Tractor/mower

[Baloo]

l dont really know where to start with this one, so here will have to do

a little while back l started building a new ride on mower as my current one is around 500 years old and falling to bits everything was going fine and progress was being made and then 3 or 4 weeks ago l was looking at the state of my buggy track with the tyre ruts from various 4 wheel drives vehicles that has been round it and l decided l needed some light and 4 wheel drive to drag a 3 ton roller round to get rid of the ruts, first idea was to finish the mower and use that to tow the roller then a complication arrived in the form of a vitara
rolling chassis that l bought just to get the wheels and tyres off, l just cant throw stuff away , l looked at the rolling chassis and decided that l should use it instead of my home built one for the mower. after all it has springs and things for suspension where the one l was building has solid mounted axles well the front is solid the rear flopps about like an old tractor

so thats where we are at a mower that has turned into a tug

some earlier pics of the mower

a much narrow sj front axle use as a rear

second level takes shape

 

[madkayaker]

You have far to much free time! When is forum play day at yours?

 

[jonjoe]

looking good how are you going to put in a clutch

 

[Baloo]

so heres where the confusion came in, l bought this rolling chassis for £80 just to get the aligator tyres for another project

tyres are good but that left me with a chassis and drive train that l couldent throw away

so started with plan A use the vitara chassis with the 1600cc engine and box and run it on lpg using forklift bottles cheap to run, all it needs is a seat and a tow bar and we are good to go pull a roller

of course then l want to use it as a mower as well and that screws the vitara engine and box as the ground speed will be too high, even in low box it will be to fast, vitaras are not so easy to lower the gearing on as an sj but 2 to 1 low is not enough reduction it needs to be at least 4 to 1 to keep the engine speed up to drive the cutters and the ground speed down to a controllable level, so thats the petrol engine and box dispenesed with

 

[Baloo]

You have far to much free time! When is forum play day at yours?

free time lol, l was out in the garage till past midnight last night, ask the neighbours they know l was using the 9" grinder

 

[Baloo]

looking good how are you going to put in a clutch

cutting deck will be hydrauliclly driven l have these motors and blades of a commercial out front mower , l plan to drive a hyd pump of the engine crank pully that way l can fiddle with engine speed to change the pressure and flow and use the gears to find a suitable ground speed, l hope

 

[jonjoe]

good idea never thought of that

 

[Baloo]

so l have a vitara rolling chassis that l want to cross breed with my mower to get a "sprung" mower/tug, luckily my big fat wheels and tyres are early jeep based which is suzuki stud patten so the wheels will swop over no problem

they are going to rub the suspension me thinks so l will have to make some wheel spacers to push them out a touch

 

[Baloo]

86" wheel base is a touch to long as l have some very tight turns on my buggy track and by the time l have a roller on the back l doubt it would make all the corners with out using the hand brake

so chopperty chop

 

[jonjoe]

are you going to chop a bit out of the prop shaft in the middle or buy a new one

 

[Baloo]

are you going to chop a bit out of the prop shaft in the middle or buy a new one

l would happily just chop the prop and reweld it it on a slow moving vehicle like a mower but..... the vitara gearbox is a hi centre output for the rear prop which means with the much shorter prop l cant get the angle to get down to the rear diff , one option would be swap the transfer box for an sj one which has a lower out put and would probably work but the suzuki engine and box is no more its gone : (replaced by a pug 306 turbo diesel engine and box turned through 90* and mid mounted, since this has a diff in the gearbox its giving me an extra 4 to 1 reduction that l was after to slow the ground speed down and the push the torque up for towing the roller

 

[jonjoe]

you couldn't add such a thing as a drop box like the front wheel drive

 

[Baloo]

you couldn't add such a thing as a drop box like the front wheel drive

l am sure l could have found a way around it, probably with an sj transfer box instead of the vitara one but it still leaves me short in the gearing deptartment
as it would only be 2 to 1 in low range and my calculations suggest l need at least 4 to 1 to get me into the same speed range as a commercial mower,

besides using a fwd diesel engine and box is neat and tidy when space is at a premium not to mention l can run on red diesel, always a bonus

 

[Baloo]

so as its tight and twisty where l am going with it l decided l would make the back end much narrower than the front so as l perform a tight turn the back wheels dont run over the wee little saplings that l have spent time and money rearing , so l have used a dana back axle instead of the vitara one its around 16" narrower but is fitted with a limited slip diff which should help out,
since the axle is so narrow it means the chassis is way too wide now, so its chop chop again

rear section of chassis narrowed down by 16" or so

when its all stitched back together again it looks like

 

[Baloo]

well the chassis and springs went of to the shot blasters and came back looking all nice and new,
l must have been a cleaner in a previous life as l really enjoy having stuff blasted to clean it up followed by a repaint

its up into undercoat now just the green to go on tomorrow

 

[Baloo]

the chassis made it into green ok, got to strip the suspension components next and get them blasted and painted so l might be quiet for a while

but then again as another toy snuck into the workshop under the cover of darkness maybe l wont

shes a bit tommy cotton but thats just means l get to melt some metal right ?

 

[Robotstar5]

Where do you find them all, do you have a sign "basket cases wanted" on the side of a pickup or something?

 

[Baloo]

Where do you find them all, do you have a sign "basket cases wanted" on the side of a pickup or something?

you got it lol, basket cases are cheaper

it was from the only place to shop, ebay of course

 

[jpmillermatic]

Great work on this project!...Its gonna be a beast when done...

Basket cases are great....I built up a golf cart for my dad out of one...Cost under 500.00 total...after paint, new hardware, body panels, ect...

keep at it....look forward to more pics.

JP

 

[Baloo]

Great work on this project!...Its gonna be a beast when done...

Basket cases are great....I built up a golf cart for my dad out of one...Cost under 500.00 total...after paint, new hardware, body panels, ect...

keep at it....look forward to more pics.

JP

"basket cases are great" lol l changed my mind about that

the gator runs fine its just a bit rusty well a lot rusty,
l am trying my hardest to prevent this from becoming a project
l just want to use it not rebuild it, so l am just going to patch it up,
l thought l had given up welding rust and underseal years ago but apparently not

and the special "vented" battery box

still a gator makes a nice pet project