Introducing the Stig Special

[meadowfield 2,545]

hi pycoed.

firstly welcome to the forum - come say hello in the Euro Introductions area and get your hime on the map !

secondly welcome to the story of the 6x6 monster ! agree with comments on the chains and sprockets - works for bobcat and argocats... re the low pressure, if I run 2 psi in my quad tyres, then I can't even move the bars when stationary - but can when moving. Higher pressures have higher ground pressure, but less area for drag when slewing. Lower pressure = less ground pressure, but a huge amount of tyre to drag sideways.

Ultimately chains would be perfect - or indeed tracks as Ian is going for...

The other bit you maybe didn't work out is that the 6x6 special weighs a ton unladed !!!!!! :ychain:

[COMMANDO6 20]

Hey stupid question. Do you plan on driving it on the pavement? I don't think you could with makeshift tracks like that.

[Ole MN 11]

Ian, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to hear how you made out. Hope you made it to the show ok, and having a great time.

[smoreau 658]

:sad-pacing: Any thing new Ian?

[COMMANDO6 20]

:text-yeahthat:

[wh-jason 32]

eveything ok with ian? hasnt been an update in 2 weeks.

hope all is well

[Don1977 604]

Stigian we would like to hear from you whether you have done anything new are not. We know you were working hard before the show. :bow-blue:

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Agree with Jason...extended silence here is always worrisome.

Hope all is well for you Stig. It is my hope that the lack of updates stems simply from your being too busy, or waiting to spring an "It's Spinning 360's !" video on us. However if that's not the case, I hope I speak for all RS members when I say we miss the updates, but are more concerned with your ongoing health and well-being. Take care of yourself...tractors can wait.

All the best, and hope to see you back here soon.

CB

[zieg72 209]

Agree with Jason...extended silence here is always worrisome.

Hope all is well for you Stig. It is my hope that the lack of updates stems simply from your being too busy, or waiting to spring an "It's Spinning 360's !" video on us. However if that's not the case, I hope I speak for all RS members when I say we miss the updates, but are more concerned with your ongoing health and well-being. Take care of yourself...tractors can wait.

All the best, and hope to see you back here soon.

CB

X2 always look forward to your updates, they always make my day IAN.

[Stigian 1,234]

Just found this thread, or should I say saga! Two things strike me: you have to get all three wheels each side turning together reliably. The only way you are going to do this is with chains & sprockets. Anything else will certainly fail in mud. Relying on friction isn't going to do it on anything other than dryish grass. You could try timing belts & pulleys from a scrappy, but I don't think they are up to the job - a lot of torque on the output end of a gearbox. Bearing Boys list 3/4 chain sprockets (say 16 tooth) at £8 & duplex sprockets at £15. 2X £15 plus 4 X £8 & away you go. Bound to find some 3/4 chain from a scrappy?

Second thing is the tyres have way too much air in them. Without suspension you only have sidewall deformation to ensure all three wheels stay in contact with the ground & can provide traction. I notice on the last video even on a nice flat grassy field that the directly driven wheels are tending to spin & place a lot of strain on the belts & pulleys. Argocats use about 2 psi in the tyres so letting yours down to that may be worth a try?

Hell of a project though!!!

Hi Pycoed, welcome to RedSquare, thanks for making this post your first. It means a lot that out of all the 1000's of great threads on RS you chose mine.

Yep I agree about needing chains and sprockets to get this beast steering right.

As belts are more of a WH thing than chains I had to give them a go first.

The tires were a bit over inflated as well, just playing with pressures to see what difference it would make.. Lot's of air in the front and rears with very little in the middle wheels seemed to help a bit.

[Stigian 1,234]

hi pycoed.

firstly welcome to the forum - come say hello in the Euro Introductions area and get your hime on the map !

secondly welcome to the story of the 6x6 monster ! agree with comments on the chains and sprockets - works for bobcat and argocats... re the low pressure, if I run 2 psi in my quad tyres, then I can't even move the bars when stationary - but can when moving. Higher pressures have higher ground pressure, but less area for drag when slewing. Lower pressure = less ground pressure, but a huge amount of tyre to drag sideways.

Ultimately chains would be perfect - or indeed tracks as Ian is going for...

The other bit you maybe didn't work out is that the 6x6 special weighs a ton unladed !!!!!!

Hi Andy, good to catch up with you at Ardingly.

Yep, your right the 6X6 special does weigh a ton... Well, nearly..

Hey stupid question. Do you plan on driving it on the pavement? I don't think you could with makeshift tracks like that.

If the tracks had of stayed on they might of made quite a mess of any tarmac it went on, instead it spat the tracks off after a couple of turns on the grass!

Ian, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to hear how you made out. Hope you made it to the show ok, and having a great time.

Hope you not still on the edge of your seat waiting Brad, I don't think your legs would work after this long wait.

Man and machine made it to the show ok, a great if damp time was had.

Any thing new Ian?

eveything ok with ian? hasnt been an update in 2 weeks.

hope all is well

Stigian we would like to hear from you whether you have done anything new are not. We know you were working hard before the show.

