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Alan R.

HALF a HORSE.

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Stormin

  'Bout time you posted it on here, Alan.

 

BTW. I think you need to do something about your avatar. Reminds me of the Mad Professor. :ph34r:

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Alan R.

Working on it Norm.  Haven't found a white coat yet. :)

 

 

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Anglo Traction
1 hour ago, Stormin said:

  BTW. I think you need to do something about your avatar. Reminds me of the Mad Professor. :ph34r:

 

Naah!, leave it as is Alan, just looks like your on the same stuff as Einstein  :lol: .

Good to see your li'Ie  'D' project on here.

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Aldon

Looks like it will be a nice tractor when done. A true custom.

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elcamino/wheelhorse

Please keep us posted on the remain build , you are doing an outstanding job.

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19richie66

Great looking project!

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Stormin
6 hours ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

Please keep us posted on the remain build , you are doing an outstanding job.

 

 He's got 3 - 4 weeks to get it finished for a forthcoming show. :D

 

BTW. It was he who restored my Sears/Roper. :handgestures-thumbupright:

Edited by Stormin
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JPWH

Thanks for coming out of hiding to share this build. Very nice work. 

Jay

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Digger 66

Super - job on the axle ! :text-bravo:

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Alan R.

Thanks all for the comments.  I aim to please, but often fail. Ask my wife. :(

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Alan R.
18 hours ago, Anglo Traction said:

 

Naah!, leave it as is Alan, just looks like your on the same stuff as Einstein  :lol: .

Good to see your li'Ie  'D' project on here.

It has been mentioned Richard, that I look like Doc Brown in the Back to the Future films.  Now I REALLY do need a white coat.  My sister was a LOT less complimentary. :-o

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Alan R.
10 hours ago, Stormin said:

 

 He's got 3 - 4 weeks to get it finished for a forthcoming show. :D

 

BTW. It was he who restored my Sears/Roper. :handgestures-thumbupright:

It won't be completely finished Norm, but should be far enough advanced to show.  Don't forget,  us retired people never have much time to spare.   :(

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Alan R.

The Bolens axle was cut down and drilled.  The shorter end didn't need altering. The length was just right and the original wheel retaining bolt hole was also used for the model. :thumbs:  The other end was a pain in the ++++ though. :angry:  Tough to hack saw through, although it could have been worse, but the 5/16" hole was a ( censored word ) to drill.  Finally got through with an assortment of drill bits, cutting compound and my lashed up drill press using various speeds and lots of naughty words.  Luckily I only had to drill this one side. 

 

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Now, what to use for the front axle bushes.  A long time was spent looking through my piles of bits and weighing up all the options.  Some bits had the correct OD but too large on the ID and so on.  Still wanting to use what I had to hand, a piece of engineering plastic was used.  Not sure, but I think this is Delrin or Acetal or similar.  A short piece was tapped into copper tube to hold it rigid while drilling in my Unimat lathe.  I was surprised to see blue swarf as the material is black.   After drilling up to 1/4", the bore was opened up on the drill press.  Can't remember the drill size but slightly under the OD of glacier bushes which were tapped in afterwards.  These had an ID of 3/8" which was the bolt size I used for the king pins.

 

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If these bushes were later found to be unsuitable they could easily be changed. So far, with a few test drives that the Showman and I have had over rough ground, no problems have been found.

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elcamino/wheelhorse

@Alan R. How about sending some photos of your drill press . We colonists across the pond are always interested in tools and your drill press sounds like something I have never seen. Keep up the great work.

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Alan R.

I'll take a few and post Jim.  I'm sure you will have something similar at your side of the wet stuff but might be known by a different name.  There are a few part shots above.

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Pullstart

Awesome little project!  I'm surprised to not see mm measurements, but increments us "colonists" can wrap our heads around!

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Alan R.

I use both metric and the real :) thing when measuring.    I often find metric is more convenient for some jobs.    Never gave it a thought when I gave the sizes in inches on this build though.   Must be my default setting.  :D

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Alan R.

 

On 16/07/2017 at 10:57 PM, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

@Alan R. How about sending some photos of your drill press . We colonists across the pond are always interested in tools and your drill press sounds like something I have never seen. Keep up the great work.

Here you are Jim.  My converted drill press.   The first photo shows it fitted with the type of drill it was intended for.  Low powered and with a 5/16" capacity chuck.  The larger drill was too long to fit so an adapter was made which offset the drill to one side.  The original top clamping bolt was reused, turned upside down with additional spacers and a bent metal clamp.  By chance the lower end of this bolt, now the top, was internally threaded 3/8" UNF which made life easier.  The black lower clamp was just part of the larger drills chuck end hand grip.  Hope this makes sense.

