Building a small garden tractor from scratch
 

I am planning on building one that will be somewhat comparable to the little 12 and 15 HP tractors that had back in the mid 1900's. I am not ever going to need a huge farming tractor but I sure do want one a little better that the 12 HP riding mower that I grenaded the transaxle out of a couple years ago.
That thing did great until I hooked a 1" pipe that was buried in the ground and I thought it was a root and poof.
Dang that really made me feel old. I am talking about a mid 1900's tractor and I myself am a mid 1900's idiot, LOL.

Anyway, we have a junk yard here that will let you buy all you care to take off of a car or truck and carry it to the selling station for $35 about once a month.
I am thinking about taking out a read end, a 5 speed transmission, clutch and flywheel out of a small truck, and then a straight front axle out of an older 1/2 ton truck and giving a couple of muscle bound guys I know a few bucks to put it on their shoulders and show off a bit. :dance:

I am wondering how you take a rear end apart and weld what ever gears together that need to be welded so it becomes a positive traction rear end?

I am also wondering what size engine would be about right?
I have an 18 HP B&S twin cyl. that has the pressurized oil system and filter that ran like new about 5 years ago.
It has been put up but I'll probably need a card kit for it. The starter was bad but I have already had that rebuilt.

I have seen a few videos about those older little tractors. Does anyone have any sites that I might look at that I am missing?
Thanks for any help. I am just starting to look into this and it'll be at least in the middle of this winter before I can get started if I even get it done before spring.
I think I am running about a year behind, LOL.

Godspeed

Ranger

i came across some plans (from that era) for just that a while back, i believe it was called the pow'r pup. which would be a bit smaller than your talking, but similar.

it used pulleys from the engine to the tranny input that acted as both the reduction and as the clutch, which would honestly be alot simpler than an automotive clutch. plus you will want an additional 5:1 or so reduction on it to slow it down and give it the pulling power.

I wouldn't bother welding the gears up. it will make turning suck. get two master cylinders (old single pot ones would probably work best) and build a bracket for them to be side by side as steering brakes. if a wheel starts to loose traction you just give it a little brake on that side. plus its less work. I would use a 1 ton axle with 16" duals, but mostly because I think duals would look cool...

oh and the 18 horse briggs should do great. i have one in my garden tractor and it does great.

http://www.countryplans.com/vintage_farm/page7.html
I saw what bottleneck said about the pow'r pup...then I got interested and found this site with several sets of plans and there went my free time...thanks...haha

Just go with a mini pick up and mount the type of tires on the rear you need for traction.

http://www.farmcollector.com/tractor...#axzz39npo5EyU

http://www.farmcollector.com/tractor...#axzz39npo5EyU

:D Al

Thanks for the ideas Bottleneck! I had thought about using pulley's & belt and an idler pulley but for some stupid reason I hadn't thought about doing it that way and also using the transmission at the same time.

That would be a lot simpler than fooling with the clutch, wouldn't it? I think that I just have so many irons in the fire that I am not spending enough time on any of them at all.
I'll tell you what I am going to do. I am going to type this reply and then let it set for a few days and wait for a few more replies for me to think about and go get back on the boiler, which for right now is the most important one of them all.
With out the boiler on line to save me that $2,000 to $3,000 in heating cost this winter, I won't be able to be building a dang dog house.
If I don't get it built my wife ought to make me build me a dog house to sleep in, LOL.

OK, I also like the idea of using the brakes like that.
I'll probably go to the motorcycle graveyard and see if (I can grab a couple of cylinders and calibers and see what I can jury rig up that also looks cool.

As for the rear end and tires, I already have two 26.00 x 11.00 x 8 tractor lugged tires on rims already and I will be going the most inexpensive route to build this tractor that I can find and it still look cool, as you say it, LOL.

And yea Bottleneck, I think people just underestimate what a lot of these small engines will do grossly, and then they blame their own shortcomings on the engines because they ran it without oil, or enough oil, or water in the gas or even dirt in the gas tank.
Most fuel tanks for small engines have a dip to where you can use up just about every drop of gas in the tank and with a small engine, it is easy to run them out of gas and running a small engine out of gas is just about the worse thing you can do to one of them.
Out of nowhere, you have a hot engine turning 3,000 to 3,600 RPM and poof, you have water, crud, even sandy settlement mixed with it and it is trying it's best to suck up every single drop of this VERY DANGERIOUS ENGINE POISON until it stops running.

