Back on the powered lawn roller idea - part 2

[jdcrawler]

The drive chain is disconnected from hydro transmission so I can get the parking brake band in around the brake drum.




Ths mount for the brake band is fastened in place and the chain is put back on.




The mounting bracket for the brake cable is bolted on and the cable is installed.
This is the position with the brake off.




The other end of the cable is attached to the lever that was used to raise and lower the toolbar.
The cable is attached to the end of the 1/2 inch bolt with the spring around it.
This is the off position.




This is the position of the lever with the parking brake off.




This is the position with the parking brake on.




Notice that the spring around the 1/2 inch bolt is now compressed. This makes sure that there is good pressure on the brake band and allows the lever to be moved enough to get the lock pin into the next higher notch.




The brake band it tight around the drum.




The brake cable runs around the steering post and there is no interference with turning in either direction.

 

[jdcrawler]

Made up a bracket for holding the gas tank.




This is mounted down on top of the counter balance weight.

 

[jdcrawler]

Mounting the battery box.






Time to get it off the work table and on it's wheels.










Right turn.




Left turn.




When this roller tank is full of water it does not like to turn at all. So to keep from scuffing up the yard with the tractor tread on the tires, I have intentionally made this so it will not turn very sharp.

 

[jdcrawler]

Found a battery hold down clamp that fits this very nicely.

 

[jdcrawler]

This is the brake pedal that I had used on the first powered roller build.
It is a brake pedal from a 1946 Divco milk truck.




I ended up using this pedal as the clutch pedal on the Center tractor.




I have a different pedal that has a rubber pad to use on this roller build.
The cast Divco brake arm has been shortened about 3 inch and the end machined to fit this pedal.




With this pedal I can move it in closer to the frame so I'm milling a new keyway into the rocker shaft.




The new pedal is fastened onto the rocker shaft.




Then the assembly is mounted back onto the crossbar.
I won't put the rubber brake pad on until after everything is painted.

 

[jdcrawler]

Started working on the wiring and I couldn't find any wires coming out from behind the flywheel on the engine.
I pulled the flywheel and immediately understood why.
So I've got a new stator ring and voltage regulator coming from ebay.




On the positive side ... the mail just came and this Ridemaster steering pulley was in it.

 

[4getgto]

Hope you didn't buy that as a runner..? or ran when parked..

 

[jdcrawler]

Hope you didn't buy that as a runner..? or ran when parked..

Picked this up at a swapmeet about 10 years ago.
The guy said he got it in trade with other stuff. He said that he turned it over with the starter and there wasn't any spark.
It had good compression and was priced a $100 so I didn't even try to dicker the guy down any.

 

[jdcrawler]

The master cylinder for the brakes is off a mid 1960's Chevy Nova.




Bending up the first brake line.




This line goes from the master cylinder, up to behind the round crossbar. Then it crosses over to the right and runs up between the toolbar arms and crosses back to the center frame tube.




From there it runs forward and attaches to the end of a rubber brake hose.
The rubber hose curves back down and fastened to a bracket on the rear pivot mounting plate.




From there another hard line runs down to a " T " fitting.
The lines then run out to both brakes.

 

[jdcrawler]

At the time that I made up this pivot and steering post, I didn't have the correct Ridemaster steering pulley.




However, I did have this cast iron " V " groove pulley that I figured I could make work.
This pulley is 2 inch thick in the center hub so that is the height that I made the end of the steering post sticking up above the frame.
I was able to get an original Ridemaster steering pulley and when I put it on, the end of the steering post was sticking up about 5/8 inch higher than the Ridemaster pulley.




At this point in the construction process, taking the pivot and steering post back off so it can be cut on the big band say is not an option.
That leaves cutting the post where it is with a Sawzall.

If you have ever tried to cut a vertical piece of pipe with a Sawzall you know that it is very hard to start the blade cutting without it bouncing up and down a few times, making scratch marks on the pipe.
Once you do get the cut started, then it is hard to make a straight cut that is 90 degrees to the vertical pipe.

To solve that problem, I cut a piece of pipe to the height I need on the lathe so it is even on both sides and I found a thin washer to set on top of it.




The piece of pipe and washer set down on to the steering post.




The saw blade rest on top of the washer to keep from bouncing up and down.
I could use just the piece of pipe itself but the saw blade will likely cut into it making the cut go off location.
The washer can spin back and forth as the blade moves without the blade cutting into it so I get an even starting cut all the way around the post.




Once I have a starting cut all the way around the post, I remove the piece of pipe and washer so the guide plate on the Sawzall can rest right up against the side of the post.




Here is the finished cut and the piece that was cut off.




I sanded the top of the post so it doesn't have the saw gouges in it and set the Ridemaster steering pulley down on it.




The top of the post is flush with the top of the pulley now.

 

[jdcrawler]

I have the original air filter housing for this engine and you can tell by it that this engine has done some traveling.
Looks like it was originally sold in Lake Worth, Florida. I picked it up at a swapmeet in Traverse City, Michigan and it followed me down here to southern Indiana.






Seeing as how this is sort of a Ridemaster on steroids ... I want an air filter that has a little more of a " hotrod " look.
The original air filter bolted down to the top of the carburetor.




I machined out a piece of aluminum to fit on top of the carb. It is fastened down with three countersunk allen screws that have blue Locktight on the threads so they won't loosen up.




The base of a small air filter for a two barrel automotive carburetor fits onto this aluminum cap.




