tractor build competition?

[/quote] I suggested we allow all horizontal and vertical shaft OPE engines. OPE is a pretty broad spectrum- Outdoor Power Equipment, for those who didn't understand... So if you have a big Honda from a logsplitter, or a little Homelite weedeater, or whatever... it's still cool.[/quote]
I'd like to suggest this be tagged as a rule and pinned to the short list.....

I think it's pretty easy to tell what is acceptable or not with engines. Briggs, kohler, Tecumseh, honda, honda clones, robin, wisconsin, onan, etc, are what we are looking for.

Automotive, atv, motorcycle, snowmobile, etc, would not be accepted. No large industrial generator/air compressor/tractor engines. (over 30hp?)

Mower transmission or transaxle. Now I don't know if a mower ever had a comet CVT, but I'd be willing to allow them, and centrifugal clutches.

Our project(Therainbowboxer and I) is already sitting in the barn, waiting to be worked on... Just have to figure out some tracks.... Not even sure why you all want to do this, We are just going to win!

Timeline wise, if we do ours, it will be done by June, for haspin. Then it will be well tested.

Instead of trying to stop bike engines why not have a hp rule of 35hp? 35hp stock anyway. The engine can be built .

I like the OPE engine idea. No more then 30 hp sounds good too. Also, if reliability of the engine is a factor in judging then I say go ahead and use your atv motor. Me, I dont want to spend more time tryin to keep an atv running then I do enjoying the fruits of my labor. In 32 years I have yet to see an atv that worked more often then not. And this is w.v., atvs reign supreme for some danm reason.

+1 to the 30hp and under rule. I do +1 it has to have a mower tranny or cvt. i think a 700 nd aftermarket axle would be cool too. stretch is confident.... maybe a little to much  JK

Woah! Stretch and TRB are gonna throw down as a team? Now that will be a force to be reckoned with!

Within the next 2-3 days, I want to have someone in place to start finalizing this stuff. Whether the contest begins immediately or not doesn't matter. It's time we finished ironing it all out.

Anybody want to throw their hat in the ring or make a suggestion as to who's going to run this operation?

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Woah! Stretch and TRB are gonna throw down as a team? Now that will be a force to be reckoned with!

Within the next 2-3 days, I want to have someone in place to start finalizing this stuff. Whether the contest begins immediately or not doesn't matter. It's time we finished ironing it all out.

Anybody want to throw their hat in the ring or make a suggestion as to who's going to run this operation?

How abouts you? Me? Id like to run it-I'm not building anything.  

Doc said;
Anybody want to throw their hat in the ring or make a suggestion as to who's going to run this operation?

---im thinkin at least two moderators of this site. You seem to know a good bit on the topic so you got my vote. Total im thinkin there should be at least five judges with some real skill and experiance buildin tractors and metal fab. Also, ive noticed the star ratings on profiles. Im thinkin anyone should have at least 5 stars to qualify as a judge as it would seam to me that those stars seem to go hand and hand with their dedication to the site and may also in the build off. Idk. Just brainstormin outload again.  

Thus far, we appear to be leaning towards determining the winner by popular vote. No favoritism amongst judges, etc.

We just need somebody to "run" it. Make the announcement, qualify the starters, qualify the finishers, set up the voting system, etc. It's been my experience that one man can do this quite successfully, having done it twice already.

We need someone who can be impartial, capable of clearly determining start/finish qualifications, and quite possibly capable of moving threads around (as a dedicated forum section will be set up for the contest).

i 2nd doc, its not a matter of someone to determine a winner, its someone who can decide set rules, set dates, and beable to make a topic and move threads like he said i would be willing to, but im entering the competition if this ever goes through

If we garner enough interest, it will go. And no, I don't think we want a competitor running the show. That just screams "conflict". Perhaps I will do it after all.