Agree with Jason...extended silence here is always worrisome.

Hope all is well for you Stig. It is my hope that the lack of updates stems simply from your being too busy, or waiting to spring an "It's Spinning 360's !" video on us. However if that's not the case, I hope I speak for all RS members when I say we miss the updates, but are more concerned with your ongoing health and well-being. Take care of yourself...tractors can wait.

All the best, and hope to see you back here soon.

CB

Agree with Jason...extended silence here is always worrisome.

Hope all is well for you Stig. It is my hope that the lack of updates stems simply from your being too busy, or waiting to spring an "It's Spinning 360's !" video on us. However if that's not the case, I hope I speak for all RS members when I say we miss the updates, but are more concerned with your ongoing health and well-being. Take care of yourself...tractors can wait.

All the best, and hope to see you back here soon.

CB

X2 always look forward to your updates, they always make my day IAN.

Once again guy's you have blown me away with your cool, kind, and caring comments. They mean a lot to me.

As you have noticed I've not been about for a couple of weeks, the mad month or so run up to the Ardingly show and indeed the show itself has really kicked the stuffing out of me and got my Dystonia really playing up, making me have more fit's/pain than I've had in a long time!

My energy level is also at an all time low, somedays just moving around the house is a real effort.

It's all my own fault of course for pushing myself too hard for too long on this build.. Sometimes these things have to be done... But I wasn't expecting quite the amount of rebelling my brain and body have been doing!! Oh well..

On the bright side, now the stress and rush to get things done before the show is over I've at long last been able to shut my brain down from thinking about the project..

No longer am I laying awake at night working out what's left to do, how to do things, or even have I got enough coffee to keep me going for the day

One thing the past couple of weeks has taught me is I need to slow down... A lot... My body just can't take the strain of doing too much any more..

That's not to say things have not been happening in the Shack..

Even though I may of mentioned at Ardingly that I would take a couple of weeks off the project, I have been working on it slowly.

Not wanting to tackle anything that invovled too much thought, I thought I'd have a bash at the hood.

First up was to fill up the gaps with steel.. Masking tape came in handy for making templates.

Welded.

A light skim of bondo later..

I don't use a DA sander often, but when I do need it I'm glad I have one.

DA and Rob in action.

The hood slowly taking shape.

While the Workshack turns into a winter wonderland!

With the shack now full of filler dust, I thought it was only fair that the garden got a dusting too...

The downside of doing this sort of thing outside is the good old British weather keeps raining on and off, which has slowed the speed of things down even more with plenty of "grab hood, head for cover, wait for the rain to stop again" kinda moments.

The hood is seen here with a dabbed on guide coat.

This is how the hood looked after a bit more sanding down today.. It's not far off now.

[Ole MN 11]

Ian

Glad to hear from you I was having Sigian withdrawls. With the show come and gone you should take it easy. All you need is time and you will get it done, and from my view point this machine is nothing less than awsome. Thanks for the up date.

Brad

[Staub'sLawnmower 6]

That one bad-a*s 'orse!!!! The chains should make a world of difference. Can't wait to see more ground pounding videos! Hope you get better soon!

Will

[312Hydro 473]

Glad to see you back ,Ian. As usual,the machine is as impressive as the man who built it. That's one long hood! :handgestures-thumbupright:

[bowtiebutler956 649]

It's good to here from you Ian!! I'm sorry to here your health has been a little shaky, and I hope you recover soon. That is an awesome project, and I'd like to see it finished as much as the next guy, but I'd rather see you stay healthy, so that I get to see more of your outstanding builds in the future!!

Matt :flags-texas:

[smoreau 658]

Glad to here all is ok and yes I look forward to your posts!. take it easy and enjoy your self!! life's too short to be in pain.

[roscoemi 245]

Ian, tend to your health. The tractor will be there when you get back. BTW, my 8 year old son wants to know how you plan on bolting wheel weights on with the bars in the way? :teasing-poke:

[Stigian 1,234]

hi pycoed.

firstly welcome to the forum - come say hello in the Euro Introductions area and get your hime on the map !

secondly welcome to the story of the 6x6 monster ! agree with comments on the chains and sprockets - works for bobcat and argocats... re the low pressure, if I run 2 psi in my quad tyres, then I can't even move the bars when stationary - but can when moving. Higher pressures have higher ground pressure, but less area for drag when slewing. Lower pressure = less ground pressure, but a huge amount of tyre to drag sideways.

Ultimately chains would be perfect - or indeed tracks as Ian is going for...

The other bit you maybe didn't work out is that the 6x6 special weighs a ton unladed !!!!!!

Hi Andy, good to catch up with you at Ardingly.

Yep, your right the 6X6 special does weigh a ton... Well, nearly..

Oops... Sorry Mark, your not Andy are you!!

I guess my brain wasn't working too well last night

Ian

Glad to hear from you I was having Sigian withdrawls. With the show come and gone you should take it easy. All you need is time and you will get it done, and from my view point this machine is nothing less than awsome. Thanks for the up date.

