How best to make a small garden tractor

As I said earlier, I found a stub axle, but it dont have the brakes with it. Is there anyway I can put band brakes on it, or should I look for or have made a stub axle with brakes. Who could do this. Ive heard of, and likely seen cut axles, but I never heard of who could do it.

Couldnt you weld backing plates to the axle tubes?

on your stub axle or off the transmission, before you chain drive down to the drive wheels fix a plate so one can use a drum or a disk brake and mount it up find some master cylinders out of a pre mid 60' car or truck (only one line out of them) and to the brakes, one may be able to use if on the high speed shaft made for go carts, there band brakes, (the other possibility is emergency brakes off of a pre 60 truck that had them on the tail of the transmission,

but most likely you will have some fabrication to do to make any thing work,

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CR What are backing plates? It has the plates to bolt onto the wheels.

FHman. Im guessing your talking about a parking break of sorts. Im talking about turning breaks.

This is a link to northern tool. these are for trailers but might still work tho.

Trailer Drum Brakes | Trailer Brakes | Trailers + Trailer Parts | Northern Tool + Equipment

all I am saying one may be able to use TWO old parking brakes as turning brakes,

(my guess is your looking for some thing as ready made as possible that one can adapt,

a backing plate is the plate that is on the axle housing that the brake shoe and hydraulic cylinder is mounted to and the drum sets over it that is attached to the axle.

one can use smaller brakes if it is on a higher speed shaft with less torque, if you put them on the main axle you will need larger brakes to handle the amplified torque,

few if any modern tractor has there brakes on the main axle shaft, nearly all put them on a higher speed shaft before final reduction

a small belt drive self propelled combine would nearly have a perfect transmission and ir may have brakes on it as well, and many have a clutch on them as well, one could use the variable sheaves if wanted but would not be necessary, the engine would nearly have to set sideways,


your going to have to do some math on your engine speed, the reduction on the transmission, and the wheel size, circumference, or distance per rotation, and desired speed, so you can figure out your final RPM, of the main axle and what it will take to make the out put shaft turn the desired RPM/speed,

CR I looked at the bottom (Reliable 6 bolt brake drum. How do you think it works. The cover has 6 holes same as the drum, so Im guessing they bolt together. IF the band is on the drum, how would you activate it?

Farman. I thought of setting the engine sidewise also, which would be period for the Moline. But, I thought of useing 2 drive shafts. The top one hooking directly to the engine as normal, the L side running upwards to the pulley wheel. I have an OLD Case hay bailer, and it is PTO run, BUT it has a gear box and 12in pulley that comes out at an angle to run the flywheel on the bailer. The R side of the trans could be mounted to the gear box, and itself have a gear out the other side of it with a chain going down to the gear on the wheeled trans, Whaddia think??

What you are looking at is only the drums, you need the backing plates to mount the shoes, heck look around your place as many old rigs as you have you have all the parts I would think.

Backing plate slave cylinder, breaklines, if you want turning brakes i would think easiest would be 2 master cylinders side by side.

If you have an old sraight axle truck there is your steer axle as well.

having thought about your drive end why not a set-up like a old massey 35 combine, they are belt driven? Or something hydraulic driven. Can still look as old as you want but be functional.

#1 I havnt seen an old Massey 35 combine in 35 yrs. Theres hardly any combines around here. I guess belt drive would work. But they tried friction in the early days, and it didnt work out too great.

I junked out when junk was high. I dont have anything I could use, that isnt already being used for its origional purpose.
Im going up Monday to pick up the Hurcules engine, steerable front/back, and trans, axle shortened off of a Crosley.

For the brakes I looked at, BAND BRAKES, I dont need slave cylinders, lines, ect. They were at the bottom of the page, L hand side under the heading (Reliable band brake system)

yep, hese are just the drums you need something to actuate the breaks. Hydraulics electric but something (unless of course you are telekenetic in which case you shouldnt even need equipment...lol)

Just trying to keep you from spending money you can use for your new place!

..............Have you looked in the mirror , Lately , lol ? , fordy

Pioneer homesteader

Why not use a walking tractor with sulky set up like the homesteader. Some old walking tractors had a sulkey. Remove the implement from the homesteader and you have a sulkey. How big do you want this engine? May be easier to put the brakes on the sulkey where mechanical linkage is near the operator....James

Another thought....James

Well, your question was how best to make a small garden tractor. The BEST way is to go out and buy an old Cub Cadet or John Deere gt for $100 that some guy has sitting behind his garage doing nothing, then get it running and use that. Look for one with the 3-point hitch and lift on it. You might have $200 in it - or maybe $300 if you buy wheel weights and lug tires for it - when you're done and away you go. Much cheaper than building one yourself.

I have a handful of old Cub Cadets built 1966 to 1987 bought for almost nothing that are all dedicated machines. One has a back blade, one a tiller, one a deck, one a sprayer tank, one a lawn vac, etc. These old gt's are solid steel and cast iron. They are like little rolling tanks. I used mine for years to plow and till two very large gardens, went out of that awhile, planning to get back in it next spring as times are getting a bit harder.

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
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