Little tractor, little engine... big air cleaner!

[dlpaw 3]

Hello,

I have been working to wrap up this '62 lawn ranger project for my son, and trying to make it ready for the upcoming Harvest Days show in Union Grove, WI, less than two weeks away. The lawn ranger came with a mid 60's H60 engine with an air cleaner that did not allow the hood to fit by nearly a half inch.

Here is the culprit....

I did some looking for the the small round pancake style air cleaners that Tecumseh used on some applications. I bought a used one on ebay that was supposedly off a 10hp Tecumseh, and looked like the one I was after....but when it came in the mail, it was much bigger than I expected

The one I was looking for should have used a filter that was a little over 4" in diameter...but this air cleaner uses the bigger 6" element. Which is the same size element that is on the 14 hp Kohler in my economy tractor!

Since the Harvest Days show is closing in fast, I decided to see if I could make this thing fit inside that little round hood. I made a block off plate and gasket for the original carburetor holes, and drilled some new ones to offset the air cleaner up and toward the center of the tractor. To my surprise it fits! There is about a 1/4" clearance to the front of the hood and at least a half inch clearance around the perimeter of the air cleaner housing. No great feat of fabrication by any means, but maybe this will help someone out who is trying to fit a different engine in the earlier tractors, or looking for an easy way to get a larger air cleaner on their tractor, for whatever reason.

...and thanks again for all the help with this tractor, it is nearly finished, and you folks have put up with my questions and have helped me with parts throughout this entire adventure!

Daniel

Doesn't look too out of place ...I am just happy that it fits!

[Kelly 1,035]

We do what we have to, from time to time, looks like it will work just fine.

[littleredrider 409]

I wonder why it wouldn't fit?? I have to rangers, one was 100% original and thinking the other was close but both had different styles of filters. The 67 was the all original and had a filter like the first pic. Almost wish I still the engine but it's much better with the k181 on it. As long as it's not under water....

[AMC RULES 37,251]

Almost looks like it came that way from the factory. More filtration can't be a bad thing, can it? From what I can see, the tractor turned out great. Can we see a pict of the whole thing too? :banghead:

[dlpaw 3]

There may have been trouble with fitment of the stock air cleaner on this tractor, because the hood on this lawn ranger is about 3/8" higher than normal in the front, as the previous owner had welded a hinge between the grill and the frame mount, so the hood could be tipped forward. I kind of liked the idea, so I left it that way, and it may be where my trouble is coming from if others have been able to make the stock H60 air cleaners fit in the early models.

Or maybe it is because of the slighlty different hoods between the '62 and '67? Perhaps there is a little more room under the mid 60's vintage hoods...but I do not know enough about these tractors to make a valid comparison.

Daniel