quick disconnect fuel lines?

I think I have settled on a name for my tractor.

BEAST. Or... Basic Emergency Access (and) Supply Tractor.

That said, the reason for building this, is to have transportation up and down a very steep hill that I currently have to travel on foot, carrying supplies in from town.

One problem that I forsee is the times when I have to leave the tractor sitting at the bottom of the hill, while I get a ride into town for supplies.


The problem with that is that it can be vandalized and/or have things stolen from it.

Vandalism, I really can't do anything about. It will be sitting all by it's lonesome and if someone really wants to damage it, they will.


The gas and the battery being the two things most likely to be stolen.

My first thought on the gasoline was to get a locking gas cap. But do they even make locking gas caps for these things? (My tractor is a craftsman 917.252580. And I have the BIG tank that mounts under the seat.)

My second thought is to only put in enough gas to make the trip down. Carry a one gallon gas can with me. Remove the battery when I park the tractor. Then wrap both the battery, and the gas can in individual trash bags, to keep them from leaking or smelling up the car belonging to the person who is graciously giving me a ride. Fill the gas can while in town, and then put that gas and the battery in the tractor when I get back.

Then I got to thinking about gas and vandalism both. There are people here who would put sand or sugar or something into the gas tank just because they get a kick out of vandalizing people's things. So how can I do this in such a way as to minimize the chances of that happening?

My idea, make a gas tank out of that self-same one gallon gas can that I am talking about carrying with me.

So the next thought is... How do I make a quick connect/disconnect system for the tank?

I wonder if I can use standard air compressor quick connect/disconnect fittings?

I have used them for propane before, with no problem. I would assume they will work ok for this.

Thoughts???

You could get those connections they use for the outboard engines boat fuel tanks.

Air connector should work just fine, not sure if the seal or even what kind of seal they use.

most air compressor fittings require pressure behind them to make a seal. some dont even seal WITH pressure, so i would stay away from that. i would look into the marine disconnects like TD was talking about. as far as the battery goes, you can get cables that quick connect. kinda like a plow uses. Doc Sprocket has them on his MULE for jumper cables.

Yeah- I'm not sure how the air fitting thing would go. You could try it, but you're probably better off with marine goodies. Heck- you could even use a portable boat tank.

I LOVE the acronym, I like a well-thought out acronym.

If you were to leave the fuel onboard, you could always make a hinged coverplate over the gas cap that utilizes a hasp and padlock. It doesn't even have to be particularly sculpted or fancy- a simple length of flatbar bent to fit tightly over the cap is all it takes. Tight to the cap, you simply can't unscrew it.

Wow!

Better than I had hoped for! I love a forum that is a good resource! I'll try to give back better than I get!

I'll look into the marine tank ideas. I like the idea of just using a marine tank, complete. But the idea for putting a hasp over the lid of the current tank has a great deal of appeal to me.

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Quick disconnects for the battery are not so difficult to fabricate. And since the tractor itself is carrying me and anything else I want to carry, up and down that hill, I can also bring along my cordless driver/drill. To make any screw/bolt connectsions that much faster and easier.

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There is an air compressor quick disconnect that works a bit differently. The "sleeve" that you pull back on, stays back, when you disconnect the fitting from it. Then when you plug in another fitting, all you have to do, is to shove the new fitting in, and the sleeve pops forward on it's own.

That kind of fitting, if you can find it, will seal against the new fitting, without any air pressure.

Sometimes they get them in the big box stores, but usually they only have the cheapos. So if you find the good ones, grab several. I know I am going to, the next time I see some.

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Well, I got everything put back together far enough now, that it's time to hook up the battery and gas can, and give it a test run down the hill and back up!

Wish me luck!

And thank you to all of you for the responses and advice!

You're welcome- that's why we're here!

Regarding the air fittings (again) they tend to be constructed of fuel-safe materials, with the possible exception of the rubber gasket. Maybe as a test, drop one in some fuel for a week and see if it looks like it's going to become a problem.

Well, I guess it's moot right now.


Got it all put back together. Strapped on a temporary gas tank. Started her up...

And she is stuck in gear again!

I don't understand why.

It was shifting just fiine when I bolted the trans back in. Still shifting fine when the tires were back on, and before I put the seat and fenders back on.

Now I have to take all that back off again, and figure out why it will not shift.


I've got to eat something right now. (Diabetic). But when I have eaten I'll go out and jack up the rear and let the tires spin, to see if it will shift then. But I am not holding much of any hope, because the shifter is stuck solid in one position. It's not like it is just shifting badly, it won't budge in any direction at all.

Can I assume you tried rocking it while attempting to shift? What model is the tranny?

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Can I assume you tried rocking it while attempting to shift? What model is the tranny?

Rolled it back and forth.

Tried shifting while it was driving forward. (Stuck in a forward gear.)

Nothing. That shifter is stuck solid.

Peerless 930.

Okay- so it's not that the shifter moves yet it stays in gear, it's that you just can't move the dang shifter, right?

You've had it open before? Any chance of assembly error? If the shifter moved about, I'd suggest broken shift keys or shift fork misaligned with keys.

In between each spur gear on the shift shaft, is a bevelled or contoured washer. If one were backwards, it might be a problem. Not sure though, never tried that.

my guess would be a bent/broken shift key holding up the works. or like Doc said, the fork could be in the wrong position.

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Okay- so it's not that the shifter moves yet it stays in gear, it's that you just can't move the dang shifter, right?

You've had it open before? Any chance of assembly error? If the shifter moved about, I'd suggest broken shift keys or shift fork misaligned with keys.

In between each spur gear on the shift shaft, is a bevelled or contoured washer. If one were backwards, it might be a problem. Not sure though, never tried that.

Correct.

Yes, I had it open. Cleaned everything. Greased everything as I put it back together. After it was back together... It was shifiting just fine. I could put it in nuetral and spin the pulley by hand. Then put it in any forward gear, or into reverse, and spinning the pulley met resistance. Back into nuetral, and it spun freely again. Etc.

Again, after rebuild, it was shifting just fine. It wasn't until I have everything back together and tried to actually ambulate, that the shifter became stuck.

After putting the wheels back on, and before putting the sheetmetal and seat on... I shifted it into nuetral, and rolled it around a bit. Then into first, and then into reverse, to see if it would roll. It didn't. I put it back into nuetral, and left it that way while I put the rest of the tractor back together. Started it up. Put it into 1st or second. (so close, it was hard to tell. LOL) It started rolling forward when I let out the clutch.

THEN... It wouldn't shift forward or backward at all. It's like the shifter was welded into place in that instant. No clunk. No metal sounds. No funky feeling to the shifter. Etc...


I am wondering about those washers myself.

I am 98% positive that I got them back in there exactly the way they came out. I laid each gear, face down, and it's washer face down under it. That way they were still 'indexed' when I put them back in, one by one.

But to be honest, when looking at the washers, I couldn't see the 'cup' that the manual says is supposed to be faced in one direction. So who knows...

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I don't think that I have broken anything. I intentionally do not force anything like that, beyond a certain point, because there are some small parts at the end of all that leverage.

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You guys are making me rush my lunch! LOL I am anxious to get back out there and see if jacking it up and letting the wheels spin, makes any difference.

Here's another reason this kind of forum is a good thing... It was pretty discouraging to have made the trans work. To have it shifting just fine, every time I tried it... And then to have it lock up like that.

My first thought was that I'd have to take everything all back apart again. Like I said discouraging.

But coming in here and posting about it, and the reactions that are posted... Turns that discouragement into a challenge! And I like a challenge!

Great! I challenge you to open it up again.... Sorry.

I think you may well have to at this point. Any chance the shift linkage is at fault, as opposed to the tranny itself?

Put it up on a milk crate so the tires spin freely.

It shifts nicely.

But... It won't go into reverse. The shift rod will not travel far enough.


Looks like the problem may come when the tractor is on the ground, with my weight on it. Somehow the linkage is misadjusted, and gets even worse, when it is under 'use' conditions.

I'll try adjusting the linkage so that it will travel all the way to reverse. Then it'll be time to set it back on the ground and try again.

Odd, but perhaps on the trail to solution.

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Odd, but perhaps on the trail to solution.

Looks like it is linkage.

I believe what happened is this...

When I removed the trans, I didn't unbolt it from the brackets that hold it to the frame. I took the brackets with. (And then had to remove the two big flat brackets, naturally.)

Putting it back on, I must have moved the trans backward or something. (Effectively lengthening the 'pull' between the bracket and the linkage. It wouldn't take much to make the linkage 'out' by pretty much the amount that I think it is out.)

I think that rather than try to make up for the mistake by going right to adjusting the linkage... I'll get out there and move the entire trans, forward a bit again. You can only do so much adjusting with linkage, and I don't want to lose that adjustability so quickly.

glad you got it sorted out!

To be continued tomorrow.

Got too cold and dark to continue working.

I use a standard on/off fuel line fitting as a quick disconnect when im testing stuff.

I actually use quick disconnects in the liquid cooling loop for my computer, they might work well for your purposes too.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17128/ex-tub-1460/Phobya_Quick_Disconnect_Set_38_ID_x_12_OD_10mm_x_13mm_Compression_Coupler_Bulkead_Version_-_Vintage_Matte_Black_65193.html?tl=g30c405#blank

I'd probably go with hydraulic fittings generally leak proof and for the battery just make up a bracket going across it and a padlock

Moose wrote:

I'd probably go with hydraulic fittings

DUH!   why didnt i think of that

Doc Sprocket wrote:

Can I assume you tried rocking it while attempting to shift? What model is the tranny?

Hi Doc,

I got it sorted well enough that the tractor is now useable. (A combination of moving the trans as much as possible, and then tweaking the sheet metal, as it was reinstalled.)

However... I DO have to "rock' it back and forth, to get it to shift, every once in a while.

Apparently this is a common enough problem/solution that you knew to ask about it.

Can you tell me what is going on, when that is the case?

Personally, while rocking it, works, I feel like that is a less than ideal solution. A band-aid, if you will.

If I can understand why I HAVE to rock it, maybe I can find a solution to the problem. I'd rather fix the problem than go on using a band-aid.


Maybe I should go post this in transmissions...

Eventually I'll put the big tank back on the tractor, and make a hinged cover that I can padlock over the filler neck and cap.

For now, I am going to use the following fittings to make a protable cas tank out of an ordinary one gallon gas can.

That way I can just disconnect the 'tank', and take it with me when I go to town.



The reason for two fittings is that I am not going to make a hole in the can. I am just going to put the fittings through the cap.

I have an electric fuel pump on my tractor. So the fitting inside will have enough hose to reach to the bottom of the can. The fitting on the outside is self explanatory. I'll rig it with the shut off valve as a way to seal it closed when I remove it from the tractor.

Good thinking. Do you have a spare cap? If you do, you can leave the whole works onboard the tractor by simply unscrewing the cap, then putting the spare on the jerry can for transport?