Stigian 1,234 #1 Posted May 10, 2014 Afternoon all thought I would introduce you all to my new project A Wheel Horse Raider 14 Zero turn Thank you to Chris Sutton known as The Showman for selling me one of your Raider's and a big thank you to Paul and Wendy for delivering it this morning Quite a bit of time yesterday (and some today) was spent sorting out this mess.. To find some space for the Raider.. As you can see it came without a bonnet or engine, which is where the green acorn firing Kohler 14hp engine will come in handy. This wasn't the original plan for this engine but as I have it and it mostly runs I might as well use it Now you know Koen A replacement bonnet should be arriving this coming week.. I need to look up the year, here's the chassis plate. The fender pan will need a bit of work, but the rusted out bit is only a flat bit of plate. The engine was put on the chassis partly because it was somewhere to put it, an partly to see if the low mounted starter motor would get in the way of the battery tray.. It does! The main reason for building this zero turn machine (other than, why not? ) is for a fun grass cutting machine.. So I also bought this slightly rusty rear discharge deck from Chris.. I think it came from a 12hp C-series?? The plan is to get the Raider running and moving under it's own power, which shouldn't take long, and then use it while making a new "up-swept" front axle to fit some castor wheels using Wh front wheels.. The Raider will go on the big bench (which my 6x6 was built on) to have steering brakes fitted.. So that's the plan guy's and girls.... What do you think ? 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
varosd 1,185 #2 Posted May 10, 2014 Ian, with your fabrication skills...before long that rig will be on Top Gear! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 36,961 #3 Posted May 10, 2014 What? That fender's toast... this I gotta see. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neil 2,398 #4 Posted May 10, 2014 Easy peasy project for you Ian, looking forward to this one 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
groundhog47 347 #5 Posted May 10, 2014 man that will be a neat machine to see, purty shure've seen your skills and know you'll geter completed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chris sutton 610 #6 Posted May 10, 2014 Glad you got delivery of your new toy Ian, nice to see it in the warm and holding an engine already, It was nice to have you visit the shed the other day and enjoyed your company, iam pleased you went away with more than you came to collect and cant wait for your next visit. I will be watching this thread with interest as I know what you can turn out of the shack 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racinbob 10,450 #7 Posted May 10, 2014 This is going th be a great thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diggerjames 64 #9 Posted May 11, 2014 I'm watching with interest especially the brakes Ian ideas will come in for my C 175 crawler project ! Good luck mate James 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meadowfield 2,545 #10 Posted May 11, 2014 Already planning my next trip to the shack Ian.... :D 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #11 Posted May 11, 2014 Ian, with your fabrication skills...before long that rig will be on Top Gear! Thanks Don, not sure I would want to let the Top Gear boys near it though.. Clarkson likes to paint things green! What? That fender's toast... this I gotta see. It's only metal Craig and a lot easier shape to fix than the Lawn Ranger fender pan I have been patching up Easy peasy project for you Ian, looking forward to this one Thanks Neil, yes it will be nice to do an easy project for a change.. It should take a lot less than the 4+ years my 6x6 has taken so far man that will be a neat machine to see, purty shure've seen your skills and know you'll geter completed. Thanks Gerry. Glad you got delivery of your new toy Ian, nice to see it in the warm and holding an engine already, It was nice to have you visit the shed the other day and enjoyed your company, iam pleased you went away with more than you came to collect and cant wait for your next visit. I will be watching this thread with interest as I know what you can turn out of the shack Hi Chris, the engine is on because I didn't have anywhere else to put it It was great to visit you and your shed last weekend, a place that every Wheel Horse nut should visit at least once in their lives Shame my visit was sort of cut short by my Wife who was more interested in buying fish!! This is going th be a great thread. Thanks Bob. Can't wait! Your going to have to wait a little while, I need to do some serious remodeling of my shacks interior to make some working space! I'm watching with interest especially the brakes Ian ideas will come in for my C 175 crawler project ! Good luck mate James Thanks James... I think we are both getting our braking ideas from the same chap on YouTube? Already planning my next trip to the shack Ian.... Your always welcome mate No progress to report other than while digging through my spares looking for engine parts for diggerjames this morning I found a few parts for Project Zero turn.. A lift handle height stop thingy, ammeter with bracket and the brake discs I plan to use.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmsgaffer 2,043 #12 Posted May 12, 2014 if you use a brake setup is not truly a "zero" turn. Its more like a "30 turn" since you will have a 30" circle that the center will spin around on... unless you plan on doing dual transmission like the 6x6? I would like the ability to pivot on a point with a wheel horse! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #13 Posted May 17, 2014 Point taken Brandon, she won't quite be zero turn but it should be quite fun to drive No real updates yet guy's, busy remodeling my shack to make more working space.. But another part of the puzzle has turned up (Thanks Bob), a hood.. A bit rusty on the surface.. And silver inside!! But it looks like it should be there And for your viewing delight, here's part one of the build videos. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
