Mr.Modified's Simplicity Adventure Edition [2016 Build-Off Finalist]

Here's part one of the New York state run. This one is the initial attempt to get down the edge of the water. I could have kept going and probably found a way through but I didn't want to hack through brush on some people's property. Part two will have more of the action shots and less talking. I didn't bother to get all the video in sequence on the road run to the gas station. I just took video where I could. Mostly off road just past the gas station.

Nice journey, totally cool trail ride.

Thanks. Would have been nice to get down the edge a bit more but not a huge deal. I ended up with a lot more nice footage once I got down closer to the dam where there is more beach area.

Here's a screen shot from the footage I'm still editing. There were some rows of stones in the ground with a nice long run up to them. I was able to get up some speed and jump over them a couple times for the video.

That's a really awesome shot!!

Too bad it cut the top of your helmet off a bit, would've made for a great Simplicity Racing Team logo! Haha.

Pretty awesome!

Thanks! And yeah that one the camera angle was just a little close.

Good news is, there was this big pipe going under the road with a lot of water flowing out of it going into the reservoir. ATV's had been crossing over some rocks where the water comes out of the pipe. I thought at first going through my footage that I forgot to get it on the go pro when I went through but turns out I did get it. Found the clip when I was editing last night. There was a lot of interesting spots around there.

Part 2. I think this is the better video footage. You can see the cool water crossing at 5:06.
Still have a little bit more footage to use. I think I can do one more video which might be shorter.
I think the suspension shot turned out decent. You can see how much work the suspension actually does and how much it really helps out.

Took the simplicity to an engine show/swap meet in Bangor PA with the passenger trailer. Saved some walking. Found a tripod for my video camera for $1 but no super engine deals or tractors that I wanted to buy.

Looks like a fun way to show off the ol girl

How many strange looks and questions did ya get? Nice practical use of the tractor though, much cooler than an average golf cart

Thanks. Some people looked but not so many strange looks. A lot of people ride around with lawn tractors up there. Not too many modified that much but still. Worked out pretty good though. I was always going to bring it there.

This is the last of my trip video where I check out some area upstream of where all the other video was taken. Couple of small streams and things to cross. I had to upload it a bunch of times to get the audio and everything to work right. For some reason parts of it weren't loading. Then the original audio was completely gone. Now I think it's finally working right.

it wont let me access it ! says it is private.

I'm also having trouble acessing the link. Was the video already up on your channel because in that case I have seen it.

Jeez. Ok now it should be set to public. Thought I had switched it before but I must not have hit save. Yeah that's the same one I had up before, just had issues with the audio being correct so I kept trying to fix it. Had to delete it a couple times. Some videos upload with no problem, then some just keep getting messed up over and over. Just annoyed me so I kept re-uploading. Should be ok now though.

I wanted the original audio cut down enough to be able to hear me talking. The first time, everything was right but the video stopped at about 3/4 through and the audio kept going. Tried uploading again and the original audio was gone, but my talking was still there. Turned the original audio up a bit because I thought maybe it worked a bit different on youtube than what I could hear editing. Original audio was then too loud... Set it back how I had it and tried again. Upload failed because it was a duplicate video. Deleted everything. Uploaded again. Finally got it to work.

Just turned into a "This is happening period" kinda thing lol. Total waste of time though, I would think it would just work the first time.

mr.modified wrote:

Thanks. Some people looked but not so many strange looks. A lot of people ride around with lawn tractors up there. Not too many modified that much but still. Worked out pretty good though. I was always going to bring it there.

haha I saw your tractor there, I was like I recognize that. It was a pretty good show, I bought some 26" tires from this guy I buy cub parts from & a bunch of junk.

Oh nice. You should have flagged me down. That show has gotten quite a bit bigger in the last 10 years or so. Usually some decent stuff there.

Another long adventure run logged with no problems.


A couple of road sections were nessesary. One tail light bulb out as usual. One of these days I should convert to LED.


Under interstate 78 where it crosses the delaware river.


Graffiti on one of the bridge piers.


More graffiti on part of what used to be a building.


Rock cut where the railroad used to run through.


Same location looking the other way. There used to be two tracks through here.


Same location, probably taken back in the 1940's


A signal tower right in front of the now abandoned Lehigh Valley railroad bridge. Last used around 1975 or 76.
About the same time the simplicity was built. (Edit: I made a mistake, found out the line was used into the 80's)


This picture from March 13th 1976 shows the signal tower in the background with the train passing under it. The area
to the right of the train is now mostly grown up with trees and vegetation. Part of it is a small park and skate park.
The hill sticking up out of no where to the far right of the pic is where I rode the tractor through the rock cut. It goes
right through the middle of that hill.


Along the delaware river

pretty cool, any idea on mileage?

Couple of really awesome shots there mr.mod, thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot. For mileage, I would guess it's about 6 miles one way. That's probably close. Based on the last couple of longer runs I made, I think I can get 20 miles out of a tank of fuel fairly easy. Should be able to make it that far anyway. The 633a keeps throwing oil out. Before I made the new york state run along the reservoir, I had it topped up to the top of the fill plug. Haven't checked it since but it keeps throwing it out on these long runs. I looked down the one time and it was slowly bubbling up around the shifter. I don't think it's a big issue but it just makes a mess. I thought once it got down a bit that it wouldn't leak as much but maybe it's the way the gears carry it up to the shifter. Don't know.

As far as vibration and all that, it's not too bad on a long run. I keep it mostly wide open and it rolls along pretty good in high gear. 15-18mph is enough where you can cover some ground and you don't feel like it's taking forever to get somewhere. I'm limited where I can go without getting caught once I get to the area where I took the pic of the signal bridge. I'm thinking a cross indiana run on back roads would be pretty cool though if the engine held up. Maybe a trans oil cooler would help on really long runs. Or just have a tank with cooling water and let some run over the case now and then. Or possibly an electric cooling fan or something under the frame...

Do you have the trans vented? Lots of cool pics there! How long did it take you? Did you run it both ways or was it a big circle back to the starting point?

The trans is not vented no. At least I didn't add any extra vent. I didn't think the shifter was sealed up as good as it is, but apparently it's fairly well sealed. I was out for about 3 hours maybe today? But I could have covered the distance in about an hour if I didn't stop. A couple times I stopped to talk to some atv and dirt bike riders and I also stopped for the pics and to check some things out. It was mostly a straight line run following the old railroad line but on the way back home I took a different route on the back roads by cutting up through the woods.

I think once reading anthracite (Off road park I go to) opens back up again I'll trailer it out there and run around some with it. There's a lot of nice terrain there that would be pretty nice for a tractor. Could get some decent pics too. I have a yearly pass and your supposed to have atv's registered but I don't think they would get too upset about the tractor. At some point I would like to get a plate for it though just for the heck of it.

The steering is getting a bit worn too so pretty soon it would be good to patch that up a little. It's fine for in the woods but more noticeable and annoying for long distance running.

You may want to vent it. I didn't think my vent tube would make much of a difference, and I'm still not sure just how much it's changed things, but there's enough pressure building in it to push a tiny bit of oil out of the top of the tube and onto the body. They've gotta build some pretty good pressure to do that.

The newer version of the 633a (can't remember the name) the one that came with my GT18 Craftsman has a release valve for pressure built into the top right side (input side) of the trans.