When taken care of correctly those little engine will last a long time, and giving the correct gearing, traction, engine speed and enough but not too much weight to do the job, for a little tractor, theoretically it should do the work of a team of 18 horses.
Now I don't know if I'll go as far as to say that I actually believe that it would do what 18 horses can, but I am sure that it would beat a single pair of horses, especially if you push them eight to ten hours a day.

One other thing that I do want to do though, is to design it so that I can later swap it to a diesel engine so I can possibly grow sunflowers to make the fuel for it too.

Godspeed

Ranger

joejeep, thats the same site I had originally found!

ranger, I think that your thinking is in the right place, and as far as what these little engine can do, it reminds me that my john deere LA has only 13 HP at the drawbar, and it was a tractor intended to replace a team of horses. im no expert, but i bet you could pull a pair of 8-10 inch plows.

I have actually been wanting to do the same, only difference is that I have an old Wisconsin two cylinder that has a long enough stroke that it should be about as torquey as the LA.

I've been wanting to build one for a while too. I got a 10 hp two cylinder diesel from a refridgerated semi trailer. And when i worked as a trashman somebody threw away a two speed hydrostatic transaxle from i think a ford lgt-14. They also threw out the cast iron front end and the rims. I have more stationary uses in mind so the continuous duty rating on the engine is nice. Half of the engine is oil pan.

I'd like to have a generator attachment. And i have some vacuum pumps i could rig up to collect maple sap out in the woods where we have no power.

They also used to have conversion kits for a Model T Ford... they were tough little tractors unless you were pulling stumps (a team of mules were better).

way back my family had a tractor made of model a or t they would use 2 transmissions because the splined end from one end was the same as the other so coupling them together was fairly easy , they used this for low low , there was a rack on the back for hauling fish nets it went so slow that they would get off and let it ride in the ruts in the field road they used to lay out fishing nets for tarring when it was done they could put one transition in reverse and back right up winding up the net as they went

all this happened long before i was around but my older relatives talked about it fairly regular i think they all learned to drive on the tar truck

Coupling two transfer cases is a common offroad modification. Gives you double low so to speak so I would imagine it would be fairly easy to include in a tractor build if you were using say a 4x4 mini-truck to start with.

There are still a few old trucks and cars (20's, 30's, 40's. and some 50's still parked in over grown personally powered automobile grave yards back in the farming areas around here.

I'd like to find a 40's or 50's model truck with a tranny that has a sub low or a granny tranny as they were called years ago.
With about 3,000 RPM's, one of those trannies would make you stop and wait for it if you were walking beside it, but hopefully it would run 20-25 mph for a little road work in high gear and turning 3,600 rpm's when need be.

Heck you all nearly have me wanting to drop the boiler and jump on this already but I can't do that so I best get back down to the shop, huh?

Godspeed

Ranger

only problem that i have with not having a fixed reduction to keep it slow, is that if its got a high gear in it, I have to find out how high that gear is!

a good tranny to look for with a deep granny low is the new process 435. they came in almost everything and are one of the few four speeds from the 60's-early 90's that had an aluminum top. both my 73 f250 and my 84 bronco has one, and that gear is low!

I'm glad to hear that because it will be a lot easier to find one then and should be cheaper also.
You say it has an aluminum top but what about the case? I am looking at the way tractors are built and they don't do anything at all to say any weight.
Looks more like they attempt to build them as heavy as possible and that is what I was wanting to do to mine also.
I might would try to find another pair of tires and wheels like I have and put dullie's on it if I get it heavy enough to warrant it but I still want it to be narrow enough to drive in the woods to drag out logs and also trailers of firewood.
I have enough wood close enough to the boiler site to make it this year but I'll be needing the tractor for next winter.
Well, back to the shop.

Godspeed

Ranger

How can I set the clock on this thing so it shows the correct time stamp when I posted?
It says that I just posted that "today 11:25 am and it is only 7:25 am and as I am sure you can all figure out pretty easy, that is 4 hours and 10 minutes later than when I really poster it.

Godspeed

Ranger

As a matter of fact I believe it was a Model A... steel dirt wheels, slower'n frozen snot and as long as it had traction something was going to move. We too learned to drive on that little monster until my dad parked it in the lake... then we got the '39 Willy's, which also was parked in the lake but it kept going no matter how many times we rolled it down in the holler or off a cliff chasing cattle. New isn't always best but new is usually a bit safer than some of the crap we used our old equipment/implements for.

control panel, then down to edit options on the left hand side. scroll down untill you get to the time zones.

oh no the np435 is a stout iron tranny, only the shift tower is aluminum.http://www.novak-adapt.com/images/pi...ides/np435.jpg

To convert to positive traction on the rearend you need to weld the spyder gears together. Its really easy to do. Easy to figure out when you turn the rearend with the cover off.


Sent from my iPhone using Homesteading Today

Thanks Bottleneck, let's see what it does when I post this.

The spider gears are what I was trying to think of mwilken03. I guess it has been 30 years now since I have been inside a rear end.
I have had a couple of people that I worked with when I was younger that as a team of me and either of them we could take a 9" hog head out and swap it in a short period of time. I am thinking that 17 minutes and some seconds was our record but that was years ago but we were all fast back then. But it's probably take me all day to do it now, LOL.
Getting old and slow compared to days gone by.

Godspeed

Ranger

Well Bottleneck, it wasn't but two minutes off so I guess I can live with that and be happy. Thanks again.

Godspeed

Ranger

Hey thanks Joe, for that link because one of the site really woke me up with the idea of adding a Power Take Off Unit, (PTO).
I hadn't even thought about it but adding a PTO on it would be as simple as all get out, and be so handy it isn't funny.
I wanted to build roto-tiller to pull behind it but I was going to use a separate engine actually mounted on the tiller for that.
Heck, when I am tilling, how many horse power will it truly take to make the tractor move forward no faster than I am going to be moving while tilling? one half horse power at the most, if even that?
That would leave at least 17 H.P. to turn the tiller so I'd think I could build the tiller 6' wide and it would run as good as anything on the market.
I also have a saw mill that I was working on that got sidelined for a while that even as she sits now, I can modify to make it work using a PTO.
That is actually what I bought the engine for to start with but I can make her run with a PTO almost as easy as it was designed to use the mounted engine.
Another thing I have wanted to build that I need and could earn some good money with is a "Ditch Witch" which I could build to run off a PTO also.

Man I am glad that I started this thread as soon as I did because I can see that I need to spend some more time thinking about it seriously before I start working on it and the boiler is going faster than I ever imagined it would.

I'd like to tell you all, thanks a lot for all the replies because many of them are giving me ideas to sleep on which is when I do my best work designing things and I am as serious as a heart attack there.
I can go to bed worrying or thinking about something and wake up with the answer in my mind.
Thanks again. I'll sleep good tonight, LOL.

Godspeed

Ranger

I am curious...and I certainly don't want to be a dream killer...but why not buy an older tractor, and modify it to fit your needs?

It sounds like a Farmall Cub would be bigger than you want. If you could make do with an Allis B or even a WD-45, those tractors can be found cheap. I recently saw a running and working AC B sell for about $500 at auction.

Buying a tractor wouldn't be nearly as much fun, but I suspect it could be a better investment of money and time.

