Hit and Miss garden tractor Build

[mhlmeader 689]

 Hi folks, It was suggested I start a build thread on this little project Im gonna attempt.  And I gotta admit, Im a little nervous about it, cause I've never tried it before.  My personal ground rules for this are keep it fun and keep it simple.  I`ve watched several youtube videos of hit/miss garden tractors and some of them are mechanical works of art.  But "dammit Jim!" I`m an electrician, not a mechanical engineer.  So here goes!!!

 

  I picked up this sears suburban yesturday.  Its a hot mess.  Got it from a nice old timer about an hour away from me.  Kohler engine seems to run very good, and the tractor would drive, But no reverse.  My initial thought was thats a deal breaker for me.  My assumption was that the tranny was similar to alot of other tractors in that it had multiple gears inside it...1,2,3 and a reverse.  I didnt want to tackle trying to fix that sorta thing.   Well, i was wrong, and actualy the fella explained to me how the reverse was belt driven and he could never get it to work, and probably just needed adjusting or a proper belt.  Hmmmmmm..ok!!  So anyway, got the tractor brought it home.  

 

 If anybody has any insight as to the model and year of this tractor please chime in, i was told it was a 1965 Suburban.?

 

Came with bits and pieces of the original engine also.......

 

 

[mhlmeader 689]

Here is the engine I'm planning to use.  Stover model k. 1 1/2 h.p.......

 

[mhlmeader 689]

   Sooooooo....with the keep it simple theme, what my primary goal is...is to get a fuctional tractor, with the hit miss engine installed and working.  Forward, backward, left, right...nothing more, nothing less.  If, i manage to acomplish that...Then, i will see about possibly taking it all apart, doing some cleaning, and some simple rattle can restoration....nothing fancy. Baby steps!!

 

  So, lets work on reverse!   The owner mentioned about the belt....so i went with the idea that mechanically it was good, but just had the wrong size belt installed.  Did my tried and true google search for "1965 sears suburban reverse belt"......a number of threads from other forums came up about this subject......seems that 1/2 x 27 was what was called for.  I live inbetween two one horse towns that happen to have some pretty decent ma and pa hardware stores, so off i go.......

 

In the picture of the belts, you can see the obvious difference in width, the smaller being the one he had installed......hhhmmmmmmmmmm

 

Pulled stuff apart, and saw how the clutching system worked and went together......heres some pictues of the belt/pully system.......

[mhlmeader 689]

With the new belt, i kinda/sorta put it back together.  Things were not looking quite right yet though.  When i would hit the starter it wanted to move in reverse all the time.  First i thought maybe google let me down and i had gotten the wrong length belt, seemed like a tight fit.  I was almost ready to make another trip to the hardware and get some different sizes to try......but decided to try a little more.....i had bought several sizes of return springs to try, not knowing exactly what i needed....turns out an old rusty one i already had is the one that worked!!!

 

  Put things back together more permanant, hit the starter and she wasnt creeping backward, GOOD!!  heres some pictures of it pretty much back together.  Could probably use some adjustment, but i think i got a tractor that goes forward and backwards now! 

 

 

I think i need a nap now!

[WHNJ701 4,164]

the vari drive system on these david bradley suburban requires every thing to be adjusted within spec for the the speed changer and reverser to correctly function the tractor.  clutch parts are getting more difficult to come across.  

I know on my 60 david bradley it requires adjustment to keep everything working correctly.

neat idea, on one of the other sites someone posted a wheelhorse with a international lb on it.  

neat project hope it works out.

[ebinmaine 63,081]

I'm in !!!

This is gonna be awesome to follow....

 

[mhlmeader 689]

Well, i didnt do too much to it this evening.  I did pull off the front hood.  And made a short video of the kohler running jyyst incase i ever decide to sell it, naturally when trying to shoot the video it wouldnt run as well as it did before...lol.  but atleast that way when i say it ran when parked, i can actually show someone that it did.  

 

  Its my intention to pull the shroud off from around the steering tube, but wasnt sure just how well the steering is supported coming up from the frame, from what i ssaw and felt it seemed pretty stout.  Got the nut off the steering wheel easy enough, any tricks to pull that steering wheel?  Im guessin something like a three jaw puller but dont wanna break anything.  

 

 Next step will be to pull the kohler engine sometime soon, and start thinking about the best way to mount the hit and miss.

[Chris G 3,274]

Sound fun. I will be following along on this as well

[mhlmeader 689]

Did a little more this evening after work.  Pulled the kohler engine.  It was heavy, lol!!!

 

Pull the shroud away from the steering column, i like how it looks without it. 

 

 To accomodate the big kohler the previous owner had welded some steel brackets on, I thought about leaving them to help get the height clearance for the flywheels, but decided to remove them....they gone!!!

 

One of the bigger obstacles was thinking about how to line up the pulleys from the engine to the tractor.   I dont really want to offset the engine any more than i have to.  Turns out there are tapped holes on the drive pulley.  5/16".   Not sure what there purpose is for , but sure look like the could be used to bolt up another pulley and extend it out abit.  I need approx 3".   So we,ll see.  

 

Next gonna see about mounting the Stover....I assure you, some lumber will be involved...old yankee workshop...yo!!!

 

 

[mhlmeader 689]

Well, had an idea on how to mount the engine.  Original plan was to take a 4×6 , lay it on its side, place a piece of plate steel on top and bolt thru the whole thing to the frame of the tractor.   Then bole the engine to the plate steel. 

