mid eighties GM front wheel drive car parallel to the frame. The steering column hooks up to the rack with a knuckle, the one tie rod end is not used and the one pointing forward attaches to the aforementioned pivot. Using the rack eliminates the use of a drag link. This has worked well. We mounted two power steering pumps both from mid eighty vintage Nissan Sentras. One pump handles the power steering while another taps into a larger welded reservoir which takes care of the rear lift cylinder.

Wheels.

My father had a small fleet of semi trucks. The aluminum Bud wheels they use are scraped if they develop a crack. For the first five years they are warrantied after that they are simple pitched. Dad had a couple with cracks which I felt comfortable using due to the tractors light weight and low air pressure, ten lbs. To adapt them we used ½ plate steel. Takes some time to get everything centered up and drilled but using the five bolt axle flange, with the studs knocked out of it, for a pattern on the small circle and the truck rim for a pattern on the large circle it worked.

My Friend Larry who at the time ran a machine shop turned the adapter plate into a circle with his lathe. He also turned the center to fit the hub of the axle. The wheels, tires and adapters have never given any problem, following from behind they run true. Note rather then bevel the holes in the adapter to match bevel of the lug nuts I simply turned the lug nuts around. Also note although I put ten holes in the outer diameter lug nut holes when I started fitting the studs I realized on my light little rig ten big studs was overkill so we just used every other one.

Front Axle

I spent the better part of a weekend building the first front axle. Not happy with it when done I threw it out and started over this time using a set of front spindles of an old Datsun 620 pickup truck along with some 3X3 by ¼ inch square tubing. I doubt you would be able to find a set of them anywhere now as all those old Datsuns have rusted away. That being said the Datsun spindles mated with a pair of wheels from a Dodge D-50 have worked well.

Setting up your Ackermen angle.

My Father always preached setting up the Ackermen angle. When you turn the outside wheel has to turn a lesser angle as it is making a wider turn. If your steering arm tie rod end holes are both straight back from the spindle center line when you turn both wheels will turn the same angle the outer tire being partially drug around the corner. You can feel this when driving as it will feel like the brakes are being applied on corners, the tighter the turn the more noticeable. Also, the shorter the wheelbase the more noticeable.

Dad said to set it up properly draw a straight line from the center of the back axle through the spindle, or king pin, center line. Drawing the line on each side you end up with a vee. Now just make sure where your tie rod end hooks to the steering arm is on this imaginary line. Interestingly if you extend the line past the center of the king pin so it goes forward of the frt. axle you can hook the tie rod up there also.

Look at some trucks or even cars, some have the tie rods in frt. of the axle, some in back but if you look they all will be set on that imaginary line. I have heard on some heavy trucks they have different steering arms available for different wheelbases.

I got in a hurry and did not pay close attention to my steering arms, simply left them as they were.. Sure enough, with my shorter wheel base I could coast along, turn the wheel and feel everything bind up bringing me to a stop. Some cutting and welding to put my tie rod connections on the magic line and it rolls very smooth during even tight turns. Remarkable difference. Note most of the steering spindles and arms are malleable cast steel, not cast iron. As such they weld up nice. When I needed a good tapered hole to hook up the drag link to the tie rod it was a simple matter of going to the junk yard and cutting an end off a 80s something GM front wheel drive steering arm and welding it into place.

Radiator

Hard to find an automotive radiator narrow enough. Mine came off a 1980 water cooled Volkswagen Fox with a 1800 CC motor Nice package in that the cooling fan is controlled by a temp sender which is screwed right into the radiator. This is one of the few cooling senders or switches which has heavy enough contacts it can carry the load of the fan without a relay. just power in and power back out. This package has been trouble free.

Roll over protection.

The ROP is simply built with square tubing. I angled it back about 14 degrees. It has ½ inch thick pads on the bottom which bolt to the base. This allows the ROP to be unbolted if need be. The cherry picker as you can see is built off the ROPs. Also has a set of lift arms and a center link for three point use. Not used much now but for several years I mowed with it. Had an older 5 foot three point mower which I converted from PTO to its separate engine a 16 hp Briggs Van Guard. A chain hooked up from the cherry picker arm to the mower deck which allowed it to be lifted about a foot. Always worked good with the exception of being awkward around trees.

Fenders.

When building the tractor I figured the fenders would be the big easy. I planed to buy a pair of used flat top tractor fenders and bolt them up. Ready for them I found used scarce and when found expensive. Plan B worked out well though. Made use of some ten inch channel iron and cut one edge off. I welded on a piece of 3X3 angle iron to widen it out then as I remember welded some steel to the frt. And back edges to add some more depth then took string from the center of the axle and drew a arc on the fenders edge and cut it off with a torch.

Using some 5/16 steel rod I put it on the fenders edges to give a nice rolled finish to it. As I spotted in place we used the torch to heat it so I could make the tight corners. Once in place welded it on solid with 1/16 inch rod then went over it with a die grinder and three inch 36 grit sanding pads to smooth it all out.

I like the fenders, they are sturdy and we often use them to stand on when spraying with a hand wand.

