MTD off-road build (Mobile Terrain Dominator) "2"

Well I haven't done my gussets yet, we had to get a load of wood and when we got back I just felt like wheeling so that's what I did, haha.

Loving the new engine for sure! Changed the oil and filter last night 'cuz it smelled fairly old. Should be a bit happier with some fresh stuff in 'er now.



Maybe I'll drag the old welder out and get a couple little gussets made here in the next hour or so, haha.

Diff lock plans???

Well in these muddy conditions the last thing I want to be doing is playing with transaxle parts outside, haha.

But anyway I got my simple little gussets done.







Should be pretty secure now. Gonna have to hook on to something and try it out sometime maybe, haha.

Awesome AK. Looks great.

Thanks mighty!

I took a couple neat looking pictures right before I put 'er away too.





Definitely had some fun with it today, haha.

Man, love that sun coloring!

Yeah it definitely looks pretty cool.

Looks pretty good. When ya gonna paint those rims?

I never did put a new oil filter on mutt. No telling how old the one on it is...

Thanks Rich! To be honest I don't know why I didn't paint the rims when I did the rest of the tractor, haha. I'll probably clean 'em up and give 'em a coat of black in the summer or something.

Sooo, bit of a suspension revamp today. Basically I wanted to inprove my 3-link setup because there were a few things about it that I didn't like.

The Plan:

-New and lower outer 3-link bar axle mounts
-New and higher center link axle mount
-New adjustable center link
-New center link frame mount.

So I got the axle out and in the vise, and started cutting the old mounts off.



The new mounts welded lower on the axle and gusseted.



Upper mount for the center link fairly high up on the axle.



Starting to get the axle mounted up again!



I used a rear sway bar link for the center link. I made a wrist for it so it could pivot when the front axle flexes.





The finished center link.



The rear joint is adjustable so I can set my axle caster, which is nice.

Test drive went great! I went bumping through tractor ruts and stuff and never broke/bent anything, so hopefully it's pretty solid.

Put it up on the ramp to check clearances and stuff.







Everything looks good! Nothing binding, hitting, bending, etc.

Back on flat ground and everything still looks fine.





Sweet deal! I'm much happier with this setup. I might drop the outer 3-link bar frame brackets down a bit just so the outer link bars are a bit more level, but we'll see. Other than that I'm pretty happy with it! Let me know what ya think!

New geometry looks good. Did you do anything with your track bar?

Looks good, complicated. 

Crazy_Carl wrote:

New geometry looks good.  Did you do anything with your track bar?

Thanks Carl! The track bar and mounts are still the same, it works pretty great so I just left it alone, haha.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Looks good, complicated. 

Thanks W, haha yeah there is quite a bit going on under there, but it's pretty simple stuff.

Nice 3 link upgrade. You were wanting adjustable!

Thanks mighty! Haha yeah, having all three of the link bars adjustable now will be pretty handy.

Looks awesome! Are you planning to eventually genius up some rear suspension?

Thanks man! Haha, I have thought about how to rig it up, but I doubt I've ever attempt it on this rig. Maybe on a future project.

So I remembered that list I made for this ol' girl a while ago back in my other thread. Figured I'd update it, just because. Some things I have decided against, some changed because of the new engine but most of them I actually did! Haha



So here's the updated list:

-Mount new tires
-Re-do bumper
-Steering shaft support
-Improve shifter and possibly a shifer gate
-Finish foot throttle
-Battery hold down
-Scrap axle locator and make a track rod
-New tie-rod ends
-Mount tie rod on top of steering arms for more ground clearance
-Paint a couple of things
-Strengthen foot thottle a bit
-Possibly level out my outter 3-link bars
-Rear and possibly front skidplates
-Raise fuel tank slighty (Hitting steering shaft U-joint)

I crossed out the things I accomplished, and it's nit looking too bad now! Haha. I'll probably slowly work away at the remaining stuff as it's mostly just little imrovements, but I might think of more too so we'll see haha.

The MTD has been a very enjoyable thread. Keep it up!

Well thanks mighty! It's ways nice to hear stuff like that, she sure has been a fun project so far.

I used to make lists like that, then I realized work on a modified mower is never done

Lists are good to give yourself a sense of accomplishment lol.

I'm looking forward to the skidplates

Thanks Rich, hopefully I'll get to them soon. The rear one is probably more important really. The front axle can probably take more abuse than the cast aluminum transaxle case, haha.

Eh you’ve got a backup, it’ll be fine

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Lists are good to give yourself a sense of accomplishment lol.

I'm looking forward to the skidplates

I could not agree more!

Skidplates are great. Always a comfort hearing rocks bounce off a piece of steel you don't care about rather than that expensive, brittle piece of cast aluminum.