 

Went to my buddies to see about getting some plate steel, what he had didnt seem very sturdy. Not thick enough, wasnt feelin it!!  But what he did have was a little 6x6 I beam.  And some narrow steel plate.  He has all the cool tools and a wire welder so right, wrong, or indifferent, i made a little i-beam mount.  The welds are horrendous, but i insisted on doing it myself, 2nd time ive ever drawn an arc in my life....not purdy, but sturdy.  Im a liitle concerned about how high the engine ended up being mounted in the air, shes a little top heavy.  Even had i used the wood it would only made a 2" difference...so we shall find out how it goes.  

 

Couldnt resist seeing how it looked while running on the tractor, so i made a video....if this thing never actually rolls thru the yard on its own power, atleast i can say that i did infact mount a hit and miss engine to a garden tractor!!! I do have that, lol

 

[ebinmaine 63,081]

Looks great man!

Keep at it!

 

[mhlmeader 689]

12 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Looks great man!

Keep at it!

 

Thanks, I`m giving it a shot!!

[mhlmeader 689]

I have two plans for lining up a pulley from the engine to the clutch pulley.  

 

Plan A.  Find another pulley to bolt on to the existing pulley using the 5/16 tapped holes.  Extend it out approx three inches or so, maybe a tad more, then mount a pulley on the engine crankshaft, line em up, call it a day.  Seems simple enough, but im not really sold on it.  Probably woud work fine, but just wasnt really happy with it.  

 

Plan B.  (And this idea could potentially be much more problematic) Pull the flat belt pulley, pull the flywheel....mount the engine pulley on the inside portion closest to the engine, lock it in place....if i can get it there, it lines up pretty darn well with existing clutch pulley location, no modification to it.  I like this idea better, BUT.....Houston we have a problem!!!

 

Heres plan A.   .....bolting to exting pulley, spacing it out....

 

[mhlmeader 689]

I chose plan B.   Pulled the flat belt pulley with not much problem.....i had the right tool.

 

[mhlmeader 689]

Got it out with not much problem.....in this picture you can see if i get a drive pulley mounted behind the flywheel.....i can get em lined up pretty well....i think, using existing clutch pulley location.....

 

[ebinmaine 63,081]

 

Enjoyable build...

[mhlmeader 689]

Then it got got to the part i anticipated problem.....pulling the tapered gib key that holds the flywheel in place....

 

I blatsted it with pb blaster...put a little heat on it......pulled out every freaking thing i could think of to get that thing to move.....no luck......

 

[ebinmaine 63,081]

8 minutes ago, mhlmeader said:

Then it got got to the part i anticipated problem.....pulling the tapered gib key that holds the flywheel in place....

 

I blatsted it with pb blaster...put a little heat on it......pulled out every freaking thing i could think of to get that thing to move.....no luck......

 

Often patience and constant pressure are your friends.

[953 nut 51,629]

I am thinking a jack shaft with a flat belt pulley to the engine and a "V" belt to the present location would be very cool.

[mhlmeader 689]

It was getting to the point where the end of the gib key was getting a little chewed up..  i grindedon it just a fuzz....to give it some more of a straight edge.....

 

Came inside, did a little googling....turns out in the hit miss circles they have a gib key puller tool....shaped like a long curved dagger..apparently works pretty well..most of the time....i tried to make one, no luck.......atleast no luck in making my own that worked, also read about alot of other ways to remove it, some involed drilling, welding...few other tips too.  

 

  Finally sat down a figured well, im not past the point of no return with pulling the flywheel yet, its not 100% necessary, i can still go with plan A.  

 

I decided to try and use the right tool first.. i ordered the gib key puller.  Prolley wont get it till late next week, but slowing down a bit, seemed like the right thing. To do

[mhlmeader 689]

7 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Often patience and constant pressure are your friends.

Amen to that...i think hitting it with some pb blaster over the next few days are the way for me to go right now, while i wait for the tool to arrive.  I can try it then...i want to avoid extreme measures....and Dont..Break..the Engine.....or its game over!!

[ebinmaine 63,081]

5 minutes ago, mhlmeader said:

hitting it with some pb blaster over the next few days

Multiple applications

 

Also

Heat /cold /spray in cycles helps the penetrant get in from my experience

[mhlmeader 689]

6 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

I am thinking a jack shaft with a flat belt pulley to the engine and a "V" belt to the present location would be very cool.

. I hear ya...one thing ive been mulling over is RPMs.. the rated rpm of the stover is 600rpm.   Where as the kohler or original briggs  i believe are considerably more even at idle.  My attemp is to get a 10 or 12 " pulley mounted on the stover.....to get more rpm down at the clutch pulley. Hopefully around 1000.....im not expert on any of that, but i did find a pulley/rpm/belt size calculator online....so i was putting in numbers to get rough ideas of what rpm i would be seeing.... i know this is gonna be a slow moving tractor, and thats fine, if the max speed equal a casual walking speed, ill be happy.

[ebinmaine 63,081]

Most small gas engines idle around 1200 or so.

Aim for an equal to 1000

And you'll be happy with the it.

Slow walk speed.

 

[WHNJ701 4,164]

how nose heavy is that going to be, I think 1964 was the first year for footbrake?  previous ones had independent levers