|
Lawn & Garden Tractor Project |
||
| Photographs | HomePage | |
| This
project started in the fall of 2003. We live in the interior of British
Columbia, and often get large dumps of snow in the winter. Till now I
had used a 5 hp Ahrens snowblower. The driveway is 200 feet long with a
parking area that can handle 5 or 6 vehicles. So, as you guessed, it
takes about 2 hours to clean the driveway. By the time spring rolls
around, there is 6" of ice on the driveway and when it melts, its a
mess.
So I decided it was time to put the old Home-lite Garden Tractor to more than just cutting grass. Hence, the front end loader. I removed the deck and decided that it would be a simple project to install a small hydraulic pump on the front end of the frame, and belt drive it from the main shaft on the engine. Once that was done, we had to build a bucket. I used 16 gauge metal for the main bucket. The main arms are 2"X3" tubing. That was used extensively in the project. The small Lincoln Wire Feed welder is perfect for this type of project and worked well for all but the heavy welds required in a few locations in the frame. The Lincoln would have done the job, just taken a bit longer, but I also have access to larger welders, so it was simple to use them for the larger welds.
|
Princess
Auto ( for you non Canadians, this is our project resource center in
Canada) had the miscellaneous bits and pieces required to complete the
hydraulics The rams are 2" bore tie rod cylinders. All the hoses
were made up at the store and they had all the fittings in stock. .
The tractor is a hydrostatic all wheel steering unit. It has a 14 HP engine. The unit worked well, but it was obvious that there was not enough traction with the regular turf tires, so I made up some tire chains and installed them It was interesting because the tires on the back of the unit turn as well, giving very little clearance between the tire and the frame. As a result, the chain rides very high on the rounded part of the tire. The unit worked well for what it was. However, for all you garage project guys out there, consider the tractor you use if you decide on a project like this. The frame on my unit was not tough enough to handle the weight of the snow (bucket is 4 feet wide) and if the load was not balanced properly, the frame would actually twist. That in itself is not such a big deal, however, the engine is shaft down and mounts directly onto the frame, so when it twists, it stresses the motor mounting. With the hydrostatic drive, I found it also to be a little underpowered. And then came the TERRA-JET ! |
|