Also , look for GM(Muncie) SM465 ,
.......,Borg Warner T18 , non syncro for 1st. , Case #1301
.......,Borg Warner T19 , ALL 4 Spds are Syncro , Case #1309

..........All of the above plus the NP 435 are 4 speeds , and very strong trany's ! The T19 is the only , fully Syncro in the group . , fordy

Well Clovis, I don't plan to invest $500 in the whole tractor to start with. I already have the engine and I know I can find a whole 4 or 5 speed car with a shot engine for about $300 at the most, jerk the rear end, tranny, the gear box and steering parts out and then junk it and get $200 back only leaves them costing me a bill.
I already have channel iron, angle iron, several sizes of pipe, sheet metal, and the rear tires and wheels, and I even have a seat in like new shape that will work for it, so about the only thing I see needing to buy would be the front axle from an old truck, if I don't build it from parts from the car, the 90 degree gear box and some bearing and belts.
I'm a scrounger and I do, do things on the cheap, LOL.

fordy, when I get to it, as I just told Clovis, I am just going to find a car that I can buy cheap and take whatever type transmission it has in it and go for it.
I was on another forum the other day and someone said something about buying a tractor so I'd have a PTO and that got me to thinking.
I was going to build a roto-tiller about 6 feet wide and buy another engine about 12 H.P for it and I want to build a rack of three 22" lawn mowers to pull behind it and all of those would have had to have engines also, but I can design both of those implements to run off a PTO and with the tractor moving slow, it shouldn't take but maybe 3 or 4 of the 18 H.P. for that so that would leave 14 or 15 H.P. for the implements.
I also started building a saw mill before I fell that is nearly finished (that's what I bought the engine for to start with) and I can do a little redesigning that so it will run off a PTO also. Not a huge problem, I don't think anyway. I don't know. I might have to buy another engine for that one. I'll have to look at that.

Nah Clovis, I think this is going to be one of my master pieces, LOL.
I have a few things behind me that I am really proud of and I want this to be one of them too. It's done got into my blood about like my boiler has and that is coming to a close pretty soon. Thank God for that.

Godspeed

Ranger

fordy's correct about the tranny's. and the sm465 actually has a slightly lower first gear, but both it and the T18 aren't as common as the 435. but not uncommon at all either. the T19 is every bit as good, and does have the sychro 1st, but its not as low of a first. i would definitly try to find something that has one of the four, as all of them have a spot for a pto!

now to throw another wrench out there... early 90's hondas had power steering pumps that were gear type... just like an off the shelf hydraulic pump!

I don't understand what that has to do with the tractor, however, I do wonder how much flow and pressure they are capable of producing? I very well might find something to build and use one of them on.
I also wonder if they could be used in series or parallel to build up pressure or volume?
Hey, wait a second there. It should be large enough to raise and power any of the implements that I want to build for the tractor. Well, maybe anyway, LOL.
Thanks for the tip.

Godspeed

Ranger

Clovis, I'm not trying to put any feathers in my cap or pat myself on the back or anything like that, but I'd never be able to buy anything close to what I can build myself for a quarter of the money it'll cost me to build one like I want and as I said, I love building things like this.
I am disabled so I don't have to rush or hurt myself. As far as that goes, I can't rush and I sure as the devil do my best not to hurt myself anymore. Enough of that is enough and by George, I have had enough hurts to last any body much more than a life time already, LOL.

Plus I'll know for certain the engine will indeed be the weakest link in it and again, as I said, David didn't take care of the garden tractor/lawn mower as far as keeping it clean under the deck or even greasing the bearings Etc., but he took excellent care of the engine.
Nothing that I install on this tractor nor any implement will be able to be broken with 18 H.P.
I would think, and I am sure I am right when I say this, that any type of automobile rear end and straight dive transmission could ever be broken with an 18 H.P. engine.
I have some kind of an "old as a hill of beans" corn harvesting machine that has been setting off the side of a gravel road for probably 20 years now that my land lord said to use anything I need on it and I am hoping that I'll find some type of 90* gear box that I can get to.
That thing has a conveyor chute that will reach up higher than a dump truck it is so big of a machine, so if it does have a gear box, I'd think it would stand up to more than an 18 H.P. engine could do to it.

That is my main purpose for building this tractor myself. I want it unbreakable, at least with the engine I have, and if the engine turns loose, that gentlemen, will be my own dang fault.
But if it does or just simply gets worn out, I want the tractor to be able to stand up to about a 25 H.P. diesel engine such as the 26.4 H.P. Caterpillar Diesel that Surplus Center has for $2,195.95, because God willing, if I live long enough to wear this engine that I have out, I should certainly have the cash to buy a diesel straight out for a change because if I do wear her out, she will have earned me a pretty good amount of money by then.