 

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As mentioned earlier, although I managed to drill the axle and the adapter hubs the drill was too fast for the larger drill bits.  The variable speed control didn't help much, nor did the slight side play on the slide assembly.  Probably OK for drilling wood which these drill presses were mainly made for.

 

 

Edited by Alan R.
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squonk

I haven't seen one of those hand drill presses in years. Of course this is from a guy who used to drill holes in wood with a screwdriver and a hammer! :rolleyes:

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elcamino/wheelhorse

@Alan R.Thanks for the photo's like squonk wrote haven't seen of those in years. My father had one , but it disappeared after he died. I use a bench top drill press with pretty good results. Purchased from a company  that sells off brand tools and equipment. I don't think the company does any business in the UK.

Keep up the great work on your project. Looking forward to your next pictures and description of the work.  

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Alan R.
 

As the front axles were 3/8" and the Bolens wheel bores 3/4", bushes to fit both were required.  A hunt through my bits and pieces for something suitable drew a blank and nothing found on the internet.  I could probably have made these up on my Unimat lathe but no suitable material to hand at the time.  I came up with a different idea using parts lying around.  New axles were made using 10mm  coach bolts and nuts, stainless tube and 10mm bolts.

 

The tube was threaded 10mm internally each end, it was luckily close enough to the correct tapping size. One end was screwed onto the cut down coach bolt after fitting it to the angle iron hub, the wheel retaining bolt fitted in the outer end.  Suitable bronze bushes with the correct ID and OD from the spares box finished the job.     These look a bit over the top but didn't take long to make.  Took longer looking for the bits.  The king pin was left at 3/8".  Weld between the two inner ends made the unit extra rigid.

 

Sorry for using metric measurements this time but can't win all the time.   Chris, the Showman mentioned earlier, is better known state side as plain old Chris Sutton just in case you are scratching your heads wondering who he is.

 

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Alan R.

Can't remember exactly when, but part way through the early stages of the build it was thought a good idea to see if the engine would run.  It had only been roughly assembled up to now so  carb cleaned, new fuel pipe fitted, bolts tightened and so on.  The recoil starter was a problem.  I had 3 of these, 1 complete and 2 in pieces.  The complete unit was fitted but locked up when the cord was pulled.

 

I had this apart 4 times before finding the problem.  A missing spacer washer.  Wasn't sure if this washer should have been there but it did the trick. One of the other units had one, the other didn't.   After the 4th assembly I was getting the hang of fitting the recoil spring.

 

Clamped to the bench, petrol in the tank, starter pulled, and pulled and pulled, nothing.  No spark.  :(  Cover off, points cleaned, they were furred up, and away it went.  There was a knock which appeared to be from crankshaft end float.   A PM to Richard ( Anglo Traction )  who suggested that the knock might disappear when the engine was under load.  This proved to be the case.  Thanks Richard. :thumbs:  A few bench test runs followed and the engine appeared good to go.

 
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Alan R.
 

This photo shows the chassis on 4 wheels, still with the first style front hubs and with new tyres fitted.  Tread wrong way around I know, wheels just roughly mounted.  The front tyres are 9 x 3.50 x 4 made for mini motor cycles fitted to the Bolens 4" hubs.  The 9" tyre was better proportion wise than the 10" previously fitted although I have not been able to find an inner tube with a straight valve.  The bent valve finished up hard against the rim when inflated.  A little mod later improved things.  No photo of this yet.

 

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The height difference of 2:3/4" between the engine and gearbox shafts can be seen. Just by chance an old Picador double bearing found at John's had the same C/L's and with a slightly cut down base was a perfect fit.   Now what to use to transmit the drive from top to bottom.  Sprockets and chain from old mowers were dug out.  Most were too large to fit between the frame or were double sprockets.  The smaller sections were cut off and after trying various combinations things started to look workable.

 

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After trying various chain lengths, too short or too long, a cut down mower tensioner was fitted but didn't look right.  Another sprocket was found which fitted between the frames but had the wrong ID.  This was bored out and welded to the gearbox sprocket ( thanks Chris ) after mounting the pair on a suitable size bolt.  After this, the existing keyway in the small sprocket was used as a guide to file out the larger one.  The result was a nice tap fit on the gearbox shaft and key and also after altering the chain did away with the need of the tensioner although this could be refitted later.

 

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elcamino/wheelhorse

I need to visit you for a few weeks so you can teach me all your tricks on this build. Couple of problems , no passport and no money . Keep up the great work. 

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