Fuel tank

For a gas tank we used a 6 gallon marine tank. Located under the seat it sits loose with a ring of 5/16 steel rod welded to the floor to keep it in place. You can grab the tank with your hand and lift up on it to see how much fuel is left. Simple is good. Five gallons of fuel lasts forever.

Hood.

I had a lot of fun playing around with different hood designs. I ended up using a pair of front fenders off a late seventies Dodge D-50. You can see in the pictures they were trimmed right above the top of the wheel opening. We then used a piece of common steel for the center section. The hood tips forward.

I am not a body man but am happy with the way it turned out.

Dash

The dash is formed of 1/8 inch flat steel. How to make those nice round curves. I stumbled on to this trick. I have a shop press which has a base of steel channel irons on edge three inches apart. Lay the flat steel across them then take a good heavy piece of heavy angle iron and place its sharp edge against the flat steel parallel with three inch gap between the press base, now bring the ram down into the angle of the angle iron and start pumping. The sharp edge of the angle iron pushing through the three inch gap will form the smoothest bend in the flat steel you could ask for.

Spider gears

Welding the spider gears. I asked about welding spiders on one of my auto tech sites, iATN. A ton of responses with a number of different techniques. The take away, they all work. I simply went down to the local farm store, bought some cast iron rod and burned it together, no finesse to it.

Choosing an engine and trans-axle.

At the time of building mine non computerized car engines were plentiful. Today finding a good one is hard. This means you may have to make use of a car engine which is fuel injected and computer controlled. A lot more wires but fuel injected is nice. There are two kinds. Pre 1995 and post 1995 . 1995 engines and later are called OBD 2 . OBD 2 cars have advanced diagnostics, more inputs, more outputs, more wires. Some such as the Evap. system can be discarded. Of course this means you will always have codes set in your computer so a check engine light is not gong to do you much good as it will always be on. Other systems such as fuel control, ignition and such will have to be maintained.

Just keep in mind when you find your donor motor and transmission you will want not only the engine and trans-axle but the engine control module, or ECM , and all the wiring which goes with it.

You could do a lot worse then finding an early nineties four cylinder pre-OBD Toyota..

A decent scan tool and a good wiring diagram will be needed to sort through everything. Once hooked up and properly wired no reason it shouldn’t be trouble free. A good friend who is an auto tech with access to online wiring diagrams and service information would be very useful.

Automatic trans-axles?

What about an automatic trans-axle? I believe it would work good and stand up well. The hardest part would be pulling the automatic all apart to get to the spider gears and then getting it back together without screwing something up. Automatics are easy to work on, if that is what you work on all the time. For the rest of us it can be trying. I have another project I have been working on, an articulated loader which makes use of a G.M. three speed automatic trans-axle. I welded the spiders in it, they are the very last thing to come out of the case, everything else has to come out to access them. So far, knock on wood, it is working well.

Building one today.

Let me tell you how easy it could be. I spent, “wasted”, a bunch of time trying to figure out where everything went, the dimensions needed for the frame, how much offset in the frame, how everything would fit. Doing one today I would simply start with a frame the dimensions of mine. I would use the three inch overlap knowing it would be perfect for 14 inch front tires and semi truck rear tires. Once I got the frame rails cut I would spot weld the the frame members together. Next I would build adapters for the rear truck tires and mount them up to a rear end and spot weld the rear end to the frame. Next I would grab an old wheel barrow wheel and build a fork for it and spot weld the fork to the front of the frame giving me a rolling chassis.

Once you have a rolling chassis it is much easier to deal with. Yes, it will be a lot of work but once you have it roughed out and rolling on wheels you can break it down to one project at a time. One key point I cant stress enough, spot weld everything until you are sure how everything is going to fit together, only then do your final welding.

So, how does it work? A slick nickel. I have a little thirty horse L series Kubota. With it's ag tires it is pretty lumpy on the road, only goes 12 MPH. Straight cut gears in the transmission are loud. No synchronizers so you have to pick out your gear before you start, no shifting on the fly.

Compare with the home-built. Tires are smoother for a much nicer ride, the transmission is synchronized, and quiet as a mouse. You can run around town at twenty MPH without over revving, smooth as can be.

My grandson Evan loves going for evening rides in the summer time. We have a lot of gravel roads here in Iowa that have little traffic. We often go out ten mile or even fifteen before turning back.

During the county fair we put a straight pipe on it and go tractor pulling. If the track is tacky we can get the wheels up and, in second gear low range, pull the motor right into the dirt. The front push bumper makes moving cars and trucks around at work a piece of cake. Always our choice for spraying with a spray bar up front and hose and wand in the back.

Despite the rear end not being posi traction you have to work pretty hard to get it stuck.

Yes, it takes some time to get it all together. But of all the projects I have done this is the one I enjoyed building the most, and the one I have got the most use and enjoyment out of once built. Never been any regrets for the time spent on or with it.

Let him roll.

From early this spring.