Well, this is fun but I have got to get tpo the shop.

Godspeed

Ranger

:nerd: exactly! and as a matter of fact it could probably do a bit more, I know that some smaller dump trucks have used power steering pumps! my grandpas f350 used a snow plow pump, which is even smaller!

This reminds me of Pops- a tractor assembled out of salvaged pieces- Pops for Pile of Parts. The only problem was that things would sort of shake loose if I used it a lot on rough ground but it was pretty fast and powerful. I miss him.

...........BFR , I'd be inclined to find an old Dodge truck say 1993,4 with a 5 speed , one ton Cummins diesel , removed the bed......install 4:88 locker gearset in the rear and a Posi in the front , remove the bed , build a 3 point , install a 6 inch lift kit for added ground clearance and use that as 'My' tractor ! Plus , you'd have a heater to stay warm and you could use it as snow plow as well . fordy

That sounds like as great idea fordy, but I don't want one that large. Maybe something about 25 to 40% larger than the Lawn & Garden Tractors they sell today but still yet, smaller that a tractor such as a Kabota.

Yea, I am going to have to look into that Bottleneck. Thanks for the idea.

I hope mine doesn't shake apart where I want to. Any place that anything on this one that can be, will be welded. The frame will even be welded to the rear end housing along with the hook ups for a three point hitch.
But I am glad you said that because it made me think of using lock nuts and/or lock tight where a lock nut doesn't work.

Thanks for the ideas guys.

Godspeed

Ranger

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showth...t=43266&page=2

Saw this and remembered this thread... Any news? Did you finish your boiler?

Mother Earth News long ago had detailed article building garden tractor from VW Beetle transaxle (rear engine beetle) and a 12hp horizontal shaft Briggs engine. They slowed speeds to tractor speed using chain and sprockets between engine and the transaxle. It was heavy duty and lot work way they built it, but bet it would last. The idea of the VW transaxle was that drive shafts to wheels could be easily shortened unlike rear axle from a front engine, rear drive vehicle. In modern world I would substitute a manual transaxle from a small front drive car unless you have cheap antique VW parts where you are at. Otherwise the TMEN garden tractor design looked like a good one.

Neat, but like you were getting at, they just aren't that common anymore. But you got me thinking, take a fwd engine/ transaxle and turn it sideways, build a shaft, or use something like a 4x4 Dakota's front shaft that goes from cv joint to u-joint, to run back to a low geared rwd axle. It would incredibly increase the reduction. Only thing is that you would need to either open the trans to weld the diff or make it a 4wd.

For example, a mid 90's honda engine would get you 100 HP, feeding into 4.10 axles and 33 inch tires would give you speeds from 2 mph in first at 1000 rpm, to 25 mph in 5th at 3000 rpm. The clutch, shifter, and throttle are all ran via cable anyways. Granted it's alot bigger than we have been talking about, but still an idea for a homemade mid size.

I built a loader tractor like this one for under $2000. A guy could do it cheaper if you find the right free materials.
It has moved a lot of stuff, Its a big helper in a small package.

Link to web site:http://www.loaderplans.com/

probably the easiest way is use a old 4 wheel drive pickup, in low range, find a governor and put on the throttle , (to keep a steady engine speed)

the second would be find a old pick up and put a truck differential under it, and a second transmission or a piney transmission out of a old truck or a two speed differential out of a old truck, strip off the box and possibly the cab, they make a hydraulic pump that works off a clutch like AC has for powering hydraulic items,
again add the governor to the throttle and you have a modern Doodlebug tractor,
https://www.google.com/search?q=Dood...ed=0CAgQ_AUoAg