Brad

Hi Brad, are you feeling better after your "Stig fix" now?

Taking it easy is what I plan to do.. Have no option really.

It's nice not to have a deadline anymore.

Your welcome to the update, ta for calling this build "Awsome".

That one bad-a*s 'orse!!!! The chains should make a world of difference. Can't wait to see more ground pounding videos! Hope you get better soon!

Will

Thanks Will, yep chains should do the trick. The next video is a little way off yet as nothing mucj=h has been happening on the build.. Not sure a 16 min vid of me sanding filler would be very entertaining

Glad to see you back ,Ian. As usual,the machine is as impressive as the man who built it. That's one long hood!

Thanks Rich, it's good to be back, though I have to admit getting my brain around replys is a bit of a struggle today.

Not sure which part of me is inpressive, maybe it's the way the sun glints off my bald patch

The hood feels even longer now I'm doing the filler work on it!

It's good to here from you Ian!! I'm sorry to here your health has been a little shaky, and I hope you recover soon. That is an awesome project, and I'd like to see it finished as much as the next guy, but I'd rather see you stay healthy, so that I get to see more of your outstanding builds in the future!!

Matt

Thanks Matt, yeah my health has been better.. But that's how it goes. I can't wait to get back to normal, getting fed up with not being able to do anything.. I hate having to sit around!

Glad to here all is ok and yes I look forward to your posts!. take it easy and enjoy your self!! life's too short to be in pain.

Hey Scott,. yep alive and well-ish here, taking it easy sounds very good to me at the mo.. It would be nice to get rid of the pain though.

Ian, tend to your health. The tractor will be there when you get back. BTW, my 8 year old son wants to know how you plan on bolting wheel weights on with the bars in the way?

Thank you Sir. I'm not sure this heavy beast will need wheel weights, but tell your boy I could always fill each tire to add some extra weight.

Well, no play in the shack for me today, I woke up really shaky so a day of taking it easy it is..

To tide you over until my next update have a photo of the smoker "much have accessory" of the year..

[neil 2,398]

Love the tobbaco Tin Ian what a great idea

i still have a few decals left if anyone from UK wants one

I have one stuck to the dash board of my truck

[Anglo Traction 759]

Good to have you back posting Ian!. Your return coincides with the long awaited warmth and Sunshine here down in the very Rain Sodden South East England.

Hood is looking real good also. Glad you took some 'Time Out'. Pace yourself.

[neil 2,398]

Youve earnt the rest Ian i thoroughly enjoyed looking over the 6x6 at Ardingly & would have loved to have spent a while having a chat at the show but the weather spoiled the fun

Great to see you doing a few slower jobs

Take it easy Buddy

[Stigian 1,234]

Love the tobbaco Tin Ian what a great idea

i still have a few decals left if anyone from UK wants one

I have one stuck to the dash board of my truck

Hi Neil, I wanted to stick one of the decals on the dash of our car.. My Wife is having none of it though

Maybe I should add one of two to my 312-8, it already has one extra decal (Thanks Mark for this one).

Good to have you back posting Ian!. Your return coincides with the long awaited warmth and Sunshine here down in the very Rain Sodden South East England.

Hood is looking real good also. Glad you took some 'Time Out'. Pace yourself.

Thanks Richard.. Are you saying I'm the bringer of sunshine to the south?

Youve earnt the rest Ian i thoroughly enjoyed looking over the 6x6 at Ardingly & would have loved to have spent a while having a chat at the show but the weather spoiled the fun

Great to see you doing a few slower jobs

Take it easy Buddy

The rest was very much needed Neil. Yeah it was a shame about the weather at Ardingly, there's always next year... Or if your ever in my neck of the woods, give me a shout.

Yesterday was the best day I've had in weeks, I wonder if it has anything to do with summer finally arriving

As much as I wanted to keep the swage line that runs along the length of the hood, I found it impossible to sand such a thin ridge..

Also the primer I'm using would just about hide the line anyway, so I decided to lose the line with some extra bondo.

At long last all the filler/bondo work done... Did I mention I hate sanding filler?? Horrible job.

The first coat of red oxide primer on.. This was brushed on nice and thick, good stuff for filling all those small pit's in the filler. It also sands down nice and smooth and can be painted over with body colour with no problems.

Today I will give it a second coat and then leave the hood as it is for a while.. The front part can wait.. I feel the need to do some more engineering

[meadowfield 2,545]

glad you are back and making progress

:D

[COMMANDO6 20]

That is one honking big hood. There's gonna be a lot of red on there when it's done.

[dsholler 54]

Glad you are feeling better. We are all waiting with baited breath on the outcome of the tracks. Although in some way, I think many will be sorry if you get it working, because we all want to see the next fabulous engineering solution you come up with ... (My bet is that you change the chassis to put the front and rear pairs of wheels on spindle mounts with 360 rotation, and create the world's first zero turn tractor) :laughing-rolling: