The Red Fox

Nice drawing / Sketch.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/John-Deere-314-riding-lawn-tractor-STRETCHED-FRAME-4-JD-seats-bed-Hydro/321292731414?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D261%26meid%3D3994593160774983727%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D161190396547%26

Well, I started disassembling The red fox. Removed motor... the "heart" (Elizabeth, I'm commin to Join ya honey! This is the BIG ONE!) and the front end and started removing the Dash panel. (the steering wheel and shaft is givin me fits, I'm letting it soak up some WD40 overnight) Took the old rotten seat off (the pan had rusted completely all around, I just lifted it off.

At some point, the old man next door had added a SS battery box under the seat for the battery.

I found that the clutch pulley was completely rotted through... lucky I'm going with a different set up

I've decided to go with the big Onan 20 hp horizontal shaft opposed, the extra weight and torque of the motor will help with stability on this larger frame, leaf sprung build.

Pics (and hopefully a short vid) forthcoming (Gotta wait till wifey is away from her 'puter to upload) Then I get to try and figure out how to upload video to you tube (it's my first time, so be gentle)

Expect these things by mornin

Cool a truck

Well, here's the vid and pics I promised.



Red lost hid nose and heart



There's a LITTLE bit of deterioration on that pulley I think...



the heartless mess



that poor sad 12 HP... it runs, but the starter is burnt at the leads, and it burns more oil than gas



Wont be much of an update today... I'd need a snorkel to work on it... we went from 8 degrees and dry to 60 degrees and pouring rain overnight.

Looking good mang. Are you going to retire or rebuild that motor?

I'll rebuild it The bearings are good, It's just gonna need some valve and ring work. I've had the head off and looked at the bore, it looks good. Like I said, it just needs some lovin

Red is getting the big 20 hp ONAN I have... with all the extra sheetmetal, and the bed on the back, He's gonna need the torque. Since it's gonna be a farm truck, the extra weight of the heavy onan will actually help with stability when the bed is full... The onan's aren't a good choice for a racer, or a mudder because of the weight... but for a puller, or this application, the weight helps

That things really rusty

The pulley? ya think?

The pulley,hood and the frame as well

The mower frame and hood is all surface rust, and I'm keepin it that way if possible. Structurally, it's sound

And just for DOC Sprocket, I'm using a horizontal shaft engine (grin)

Lawren Wimberly wrote:

The mower frame and hood is all surface rust, and I'm keepin it that way if possible. Structurally, it's sound

Nice Patina! I love that, Metal rust differently here. idk why, but I guess it's the lack of sun, so we don't get the "baked" effect.

The hard part is gonna be getting an EVEN coat of rust across the whole thing

Lawren Wimberly wrote:

The hard part is gonna be getting an EVEN coat of rust across the whole thing

Keep watering it, I wonder how it would look polished. Like to polish right on top of the rust. Bet it would look cool.

after the rusting treatment, ya steel wool it smooth and wax it... leaves a great patina, and it protects against the red rust (that rots away your steel)

for those who have been askin, here's my you tube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgKH3ydb9mBdrmxiQoHSEaA?feature=watch

I'll be posting all the buildoff vids there

Well guys, after 3 days of torrential rain, I went out to see what HADN'T washed away. I was followed by all of the DUCKS I give about the project   




I did a walk around to review what Junk I had that might be useful to this project (remember, the frame get's lengthened AND widened...) I wanna build Red Fox super heavy duty 'cause he's getting used here around the farm as a tractor, tug, runabout, and truck. So, for frame rails, I chose some 4x6 I beam (from guard rail posts)







A further walk, down past the donkey, goats, dawg, and pigs revealed a donor vehicle sittin in da weeds



an old 'lectric 3 wheeled ezgo.... frame rusted in half, no batteries... but the rear end looks good... remove that 'lectric motor, mount a pulley....



course, I'll have to rethink the drivetrain... current drive ideas have the belt horizontal... this pulley would be vertical... I COLD mount a rotor AND a pulley to that input, mount a caliper to the cast iron case... IDEA'S... I'm full of 'em!

the front suspension had 2 coil-overs I can use... They might help the lawnmower blade springs handle the extra weight of that big onan oppy





I may cut/ scab/ weld some of this rear bumper to Red's rear as well



sorry for the blurry photo, and I'm not sure if ya can make it out, but the axle's have flanges that bolt to the gearbox. That will make it easy for me to widen the axle... get another long axle (the gearbox aint centered... it has one long and one short axle) and bolt it on the short side.





the SS battery box I mentioned previously



and one of my fan's

Some folks have been askin what tires I'm gonna run... well here is an example... I'll flip two per side for duallies. It should provide the big truck look on this 1/2 size truck.



If that aint enough, I got plenty of tires to choose from

You got a good amount of stuff laying around, I like the animals chasin you too.

I think I saw Donald, chasing Dolly, lol

And that will be heavy duty indeed.

u preparing for the iceage i see haha never have to much firewood

do you race cars? or does everyone just dump there old tires at your place or what? monster pile of tires haha

Done a lot of racin... but these were collected for building a big duck pond
lotta good tires there though

GenevaCustoms wrote:

u preparing for the iceage i see haha never have to much firewood

That firewood was the walls to my outdoor kitchen for the first year I was here. Spent the first Christmas here in a 7 x 14 camper, with a tin roof covering an outdoor kitchen and dining area

Here's some short vids updating the Red Fox Project. One of these days I'll figure out how to edit them together into one vid, till then, bear with me...

that is ALOT of steel. does that press work, or is it broke? thanks for the shoutout btw. lol