Beginnings of a 400 hydro-creeper

This is the driveshaft. It is made from an over-running PTO coupler that is used on non-IPTO tractors. The guts were discarded and I fitted the key into the slots. This guarantees perfect concentricity. I turned the outside so it would tightly fit the 400 brake cover. This helped in fitting the other parts. I'll cut that off later.
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Here it is jammed into brake cover. The turning that you see is for the throwout bearing.
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The throwout bearing is from a 400 TA clutch.
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The spring disengages the driveshaft from the bull pinion gearshaft.<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r16/Wardner/400%20hydro-creeper/?action=view&current=creeper022.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

Stay turned. I'll have more pictures tomorrow. This hydro-creeper will be air shifted and variable speed. It will have its own hydraulic power. Did you want to see the compressor? OK.
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Wardner this 400 is taking on the attributes of a Swiss Army Knife. I think it is much better than putting 75# of chrome on it!! I still need ice cream.
We Shaved Ice for our Hand Cranked wooden stave ice cream freezer with our 350U on a frozen puddle by spinning the rear tire (with chains) near instant load of ice. Jim

The ice cream vending tractor is still viable. I bought a SS vending unit/soda fountain several years ago. It has an NSF (?) badge. It will plug into the front or rear fast hitch.

Just for giggles, I have been thinking about buying a used 4 or 6 qt White Mountain ice cream freezer on eBay. It could run off the output on the Prince pump that I will be using as the hydro-creeper drive motor(seen in last picture) when disengaged from the bull pinion. I would do this as a "proof of concept" exercise to see if people would be willing to try my ice cream.

A full out vending tractor will need a bunch of 6 or 8 quart IC makers. They will have to be new and very clean looking.

Go for it by golly I would by large quantities. Rice milk based as I am lactose intolerant. Jim

Jim,

Your comment regarding "Swiss Army Knife" rang a bell. Kip in MX made the same observation about one of my tractors a while back.

I ran a search and found the link below.

Rice milk? I suppose someone else will want soy milk. Even goat's milk. Do they make kosher milk? Maybe I should rethink this whole idea.

My plan was not to get involved with producing ice cream mix. I'd prefer to buy a premium product from a local homemade ice cream stand. Massachusetts has a reputation for great ice cream. Don't know why. Maybe it started with Howard Johnson and his 28 flavors.
Hit me

There was a civil war re-enactment 2 weeks ago or so at Caldwell County here in Mo,and there was a man there turning 2 big wooden ice cream makers with a Hit N Miss John Deere engine,I didnt eat any,I thought he should've had a McCormick engine instead.LOL!

Wardner, you continue to amaze me. What will you be using the Hydro-Creep 400 for?

Charles

Charles,

I can't really think of a good application for a creeper on my 400. I suppose it would be helpful when loading and unloading the tractor from a trailer. I think we can all agree that the operation is inherently dangerous. People have been killed.

I had all the components so I decided to build the creeper. I do want a remote controlled creeper on my 650 so that I can move the tractor without being in the driver's seat. If you click on the link, you will see the tractor with its Big Freaking Hammer attachment.

The creeper shown in this thread won't fit the 650 with its fenders and floorboards. I have altered no original parts on the 400 and I prefer this approach. The next owner can remove all my stuff and have an original tractor. At some point, I will install a hydraulically driven second countershaft in the 650 transmission. That will be a major job and it will give me creeper speeds.

I like building weird stuff for my tractors. I have started to build a high-crop W-9. I know it doesn't make any sense but that won't stop me.

Far Gone,

There is a website devoted to making ice cream with old gas engines. There are hundreds of people doing it. A few guys use small tractors. I wish I could post a link but I can't find it in my favorites file.

There are a lot of pictures. Most are action photos taken at various gatherings. If I recall correctly, most rigs were from the mid-Atlantic states.

A little googling should turn up the site.

I now remember the thread. It is nicely true. Jim

In the US, most authorities consider commercially processed sow's milk to be kosher. If you want to be really sure, most parts of the country also have a kosher dairy and its products will have a trademark kosher indicator on the packaging.

Well, you've done it again! Are you running the orbit motor off the rear PTO, and when are you going to put 660 axles and planetaries on that 400?
Keep us posted on your progress.

BTW, looking at that front fast hitch cylinder kind of gives me the creeps. I got my right foot crushed by that mechanism when I was 10 or 11 years old on our 400LP.

[i:654c4848f0]In the US, most authorities consider commercially processed sow's milk to be kosher[/i:654c4848f0]

Sow's milk? Isn't a pig unclean/non kosher?



karl f

You could run the hydro creeper pump with an electrall-powered electric motor.

The creeper would make for a heck of a slow tractor race.

Kip,

It's funny you mentioned the 660 planetaries. I have a SMTA with 560 rear frame internals. I swapped most everything that would slow the SMTA down. I also used the better bearings. The 560 first gear is made like the M low-low gear set. It was not available on SMTA or 400-450. I also used the slower ring and mainshaft (pinion). I fixed the TA as well. It now goes about .75 MPH in low range first. The planetaries would cut that speed to .50 MPH. An SMTA first gear low range is 1.62 MPH.

I thought about plantaries but did not want to go to that expense or alter the look of the tractor. I would probably have to go to the wheatfields of Canada for a set. Those hubs require special wheels and rims as well as the axle housings. Ya, I have a 660.

Mkirsch,

But ya know, that just seems like cheating when you substitute electrical power for mechanical. Maybe that is why the Electrall never caught on. It just wasn't fair.

Geez Carl,

I wrote "soy milk". It's available in my local supermarket.