Hello,
this is my first mower build so i decided to build an A/P mower because it seems like a good place to start. I picked up this mower at my local farm equipment auction for cheap a few years ago with plans of making it into a racer. Now after over a year of reading through this site and gathering parts, i'm ready to start building. I'm at college up in Boston right now so i have plenty of time to research and plan out what i'm going to do the next time i go home. I'm trying to take as many pictures as i can as i build.
This originally had a 5hp motor in it but is started to knock really badly so i swapped it out with an 8hp so i could still ride it around.
Starting to disassemble
Stock Transmission
Finally down to the frame
Now that I have the mower stripped down, i started to work on and fabricate the front end. I went with using 10 degrees of caster and 10 degrees of KPI. That seemed to be about what everyone says is the best. I tried to get zero camber, but i'm sure there will be a little bit.
I had my friend who works at a machine shop mill out the ends of my bolts at 10 degrees so they fit snug against the pipe I welded it to and so i could get a sold weld on it.
Here is what the front end looks like loosely put together.
I thought i took more pictures of making the steering set up, but i cant find them at the moment.... Here is what my set up looks like. I got rid of the old steering setup and build a direct steering setup. I WILL be replacing the tie rods that are attached to the spindles. I just used what i had so i could figure out how long everything needed to be and where i'm going to attach them.
Now that i have the front end figured out, i moved onto working on the rear end.
I notched out where the axle will be because the frame was in the way. I will notch out where the sprocket and rotor go when i get them. But for now, I wanted to figure out where the bearings will go and how high to mount them.
Drilled holes for the axle to go through the frame and just tack welded the seat arch in for now. When i have pretty much everything in place and im ready to disassemble and paint, i plan on borrowing and friends welder and welding everything up. His is a lot stronger than mine and I would feel safer if i used his.
I put the axle in and slid the tires on to measure the height of the frame and it came to a little below 4.5" which is what i was shooting for. Didn't want to plan for 4" and end up being lower than that. Seeing the mower like this made me a little anxious so i rested the body parts on just to see what is will look like.