Thanks for the link, Bottleneck. But I am very sorry to say that the boiler isn't finished yet and I am starting to wonder if it will be before the winter is over. I am close but no cigar so far.
I got the firebox barely setting into the tank one afternoon and realized that I'd have to cut off about an inch from the smoke pipe before I can get it into the tank, and we just knocked off for the day at that point, and we had 6" of the white stuff on the ground the next morning, and the weather hasn't changed for the better since then.
Then it was about two weeks before I could cut the pipe and get the firebox into the tank. I was going to just stand it on the back end and do all the welding outside on that but with the weather beating me, we used the tractor and got it all into the shop but it is laying flat again and doing the fitting has been a night mare to say the least!
While this little shop that I have now is the best that I have ever had, it is still just a bit over 11 feet wide and less than 20 feet long.
I did all the work on the firebox in there OK, but that was only 3' wide and 40" long.
Now the tank is 4' wide, which is a measly foot wider, but it is also over 3' longer, and even as small a man as I am, at 125# and 5' 8" it makes things really tight to work on it.
It is a slower go than I like and hard to do, but it is still doable.
With that said, I best get back down to the shop again and try to finish what I can do inside because the weather bug says that I can work outside next weekend, even if it is in the rain on and off. At least the high 40's to even the low 60's.:shrug::icecream: Maybe?

Thanks for the link Fixit. They are in my plans but they'll be add on's later.
For now I need to plow, disc, till and plant some very small home gardens up to small fields up to maybe a few acres or so, and to drag some large logs out of the woods and also tow a sawmill that will be built on a trailer that will carry about a thousand board feet of wet and fresh sawed lumber out of the woods.
That is the worse this machine will face for now and if it can do that and not break, I'll be happy.

Godspeed

Ranger

No, No, and No again.
 

The boiler isn't finished yet. I am just a few days away from it but out of nowhere side jobs came popping up and hey, I needed the money pretty bad.
I have gotten the firebox in the tank and that is welded out, I have installed the Temperature Control system and the, the, the, whatever you call it. Dang it. The dang probe that goes directly into the tank and sends the info on the temperature to the controller.
And I have the blower for the fresh air system installed, the pump is in place, the ash door is complete, but I screwed up bad with the big door.
I had it fitting as perfect as I could have ask for. It opened and closed as if it were buttered and poof, I got stupid.
I had welded it all about a one and a half on six and decided to weld it all solid.
I know better than that. I have no idea where my brain was vacationing at, but it was somewhere other than where it should have been.
I warped the door some kind of bad and I decided tonight the heck with it.
I have done everything I can think of to get it back to fit and it just isn't working. I'll buy some more metal tomorrow and build it again. Anyway, we are going to set the boiler on the racks Tuesday, but a lot of the reason that I haven't finished it yet, is because of the jobs I was lucky enough to get. And they haven't stopped coming in yet and they are mostly inside jobs.
I am rewiring an apartment now including swapping out a fuse box for a breaker box, and then I have another bath to do.
I am not fussing because I sure need the money, but it certainly slows up my projects.
Well, maybe not really. I didn't have the money to buy the Temp. Controller etc. until I got some work. So I guess I am ahead all around.
Sure beats spinning on my thumbs, LOL.

Godspeed

Dennis

Well at least your not bored!

:umno:,,,,,Nope Bottleneck, I don't have any problem with getting bored whatsoever.
I have the boiler to where if the weatherman is correct for the next ten days, well actually about five days, I should my all means have a fire going in it by midweek. Lord when I do get that thing going I will be a happy man.
This thing has burnt me out about as bad as anything ever did!
I never should have tried to build it using a pair of used fuel oil tanks and I'd like to tell everyone reading this thread, "Please do not Attempt to use an old oil or chemical tank to build a boiler with."
This caused me to weld probably five or six times as much as I would have with new metal, and I spent well over a hundred dollars just buying grinding and cutting disc in between all that welding.
This was one of the largest mistakes I ever made in my life and I turned 60 in December of 2014.
I could have paid for new metal and even paid to have the metal for the tank rolled for the holding tank and I'd probably have built a firebox about 30" sq. by 48" long.
But when I finally get the pictures posted and give you the difference in the heating bill next winter, there might be some that wants to build one like mine, but please use new metal.
OK, I'll be back later tonight but my break is up for now. :huh:

Godspeed

Ranger

Sucks when a good project gets you down like that. Good to know not to use an old oil tank, as that's precisely what I would have done! I'm still interested to see how hungry it is compared to my wood furnace!