56flatbed 29 #14 Posted May 20, 2014 Ok Ian, we've all seen your work. You should have this knocked out, say, by Independence Day in the Colonies Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #15 Posted May 25, 2014 Ok Ian, we've all seen your work. You should have this knocked out, say, by Independence Day in the Colonies I might need a little longer than that, I've not started on it yet... But will do for sure this coming week Not much of an update, but this project is moving in the right direction... Up From some angles it doesn't look too bad, just a bit of surface rust. The back end is a lot more crusty! When you look inside!!! At least I know where the rusted away part of the fender pan has gone.. Yep, this is going to be a fun project Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Don1977 604 #16 Posted May 25, 2014 Looks more like a broken down nag then a horse, but if anyone can save it your the man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jparkes43 329 #17 Posted May 25, 2014 Looks....good Ian would love to see it eventually at a show James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #18 Posted June 1, 2014 Looks more like a broken down nag then a horse, but if anyone can save it your the man. Hi Don, don't be fooled by the looks, as I was to find out under all the surface rust she is very solid Looks....good Ian would love to see it eventually at a show James Thanks James, project Zero-ish turn will be at a show at some point, maybe not this year though.. I guess you could say a start has been made on Project Zero-ish Turn, as she soon looked like this. You can see how she got to this stripped down state in the link below With the bodywork out the way I could see how rusty she really was! As luck would have it most of the surface rust came off with a little help from a wire brush. Resulting in a neat pile of rust on the bench! This part I think could well be past it's useful days.. But I think I have one in my spares collection.. If I don't then it's easy enough to fold another one up out of steel. This is the first time I have seen one of these steering bit's with holes through it! Does anyone know why they were made like this? The chap I bought if from Chris Sutton (known as The Showman) popped in for a cuppa just in time to see the Raider dismantled and scattered all over the bench/shack.. Good to catch up with you again Chris A naked chassis!! I'm still in shock that despite how rusty and crusty she looked, everything came undone and came off with no problems.. Even the hitch pin didn't put up a fight! Strangely the only part that I couldn't get off at that moment in time was the shifter knob! Chris was also kind enough to dig through his Wh spares and find me a fender pan that didn't come with the optional hole in the middle Thanks Chris The only question now was which bit should I clean up first... Thinking quite far ahead here the last remaining paint was stripped from the top of the hood, but only the top.. The bare metal was then given a coating of battery acid to help start the rusting process.... Yes you did read that right, I want it to rust.... As to why, your have to wait and see Don't give the game away Chris Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meadowfield 2,545 #19 Posted June 1, 2014 Ian, Drawing a few parallels here... 1. I have an 8 speed tranny where I can't unscrew the gear knobs, the brass inserts have welded solid to the shift lever... So you have to pull the knob off and make a new insert. 2. That flat plate just harvests water and causes a mass of corrosion and is a waste of space, all mine have disappeared over the years. 3. Never seen those holes before.... 4. I wouldn't trust that bloke, he's a geezer! :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 52,291 #20 Posted June 1, 2014 Love what you are doing, I would think if you pull the shifter and "E"tank the knob end it will come apart. Look forwart to your project. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #21 Posted June 4, 2014 Love what you are doing, I would think if you pull the shifter and "E"tank the knob end it will come apart. Look forwart to your project. I like your thinking on the shifter knob, E tank it is The plan for yesterday was to get as much of the paint and rust stripped off of Project ZIT, but instead I spent most of the day mouse hunting, trying to keep very young (just worked out how to fly sort of young) black caps out of the shack, and chopping a phone in half! Which is why the build bench ended up looking like this when I entered the shack this morning! A little while later the bench was a lot tidier and I could actually see what I was going to work on Well, not all the parts as some are stashed under the bench. As I was stripping the last remaining parts off the hood stand I noticed more rust that needs a bit of work.. The hood stand is now stewing in the E tank. I did make a start on cleaning up the chassis, but I didn't get that much cleaned up as the shack was filling up with rust dust and it was raining so I couldn't do this part outside! A much dryer and warmer day is forecast for tomorrow, so fingers crossed for some rust stripping action in the sun And for your viewing delight, here's part 1 of Project Zero-ish turn. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
546cowboy 301 #22 Posted June 12, 2014 I did something like that with an old Craftsman I had quite a while back. It was more like a fork lift than a tractor though. I just turned everything around. The engine was behind and the trans was under the seat. The steering was the part I had trouble with for a while. When I changed that around at first if you wanted to go left you had to turn to the right and vice versa. Ran into a lot of things before I got that figured out. It was just a fun thing to do at the time and one of my first fabricating learning experiences. I didn't get carried away with it and just used parts and stuff I had laying around here. Sad thing is now I can't find any pictures of it now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #23 Posted June 13, 2014 (edited) That sounds like a great project, I bet it taught you a thing or two about fabrication Screeeeeeeech!!!! No that's not the sound of a car crash outside my house, but the sound of Project zero-ish turn screeching to a halt!!!! Yes you did read that right Do to a mixture of luck and being in the right place at the right time sort of thing this project is about to take a rather large change in direction! At the moment I can't tell you any more than that (Well I could but where would be the fun in that ) So, I will just leave you a couple of photo's for now Not that this will help you all work out what the new plan for this project is, but here's the latest and last video about Project Zero-ish turn. "EDIT - You can read all about the new plan here" Edited June 21, 2014 by Stigian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
