Leaderboard

Today a me and a good friend of mine built a ramp for my 88 year old mother. She still lives on her totally on her own and still drives during the day. In her garage there is concrete steps and I was worried about her falling on the concrete floor. We built it wide enough in case someday it needs to be a wheel chair ramp. She said she is still walking and doesn’t even want to think about a wheelchair!! I certainly hope I can make it to 88 and be as witty and mobile as she is.

Nice big garage…you should be stashing/hiding a few WH’s there . Note: I tried that at my parents house many years ago (just need to store it here for a couple months I said)…at the two month mark dad called, I was told to come get my tractor that had left an oil stain on his garage floor. My mom is 82 and is living alone in the house her and my dad bought on 71, and she’s still driving during the day. Just had a knee replacement but no ramp yet.

I hate to say it, but why would you want to make any Tecumseh a Pull Start ?? My right arm is 3" longer then my left because of Pull Start Tecumseh's.

I have some photos to share in case someone is trying to do this repower. The first photo shows the adapter plate. It is 1/2" thick and about 10" x 10". The reason I chose 1/2" is that it puts the pto at exactly the same height as a KT-19 mounted on the original frame. You can use a smaller plate that does not stick out as far on the left side (photo right). I did this so that the plastic fan shroud is protected on the bottom. I mounted the plate to the bottom of the engine and slid it around on the frame until the belts aligned and fit properly to avoid using a different belt size. The face of the engine block is just about flush with the right frame rail edge. I am not proud of the exhaust, but it was as good as I was going to achieve in the time I had. I cannibalized the cylinder head flange and reinforcing straps from the exhaust that came with the engine. It turns out that 1" EMT pipe is a perfect fit for the flanges and I was able to weld on a 1" NPT nipple on the outlet to mount a standard muffler. At least the noise is aimed away from the driver (me). Those are off the shelf 45 degree bends. A 90 degree bend would interfere with the hood unless you use some straight pipe first. If I had a 1" bender, I would have probably done it a little differently. It can always be changed. So far, I can say that this is not as easy as I thought it would be. The issues can be grouped into 4 categories. 1. Mounting the engine. You will need a welder and preferably a drill press. Possibly a plasma cutter. 2. Exhaust. This is up to your personal taste, but probably going to need a welder. I used a lathe to bore the pipe nipple to fit the EMT before welding. 3. Drive sheave and clutch. I used these parts: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPXNFMT5?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YBD2RGK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1 You will need a CW clutch since it is mounted with the sheave facing the engine. The drive sheave is the correct OD, but I did have to bore the ID and broach a new keyway. 4. Wiring. The biggest issue to overcome is that the Predator uses magneto ignition. That means that instead of providing battery power to the coil like on the Kohler that the key switch needs to ground the magneto and also power the fuel solenoid. I have not gotten very far with the wiring yet as I am waiting on some automotive relays to arrive. You will obviously need to wire the PTO with a switch. Adding some circuit breakers or fuses is highly recommended. Give that the OEM wiring is 44 years old, I decided the rewire the entire tractor to ensure reliability. As mentioned in a previous post, I also replaced the stator coils and regulator. I may have wasted my time and money, but I could not figure out what the original output was without testing it. I thought it might have been 3 or 10 amps when I decided to upgrade it. During disassembly I noticed that the circuit breaker for the regulator is 25 amps. What I did not want to have to do was finish this thing and then find out that the charging system had to be replaced. Now, I know what I have, which is a 20 amp charging system.

Thanks for all the comments, I ordered a new shut off valve, tank grommet, fuel lines and filter, will swap out all of these fuel components

Will - Welcome! I too have the same 1964 32" snowthrower that I use on my 854 8 speed. Even though mine was 50 years old, it was NOS & never used! Before I used it, I did a couple of upgrades that the 1965 & later models have from the factory. The big one deals with a re-routing of the drive chain and the addition of a second idler that is fixed mounted above the lower adjustable one. The early routing as you pictured it only puts THREE teeth of the auger sprocket in engagement with the chain - a recipe for stripped sprocket teeth due to insufficient chain wrap. The revised routing gives both correct rotation and much more engagement. Position the upper idler so that the chains do not touch... The early lift flag had no provision for an assist spring - I welded the tab and added those pieces. (Lowell sells the new style too). The OE chain is #41 - the fixed idler I used was #40 - same pitch chain, a bit wider. Get a 10 foot length (#40 or 41) with a Master Link. You will need to cut it to the proper length. You also need to alter the OE front chain guard. I've used this for 6 seasons - no issues.

Hoisted the 48"SD up to see if I could get the broken bolt out of the spindle. I got lucky. A few taps with a punch and it spun right out. Threw a patch on the left rear corner. Sharpened the blades. Finish scraping, wire brushing and oil down for the winter.

Hauling some firewood out of the woods this weekend with the GT-1848. Major deck maintenance going on recently: I had the baffle come loose on one of the 48" SD's a few weeks ago and it got a bit mangled. Deck and spindles have significant rot so I'm probably going to scrap that one. Oh, and the 312-A is back there getting a cleanup and repaint of the rear, tins, and wheels. Not pulling it all apart to repaint everything. It's got fairly new rear tires so I got a matching pair of new ones for the front. Been sitting on a set of nice hubcaps and black belt cover - those will go on here when done. New decals from @Vinylguy - will post pictures when those go on.

@CSB80 since cleaning out my tanks ,and related years ago , new hoses , filters and check valves , and adding STA BIL ,AN OUNCE OR TWO to every tank top off , guess what ? no fuel hose break down or related debris , also have a clear end to carb short hose , with a check valve , and filter , ? so I can see clear standing fuel up to carb ! carb bowls have ZERO DEBRIS IN THEM , like all my TRIALS , ELIMINATE A REPEDITIVE ISSUE ! in my own opinion , using this mind set as applied to other issues , break them down at every stage , enhance / verify continuation of action . BTW lubricated , choke and throttle cables , come to easy life with light spring pull to close/ stop point , that way any usage , has pull assist , pete

If I’m not too late to the party, and you need the battery relocated for room, as what @adsm08 mentioned, here’s what I did with mine. I did it because I kind of didn’t like the battery where it could be seen.

When I saw this post I thought this must be to add a rewind starter, looks like you're going real old style C-85

is the spoon simply to bind the wire?