BAJA SEARS BUILD

Thats basically how our weekend will go, guaranteed.

the old guy wrote:

I really like the tach , didn't think they would be that simple to hookup. You do good work.

Thanks. I tried hooking that tach up a year or so ago to a chinese minibike engine and it jumped around a lot. Seems to work good on this engine. I don't know if the coil on the chinese engine has a weird electrical pulse or something that messes it up, or maybe I just had it hooked up backwards? This time when I tried it, it was nice and smooth and stayed right where you would expect it to be, so I guess it's ok. Kind of good to know, because junk snowmobiles with electical tachs should be pretty easy to come across, at least up north.

Doug Fackler wrote:

Thats basically how our weekend will go, guaranteed.

I hope not exactly like that, but anyway...I was thinking I could quiet the sears down even more if needed pretty easy by making an oval plate from aluminum or something with a 1" hole in the middle and then rivet onto the screen that I welded across the end. I think that would really cut it down. High speed chase, doug fackler vs. fish and game...

Essentially. Maybe I should hold off on sticking ATLTF and my Youtube stickers on lol.

My families place upstate, where I shot my last two train riding videos.

Doug Fackler wrote:

My families place upstate, where I shot my last two train riding videos.

Thats if the rally doesnt die... MTD playing tow truck.

Nothing is going to pull a broken down 700lb baja sears up a rocky hill. That 820 transmission case might as well be made out of wet tissue paper. Besides, I'll just have my chase helicopter drop off some spare parts if I need anything.

I might have accidently fibbed about the tach working good. I had the sears running again and rigged up the tach temporary like again. This time it kind of jumped around a lot. Before it was nice and smooth right where it was supposed to be. I don't know if I just had a bad connection or if the tach pics up some kind of electronic "noise" from somewhere. I'm just going to hook the wires up good and then I'll see how it goes. Maybe some kind of ballast or resistor in the line would help.

Removed transaxle.


All the spots I didn't paint up too good during the build off.








Wheel hub is froze on the bottom axle, I assume. I never tried getting that side off. So, I couldn't take the entire axle out to lock it. Needed to bend a wrench to fit the bolts under the differential.


All I did was flip the spider gears around so that two were locked on one axle and two on the other. Normally of course, those two gears are opposite, one up, one down. Here you can see they are both at the bottom.


Side view showing the gears on the ends of each axle and the spider gears.


Cleaned it up a little and gave it a quick paint job. Should be about ready to go back in.

Super fancy dancy pantsy rantsy.

Painted up the drive pulley and put that back on. Put some set screws in the hub on the brake rotor side, because I guess I never put them in. Then I put the trans back in the tractor. So at least that part is done.


Took the engine off to remove the governor parts, since I had the mounting bolts out already. You can't get the belt off of this thing without taking the engine loose. Kind of a bad design on my part if you want to change a belt. I could probably run a longer belt through a couple of idlers and get around that.


Got tired of trying to block these engines up on something to drain the oil without getting it all over.


So...after messing around trying to get the side cover off with some rust on the crank, I find out this thing has a couple of ballance shafts. They don't have any kind of timing marks on them. What I think they probably want you to do, is line up the timing marks on the camshaft and crank. Then just put the side cover back on. The weights spin to the bottom easily because they run on roller bearings. If you did it this way, the counter weight on the crank would be about at the 8:00 position looking into the block. Or maybe they want you to put it at top or bottom dead center. No idea. There's no way to see where they end up, so it must rely on just putting the crank in the right spot and sliding the cover on. I've never seen any small engines with ballance shafts like this. For the time being I left them out and I'm going to see how bad it is without them. I know the vertical shaft engines with the eccentric driven weights are supposed to vibrate badly with them removed. But I figured they pull directly on the crankshaft. With these, the pressure or force is applied to the block. So even if the vibration is a lot worse, I don't see how any engine parts would have more stress than before. Except maybe the mounting bolts and block. If it's really bad I can just put them back in.

Hey, Just a quick heads up, we locked 3 of the sears in our group just like you did and two blew the diff gears out and cracked the bottom of the case. the strange part is the one thats never broken has the biggest motor and tires of all, and gets used the most. We flip and weld now, no more breakages. We all run much more aggressive tires than you, so you might never have a issue.

mr.modified wrote:

Nothing is going to pull a broken down 700lb baja sears up a rocky hill. That 820 transmission case might as well be made out of wet tissue paper. Besides, I'll just have my chase helicopter drop off some spare parts if I need anything.

i think my 600 pound bolens might give it a good run for its money.. but its blown up ATM. dont think the GT would do much

willis923 wrote:

i think my 600 pound bolens might give it a good run for its money.. but its blown up ATM. dont think the GT would do much

I should actually weigh this thing. Feels pretty hefty.

Creepycrawler wrote:

Hey, Just a quick heads up, we locked 3 of the sears in our group just like you did and two blew the diff gears out and cracked the bottom of the case. the strange part is the one thats never broken has the biggest motor and tires of all, and gets used the most. We flip and weld now, no more breakages. We all run much more aggressive tires than you, so you might never have a issue.

Interesting, did you guys take them apart and see what failed? I figured it puts the stress on the plates that hold the gears and the bolts. I have two other transmissions available if this one breaks. I thought I would give it a try and see how it goes. Maybe I'll start working on another one and weld that one up. Thanks for the info.

More stickers


Vibration proof engine bolts. Double nutted with loctite

I wonder how the briggs will handle the water splashing. I know I'm going to make something to go over my air filter so it doesn't get wet being up front.

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

I wonder how the briggs will handle the water splashing. I know I'm going to make something to go over my air filter so it doesn't get wet being up front.

I figured the stock air box would keep things pretty good. I forgot you've got that open air cleaner.

Made an adjustable foot brace to prevent jerky throttle operation on rough ground. Rest your foot on it when using medium throttle for cruising.


Or if you want full throttle, move your foot off the rest.


Just used a bolt with a nut on both sides of the bracket so you can adjust it where you want. I'll find out if it's too close to the throttle pedal once I drive around some, if so I can just put a hole out farther away.


On the lift.


Handy "mess free" drain plug setup.


Bunch of clutch springs hooked up. Clutch almost done, couple more small things to fix up.


The start of a medium duty skid plate. Will bolt to the frame on all four corners.

I like the skid plate alot. I wouldnt worry to much, the guy that tore em out was running 25x8x12 black mambas. Yep, we took em apart, one ripped the teeth of the planetary gears (the ones you flipped) and then the broken teeth got in the rest of the tranny and destroyed it. The other one ripped the plate that the bolts that hold the planetary got though. a chunk got between the bull gear and the case and blew the case apart.

Those gears and everything are fairly heavy pieces. I guess after a while they stress. I know a guy that might have a couple more sears tractors around too if I frag more than the two extras I have on hand. I'll give it a good testing.

Major progress! Got the original baja sears tie rod at the bottom and the parts sears suburban tie rod on top. Same tractor, but maybe different year and sears got a deal on tie rods from someone else at the time. I don't see why they would need to be twice as heavy in a stock situation. At any rate, going to install the heavier ones and keep the light ones for spares.


Joints are bigger too, same threads, so they fit right in. The rod from the steering shaft to the front was the same on both tractors, but I took that off for a spare too.


Gotta have fenders for water crossings, so I cut some out of the back of a mercury sable.


They seem to fit pretty good, tried to match them side to side as good as possible.


I'll paint them blue to match everything else, then re-install with some large washers so the bolts don't pull through the plastic. Welded brackets to the seat and they attach with two 1/4" bolts.


Aluminum number plate, so people know who just past them. Grab bar protects the gas tank neck from overly hyped up racers trying to pass you and also gives you a place to pick up the back end.


Once the paint dries, I'll grease up the joints a little and bolt these on.


Brakes are back on. Still have to:
Finish skid plate
Lengthen brake pedal 2"
Install alternator, clutch, gas tank, tie rods
Solder wiring
Paint

You're still going to get a ton of water spray, but way better then.... no fenders. Plus they look really good for using some car bumper too.

Thanks. Yeah they don't offer 100% coverage, but I had to stay with the baja look. I figure just keep water from pouring directly onto the seat. Also maybe keep your hands from getting caught between the tires and the sharp edge of the seat. Could possibly hurt pretty bad.

Painted the fenders. Probably add some stickers. Seat painted back up where I welded the brackets.


Painted rear bumper again and added some silicone spots to the gas tank cradle for the heck of it. Now I can put the tank back in and bolt on the number plate ect.


Got two free dunlop atv tires at my super free tire getting location. That rusty sears rim on the right will get cleaned up and painted, then I'll mount the tire with the thinner knobs which I already cleaned up. Neither tire has exactly the same tread as the matching set already on the tractor, but the one I cleaned up is closest.


Only things left to do now is finish soldering some wire connections, put seat/fenders on, and weld up the skid plate. Brakes completely done, tie rods greased up and swapped over, spare tie rods painted up a bit. Painted up my belt idler and bolted back in. Even touched up a bad spot on the front bumper where it was too close to the garage door when I opened it...Should be some testing next weekend.

Just a few small details to finish up.


Light weight plastic fenders installed.


Cracked steering wheel taped over and sears cap installed.


Gas tank back in, number plate bolted on, and adjusted the fuel line situation slightly.


New gas tank vent line runs up the side of the dash to the highest spot on the machine to keep it above water.


Skid plate during contruction, now painted. It was tough to get a good picture showing the whole thing. A couple rods come out and protect the brake caliper. At least somewhat.

Skid plate painted


Skid plate installed


Partial coverage of the brake caliper, mostly the brake hose.


Spindles braced up.


Fire extinguisher with removable mount.


Two hose clamps per side will hold it down.

What kind of speed have you geared for?
I looked through the thread, I could have missed it.