OzFab
Well-known member
Repeat earlier comments 
Project: UTLT(Utility Lawn Tractor)- thing...
- Thread starter Doc Sprocket
- Start date
- Status
devino246
Official DIYGK Chem Nerd
Today, the wife informs me she wants it re-painted... Camo...With the addition of a couple of ammo can toolboxes... Nice!
Is your wife by chance from my area?
Doc Sprocket
*********
No- but I'm really beginning to suspect I married a "closet redneck"!
devino246
Official DIYGK Chem Nerd
Which reminds me. Have you ever heard the difference between a city person, country person, and a redneck?
Doc Sprocket
*********
Lay it on me.
devino246
Official DIYGK Chem Nerd
The primary difference is in situational behavior. Here's a little example:
A city boy, country boy, and redneck all buy riding lawnmowers; real nice ones with the bagging attachment on the back. All three of them are mowing along when they run into rather beefy, poorly placed branches. The branches punch huge holes in the big leaf chutes on the sides of their mowers, making it impossible to bag their lawnclippings! The three men hop off their mowers and take a look at the damage.
The city boy sees that the hole is irrepairable, and that the chute needs replacing, so he heads on down to the local home improvement warehouse to pick up a replacement. 20 minutes later, the city boy is back in the seat of his mower, manicuring his lawn, and leaving nary a grassy tip behind.
The country boy takes a gander at his damaged bagging attachment and sees a hole that needs fixing! He runs over to one of the sheds, returning with a piece of sheetmetal and a couple of bungee cords. 2 minutes later, the country boy is back on his trusty John Deer lawn tractor, mowing away. He plans to buy a new chute on his next trip into town.
The redneck eyes a gaping hole in his attachment and runs over to his shed. He comes back, cardboard and duct tape in hand. Some strategic taping and a few minutes later, the redneck is mowing back and forth over the same patch of half dead grass. Several years later, he's seen selling his mower on Craigslist, chute still broken and now half-covered in duct-tape.
And there you have it
A city boy, country boy, and redneck all buy riding lawnmowers; real nice ones with the bagging attachment on the back. All three of them are mowing along when they run into rather beefy, poorly placed branches. The branches punch huge holes in the big leaf chutes on the sides of their mowers, making it impossible to bag their lawnclippings! The three men hop off their mowers and take a look at the damage.
The city boy sees that the hole is irrepairable, and that the chute needs replacing, so he heads on down to the local home improvement warehouse to pick up a replacement. 20 minutes later, the city boy is back in the seat of his mower, manicuring his lawn, and leaving nary a grassy tip behind.
The country boy takes a gander at his damaged bagging attachment and sees a hole that needs fixing! He runs over to one of the sheds, returning with a piece of sheetmetal and a couple of bungee cords. 2 minutes later, the country boy is back on his trusty John Deer lawn tractor, mowing away. He plans to buy a new chute on his next trip into town.
The redneck eyes a gaping hole in his attachment and runs over to his shed. He comes back, cardboard and duct tape in hand. Some strategic taping and a few minutes later, the redneck is mowing back and forth over the same patch of half dead grass. Several years later, he's seen selling his mower on Craigslist, chute still broken and now half-covered in duct-tape.
And there you have it
Doc Sprocket
*********
After much ado-
Here she sits in her new rubber shoes. Fronts are 145/70-6 from Garry's DB30 (got some interesting plans for that later so I didn't mind swiping the meats). Just mounted the rears today- Kenda Scorpion 22x11-8.
Took it through a romp through mud, scrub, ruts- rather impressive for a little lawn tractor with an open diff (for now)!
Here she sits in her new rubber shoes. Fronts are 145/70-6 from Garry's DB30 (got some interesting plans for that later so I didn't mind swiping the meats). Just mounted the rears today- Kenda Scorpion 22x11-8.
Took it through a romp through mud, scrub, ruts- rather impressive for a little lawn tractor with an open diff (for now)!
Attachments
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Tires1.jpg -
tires2.jpg
OzFab
Well-known member
Wow, that's some chunky rubber for a lawn tractor 
... &, I'll bet, you had a huge grin on your face the whole time
... &, I'll bet, you had a huge grin on your face the whole time
Doc Sprocket
*********
Yeah- Dang good thing it's geared nice and low, so I didn't have to compensate. Despite the small-ish (12hp) engine, it still seems to have plenty of torque with the larger tires. I'm not surprised, considering that mowers are designed to drive implements (mower decks) in addition to simultaneously self-propelling, so they'd BETTER have power to spare.Wow, that's some chunky rubber for a lawn tractor
You KNOW it! Mind you, my grin faded pretty fast when the wife got a load of the mud all over my new jacket...... &, I'll bet, you had a huge grin on your face the whole time
Doc Sprocket
*********
Moving towards "utility"- I decided I wanted some sort of box or trunk on this thing. I chopped the factory fenders off past the chassis, and got to creatin'. I zapped the box together out of some 16ga sheet, and the fenders came from a single trailer fender that I chopped into pieces and narrowed. I can't decide whether to finish the top edge of the box with a rail, or fab a lid.
EDIT- Since this seems to have turned into a build (whether I wanted it to or not) so I've renamed and moved the thread appropriately.
EDIT- Since this seems to have turned into a build (whether I wanted it to or not) so I've renamed and moved the thread appropriately.
Attachments
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barebox.jpg -
Box.jpg -
box2.jpg
exenos
Project Nut
That looks awesome! Did you just remount the tires on the lawn tractor rims?
Doc Sprocket
*********
Thanks! That's exactly what I did.
B.M.800
TheBeal.
I think it would be a good idea to put some sort of rail. Or atleast take your grinder and round the edges? Just to make it a bit more hand friendly, in my experience those top edges can be sharp and they wont hesitate to attempt to offen you arm or something.
You think youd be making a blade attachment?
We got a crapsman mower sittin around, Ide like to strengthen the frame up and build a blade attachment. Mostly for moving around dirt, trying to level out some ground.
I wanted to get a mower off my cousin, it was tha same as the one we haven adn use it to build a dual engine 4x4 tractor. But, he scraped it before I got a chance to ask bout it...
Doc Sprocket
*********
I most definately will do something with the raw edge. Trust me, i have a ton of experience fabbing with 16ga sheet (used to make ductwork professionally for the restaurant industry) and have had the cuts to prove. If I decide to do a lid, I will put a small flat lip on the edges, or perhaps weld a small rod around the perimeter to create a nice rounded edge.
Blade- interesting idea, but probably not. I have a 1975 Ford 575 tractor with a bucket on it for that!
Blade- interesting idea, but probably not. I have a 1975 Ford 575 tractor with a bucket on it for that!
B.M.800
TheBeal.
Would be nice to have a tractor that was made with using a blade in mind... but these things cost $$$... cant seem to figure out why?
I think Ive decided to "offroad-ify" that crapsman lawn tractor this summer...
Doc Sprocket
*********
Got Boost? (er cables)
I always wanted to try this: a setup where you can boost a dead vehicle without even opening your hood. I picked up some cheapie cables and the kind of electrical quick-connects you see on a forklift. Little cutting, some soldering, and a little copper tubing DIY'ed into hoebrew battery lugs, and here we are!
I always wanted to try this: a setup where you can boost a dead vehicle without even opening your hood. I picked up some cheapie cables and the kind of electrical quick-connects you see on a forklift. Little cutting, some soldering, and a little copper tubing DIY'ed into hoebrew battery lugs, and here we are!
Attachments
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cables.jpg -
cables2.jpg -
QC1.jpg
Doc Sprocket
*********
Made some good progress today. Got the winch mounting plate done, a couple of supports underneath for strength, too. Fabbed up a couple of brackets to mount the fairlead, and bolted it all up. Just have it tacked for now. After work in the next day or two, I'll switch over from GMAW to FCAW and burn in all the welds.
I had to hack out a chunk of the lower grille shell to make room for the winch and fairlead bracketry, so for now, the hood is just sitting there until I figure out how to remount it. The good news is, I got the winch tucked up tight to the engine, and only the fairlead sticks out. The winch stays sheltered from the elements.
I mounted the control switch and solenoid pack, got it all wired up and tested it. Very good.
Now- I had to remove the factory exhaust system to make way for the winch- leaving me with no exhaust system! After staring at things for awhile, I decided against a stack. For now, anyway. A few years ago, I fabricated my own Cherry Bomb. Some of you might remember this. I had it on my go kart for awhile. It sounded awesome on my Honda GX340. Not obnoxiously loud, but had a nice, subtle rumble. When you buried the throttle, it'd give you a Harley-like "Braaap!". Perfect. After my kart, it ended up on the kids' kart for awhile, and now needed a new home.
I dug into my scrap pile, and came up with some steel tube from a chair. Here a zap, there a zap. Presto- instant exhaust system! Now- On to the pics!
I had to hack out a chunk of the lower grille shell to make room for the winch and fairlead bracketry, so for now, the hood is just sitting there until I figure out how to remount it. The good news is, I got the winch tucked up tight to the engine, and only the fairlead sticks out. The winch stays sheltered from the elements.
I mounted the control switch and solenoid pack, got it all wired up and tested it. Very good.
Now- I had to remove the factory exhaust system to make way for the winch- leaving me with no exhaust system! After staring at things for awhile, I decided against a stack. For now, anyway. A few years ago, I fabricated my own Cherry Bomb. Some of you might remember this. I had it on my go kart for awhile. It sounded awesome on my Honda GX340. Not obnoxiously loud, but had a nice, subtle rumble. When you buried the throttle, it'd give you a Harley-like "Braaap!". Perfect. After my kart, it ended up on the kids' kart for awhile, and now needed a new home.
I dug into my scrap pile, and came up with some steel tube from a chair. Here a zap, there a zap. Presto- instant exhaust system! Now- On to the pics!
Attachments
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winch1.jpg -
winchopen.jpg -
winchclosed.jpg -
switch.jpg -
exhaust.jpg
exenos
Project Nut
I'll bet it's got a nice rumble to it now with that long of a exhaust.
rmm727
New member
Pretty cool setup you got going on there.
BTW, those connecters are called Anderson disconnects.
http://www.andersonpower.com/products/multipole-connectors.html
BTW, those connecters are called Anderson disconnects.
http://www.andersonpower.com/products/multipole-connectors.html
OzFab
Well-known member
Man, it's no holds barred on this thing; where's the sink going?
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