As a young boy I got into some scrapes, was at times places I should not have been, doing things I should not have done. With age comes if not wisdom reflection and regrets. You carry them like the burden they are, may wish to place them on another's back but they transfer poorly, I guess that is only fair.
That being said two pursuits I have no regrets about, motor scooters and fishing. As a young boy they captivated and entertained me, when I wasn't engaged in them I was day dreaming about them. In my heart of hearts, the one which you carry from earliest childhood to the grave they are front and center. No matter on the banks of the Mud Creek with pole in hand and the song of the meadow lark near, or putting along some country road with a cast iron flat head Briggs, Red wing black birds chattering my passing. Those two endeavors are the song in my heart, the best of me, the best I got.

My son Alan,now forty, should have been a motor head. I was in the business, worked on motorcycles. Go karts and dirt bikes should have been front and center through his childhood. I recall making the decision, I determined if he did not show interest in motorbikes and such I would not push it. Fishing is where his heart was and I was more then happy to oblige him. Although neither of fish today we share many good memories No regrets.

My grandson Evan and I are close, as a young boy he lived with us. He loves the smell of gasoline. Gave him an old hydro-stat Bolens garden tractor at 8. He terrorized our neighborhood for three years, no one got killed and any fool could see it made his heart sing.

The old Manco four wheeler stood forlorn and alone, two hundred bucks and it was mine. A hundred and twenty dollar motor, a ninety dollar clutch, fifty bucks for disc brakes, some time and some welding. The kids got good hands, better then mine. I love to watch them work, place the bolts, start the nut, flip the clutch, no not this way that.
I gave him our pasture. Know it will get tore up but grass can always be regrown.
He called Friday, could I come get him after work? Saturday morning we worked on his seat which was in shambles. A new plywood base and some stapling put it right. Problem was the snow this past week. It had the pasture covered and there simply was no place else to take it.
Evan called Miss Connie who has a nice long graveled lane. “Maybe next week, too soft now Evan”.
He took it like a man yet the disappointment clearly showed on his face. My mind went back to country roads and Redwing blackbirds.

Told him we would load it up and find somewhere. Four miles out, not a car in sight. We dropped the ramp and rolled it off. Head east I told him, I will be right behind you. The look on his face, like he had just won the lottery.

She topped out at 18 mph, little slow I thought. A mile down the road he twisted around and grabbed the throttle at the motor and we were soon going 33. Stopping at a crossroad I cast about for a tool spying only a crescent wrench. Smash the gas pedal down I told him as I made some cable adjustments to put things right.

The gravel roads were decent mostly hard in the middle soft on the sides. We had Pandora radio set to Guy Clark. Every-time he would turn to see what I wished him to do next I would motion him forward, “let him roll”.

This way that way, around Ryan then Swan lake. He looked so happy, just a kid and his cart with a ticket to ride. Swan Lake was the best, some nice short sweeping ninties. He saw them coming, had the pedal to the floor, carrying just enough speed to get some drift . Making the exit he would turn and grin, like he was saying. Did you see that ?

The miles pile up, still no cars. Every corner now he is expecting me to load him up, every time he looks back I motion on, “let him roll”. Stopping before an intersection we chat a bit, with a grin he tells me it is actually quite soothing. I nod my head, understanding perfectly. We are over twenty miles into it, I tell him to turn right.

I go to follow then see the sign, Minimum Maintenance road, No Plowing.
Well shit, I am not taking my Expedition and trailer down there. I pull over and wait for him to realize I am not following.

He goes, and goes and goes. Good God kid, turn around. Finally no more then a muddy speck on a muddy distant hill he pulls over and makes his turn and it is with great relief the speck becomes larger and larger. I have the ramp down, he rolls around the intersection and onto the trailer in one fluid motion, covered in mud.
We laugh as we recount the trip. I admonish to him that this is a one time deal, “don’t you be expecting it again.”. He grins. A big happy muddy grin.

I encourage you to take a listen to the Guy Clark song, Let him Roll. Not relevant to this story except the chorus, "Let Him Roll." Was playing in my head the entire run, every-time he looked back, every-time I motioned him on.

I Am Back! Having for a time lost my interest, and my password I am back after not posting since 2011.


The lesson.

I was young, perhaps ten. Off in a corner of Dad's repair shop I was intensely trying to cut a piece of steel with a hand hacksaw. Lots of motion, not much cutting. Walking by Dad stopped, watched for a couple seconds then said simply, “let me show you something”.
Picking up the saw he pointed to the angle of the teeth, “ only cuts on the forward stroke, you are wasting your time putting pressure on the back cut, just let it coast back then put your weight into the forward cut, not to much pressure now, you will feel when its right.”

He put the saw to my work, it looked so effortless, the teeth bit into the work the filings falling out on every forward stoke.
Handing the saw back he went his way. I put his lesson to work. Although the cut was not as quick as his I found my rhythm, the sweet spot.
I never use the hacksaw I don’t think of my Father, remember back to the time he stopped what he was doing to set his youngest son right.
A sharp blade, a good solid saw frame, pressure, coast, pressure, coast, then lighten up on the final stroke, the light clink as the piece hits the bench.

 Been ten years, you did good Dad, miss you. Roy