Posted by greg on March 13, 1998 at 18:05:01:
In Reply to: home built tractor posted by Russ on March 12, 1998 at 17:16:51:
My father and I built a successful tractor that sounds
like what you'r going for. Initially it was powered by
a 9horse wisconsin. The transmission was out of a
VW bug. It also supplied the brake drums, and
steering box.
The CV joint drive axles were shortened to just a
few inches in length. The transaxle sits between the
rear wheels with the clutch end in the back. An
aluminum plate bolts to the clutch housing where the
VW engine would have gone. In the center of the plate
is a bearing block that supports the clutch on one side
and a sprocket on the other side. The sprocket
goes up towards the front via a jack shaft. Near the
front it is chain driven by onether jack shaft, which is
in turn driven by the engine via a tooth belted pulley.
Overall there is a 9:1 reduction from engine to tranny.
The synchro mesh transmission is real slick, and the
transaxle format makes the tranny, differential, and
clutch in one neat little package.
Tires are 16 inch truck tires (with massive lugs) are
bolted up to the VW rear brake drums. There are
separate pedals for right and left brake. A front axle pivots and has ackerman steering. Trailer tires are on the front. An old power steering pump which gives live
hydraulics to the 3-point in the back and a lift in front, is
powered off one of the jack shafts.
The tractor weighs about 1000 pounds. On the front
it can run a 5" mower deck, 4" snow blower, or
blade. We have used cultivators on the back.
The 9horse Wisconson was replaced by a 16horse
Tecemseh.
Most of the parts were junk, and it took about 10 years
to get it exactly the way we wanted it. Some people
have asked "what model tractor is that?" so I guess
its not too ugly..
It was alot of fun to build, but given how much work it
is to engineer the thing from scratch, it would have
been alot easier to rebuild an old tractor (which we
did subsequently).
Note: Dad originally got the idea from an article
(or series of articles) in the "Mother Earth
Magazine" sometime in the early 1980s.