Then I put the new filter and the top piece on. I'll leave the protective plastic on the filter until I'm ready to start the engine.
When I paint this roller, I'll sandblast the top of the filter and paint it the same color as the roller.
I'm thinking of putting a hood on the engine and let the air filter stick up thru it. .... ?

 

[jdcrawler]

While I have been working on this project, I have been thinking about maybe putting a small grille and hood on it.
Sometimes I think it would look alright and other times I think ... naw .. that's a goofy idea !
Yesterday, while I was working on the air cleaner I had decided to heck with it .. I'm going with the goofy idea.

In this photo you can see that the two mufflers are sitting right up on the back of the engine.




Today I moved them out to the sides.






This gives me more room behind the engine.




Now .. here is my goofy idea.

I have this old Bolens grille and gas tank up on my storage rack.
The threads for the gas cap were messed up so I cut them off and welded on a tube for an automotive gas cap.
I'll have to form my own hood panel.




The first thing to do is mount the gas tank. That determines the height that the top of the grille will will be.
This will be my fill point for the fuel system. A 5/8 copper line will run from the bottom of this tank down to the top of the other tank. So the fuel put into this tank will run down and fill the lower tank first.
The fuel line from the carburetor will run down to the bottom of the lower tank.




You can see here that if I had left the two mufflers where they were, they would be really close to this upper tank.




Going along with having this Bolens grille, hood and tank on the roller, I've ordered a set of decals to go on the sides of the hood and on the back of the frame under the seat.
The decal is 10 inch long and 1.176 inch high.

 

[jdcrawler]

A piece of 5/8 inch copper tube is soldered onto the bottom of the Bolens tank.




Copper tube connects to the Bolens tank and runs down to the lower gas tank on the other side of the frame.
I'm hoping that the 5/8 line is big enough to let the gas run down into the lower tank and still let the air come up out of the lower tank while it is being filled.








Forming the hood out of .040 thick sheet metal.




The hood panel is fastened to the top of the Bolens grille.






The hood and grille assembly is sitting in place on wood blocks so I can start to make the mounting brackets for it.

 

[jdcrawler]

Went back out and did a little more work this evening.

A square tube elbow is fastened to the bottom of the grille.
Here I'm drilling and taping the mounting holes for 3/8 bolts.




The end of the square tube is cut to fit the shape of the bottom of the grille.




It is notched in front to fit around the " spear " on the front of the grille.




Here's how it looks setting in place.
The bottom end of the square elbow will have a pivot mount on it so the grill and hood assembly can pivot forward to get to the engine easier.






Stepping back to get an overall photo, this doesn't look as goofy as I had first thought it would.
I like the overall looks. The grille, hood and tank will look like they belong there once everything is painted and the decals are put on.

 

[4getgto]

Its going to look really good. And I'll bet you're going to a few people scratching their head wondering if that's really home built. I know I'd be itching like crazy..!
Really admire your work jdc...

 

[jdcrawler]

Its going to look really good. And I'll bet you're going to a few people scratching their head wondering if that's really home built. I know I'd be itching like crazy..!
Really admire your work jdc...

I already get that at the tractor shows with my R/T tractor so I'll park this roller right next to it and really get people confused.

 

[jdcrawler]

One side of a door hinge is welded to the end of the square tube that the grille is attached too.
The other side of the hinge is bolted up to the underside of the frame.
There is a bracket hanging down with an adjustable stop with a rubber cap on it.




This is how far the grille opens forward with it resting against the rubber stop.




Seeing how the hood and grille look mounted on the roller, I have changed my mind about having the air cleaner stick up thru the hood so I'm going to keep it under the hood.
The problem is that there is only about 1-3/4 inch clearance over the top of the carb itself and that adapter takes up about 5/8 inch of that space.

I have a couple of these old air cleaner caps that were used on some of the old cars in the 40's and 50's. They fit on top of the carb and a hose ran over to a canister with the filter in it.
I have cut the bottom off one of them.




Then I cut a hole in a piece of 1/16 inch steel plate so that aluminum carb adapter can fit thru it. This will let the steel plate sit down to within 1/16 inch above the top of the carb.
The aluminum adapter is pushed thru from the other side.




One end of this steel plate is trimmed out to the shape of the carb cap and the other end has another hole cut into it for where the filter will mount to it.
This is then welded to the underside of the carb cap.




Turning it over you can see that the carb cap only covers about 2/3 of the steel plate.




I've formed a piece of sheet metal to fit the shape of the back of the carb cap. This is welded to the cap on the inside.




I've heated up the end of this metal and hammered it down and around the end of the steel plate.




The metal is welded to the steel plate and this is what it looks like now.




This cap is about 1-1/4 inch high.

 

[jdcrawler]

The front area of the aluminum air cleaner adaptor is milled out for better air flow.




The base of the round air cleaner is pop riveted to underside of the new air cleaner.




Then the filter is mounted on it.




And the new air cleaner is mounted onto the top of the carb.






You can see the lower part of the air filter hanging down with the hood closed.

 

[jdcrawler]

The hood is all set so it will stay closed by itself now.




I've set this up with a spring that runs above the hinge pin to hold the hood in the closed position.




When the hood is open, this spring is moved down so it is now below the hinge pin to hold the hood open.




There is a thin strip of rubber glued to the inside of the hood where it rides up on the gas tank.

 

[jdcrawler]

I have added a static strap to the hinge area on the grille and hood assembly.
This was an excellent suggestion from a member on another forum.

The gas cap is vented so there are fumes around it. This strap will prevent any spark from static build up when opening or closing the hood.




The strap tucks up inside the frame when the hood is closed.