Good point doc, but I still feel one person wouldnt do it. I figure one could do all the leg work but two makes favoritism much less likely. (Two heads are better then one)   after readin thru the 8 pages and counting I think its safe to say there is a good amount of interest in this buildoff so hopefully a good amount of people join and see it thru. We need to make shore the guy runnin it will too. Plus im thinkin with so many oppions on what the rules should be that maybe a pole on the major subjects (motors, chassie, trans) should be concidered. Not tryin to step on anyones toes or anything I just figure the more oppions we have the better the end result.

i feel that we are making progress with this in a positive way. All of these ideas are really leading to a good setup. i would give my 2 cents but i think we are gettin it goin well. As long as someone trusted keeps it monitored throughout the competition i think it will be a success! would it have its own section for the competition and the builds for it? I already have ideas for what im gonna do

camomanusa wrote:

i feel that we are making progress with this in a positive way. All of these ideas are really leading to a good setup. i would give my 2 cents but i think we are gettin it goin well. As long as someone trusted keeps it monitored throughout the competition i think it will be a success! would it have its own section for the competition and the builds for it? I already have ideas for what im gonna do

Ha! Very very well said. I hope we get thing figured out soon, just fine tuning. We just need to get people in charge so the rules can be set, sense we got a good general idea.

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Woah! Stretch and TRB are gonna throw down as a team? Now that will be a force to be reckoned with!

Naw, EVERY build we do together. He does a lot of fab stuff, or figuring out a linkage, I do all the welding, tuning, and transmission work. Bet we have done 12 different builds, not counting car work.

Only thing I did myself, I think, was suicide kart, and my very first tractor when I was 15.

I can volunteer to run the show. Put me in the ballot. I've ran stuff like this before

wow guys this idea really hit it off, i would offer to run it....bbbuuutttt.....im entering a build
i was hopin to start in like jan. or feb. cause most of the summer months here are bad to work in

Stretch44875 wrote:

I think it's pretty easy to tell what is acceptable or not with engines.  Briggs, kohler, Tecumseh, honda, honda clones, robin, wisconsin, onan, etc, are what we are looking for.

Our project(Therainbowboxer and I) is already sitting in the barn, waiting to be worked on... Just have to figure out some tracks....  Not even sure why you all want to do this, We are just going to win!

Timeline wise, if we do ours, it will be done by June, for haspin.  Then it will be well tested.

This should be interesting!

I hope to acquire a stamped&bolted frame 16 horse Poulan pretty soon. Hopefully in time for this competition  !

Hmmm. I guess the Mowrons wouldn't support a "no tracks" rule, huh?

I would be glad to be a judge.

Anywho here is my $0.02

--OPE engine (or something that would be found in any lawn mower. 30HP or under)

--Lawn mower frame and transmission or trans-axle

--Keep as many mower parts on as possible

--Keep the mower/tractor look (like doc said..NO mounting a craftsman hood to a jet-ski)

--Tracks ..Possibly.. (they should be home built if can.. not from a mini bulldozer)

--What I was getting at up here ^^^ is that you should try to build the things that you need

--Try to keep the mower dimensions.. mini mowers allowed too, but not like a big long drag car type mower


There is my $0.02

"-Lawn mower frame and transmission or trans-axle" umm, I disagree with the "transmission or trans-axle" part of this. There's plenty of examples of mower builds with the trans being replaced by a CVT and the trans-axle being replaced by something else.

Just to let everyone know- this is NOT stagnating. I'm going over everything again, bit by bit, to try and bring this pig together into something cohesive.

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Just to let everyone know- this is NOT stagnating. I'm going over everything again, bit by bit, to try and bring this pig together into something cohesive.

so is there a good chance of doing this doc? lol

Like I said before, I can run this. Even if I do enter. It will still be a fair poll. Its not like I can cheat a voting poll on here. I have a vast amount of knowledge and will have a firm, defined set of rules. Each rule besides the obvious ones like it has to be a tractor will be voted in by the community here.

TroyBilt Pony wrote:

Like I said before, I can run this. Even if I do enter. It will still be a fair poll. Its not like I can cheat a voting poll on here. I have a vast amount of knowledge and will have a firm, defined set of rules. Each rule besides the obvious ones like it has to be a tractor will be voted in by the community here.

If you enter you shouldn't run it period. Admin of some kind should. One person should have this under control.

Why couldnt you run it and enter? You cant cheat it if its won by popular vote.