Mower campout/ride this fall, My house? Phoenix Offroad?

If all goes well with some house projects Im gonna try to sneak over saturday to do some trail scouting on my bike

oh cool we should meet up!

I mean this saturday lol but we could possibly meet up saturday before the ride, I live 40 minutes from Tecumseh trails, might be able to come ride some of my trails on saturday if you want?

Got my carb swapped I'm ready

Sweet!

Yes Ol Red is basically ready too.  I will be around on Saturday(the 27th) and I'd like like to check out the tecemseh trails before Sunday if you're interested@"Creepycrawler"

No promises on Saturday, at Tecumseh, but maybe, Ill see what I can do.

getting close guys, Im getting pumped!

me too!  I need to make a box with some spare parts and track down a spare belt.  My local TSC is out of stock of course.

Hey Carl now the morons are coming down Saturday 10 to 2 to ride at Techumseh, you gonna come with?

OH YEAH!!!!

What a day this was.
Stem of the most sloppiest no traction conditions I think I've ever seen. We did a lot of pushing and pulling and put the tractors and our riding abilities to the test. I think a drag radial on Ice would have gotten better traction than the tires are out on the back of my tractor did yesterday. We had nine tractors in all. We have two first-timers that we're really not prepared tractor wise but we managed we spend some time working on their stuff and getting them over obstacles the rest of us made without issues but now they know what they need to do and hopefully they will be more than ready for the next time.
Had some minor issues on one other tractor.

Slickness was definitely our enemy

Any pointers for those of us still trail green?

Lock your trans
Make sure engine runs correctly
Make sure your belt stays on and clutch works properly

donaldcon wrote:

Lock your trans
Make sure engine runs correctly
Make sure your belt stays on and clutch works properly

Sounds like I will be good.  Also like @crazy_carl mentioned with his wheel falling off to check lug nuts and wheel bolts. 

Also practice clutch work on hills, we didn’t have a issue at all this ride but we have had before, hills are very tricky on mowers and it helps to be very comfortable with clutch work before hand. Personally I think the best way to practice is find a small hill and practice riding wheelies up it, that way you find the balance point Of your machine. Also good brakes. Crappy brakes bit me in the ass this ride, made out 3/4 way up a big hill and spun out, no big deal hit the clutch and brakes, but the brakes were completely gone from all the mud, so I started rolling backward fast, tryed to ease out on the clutch to slow down but I must have popped it because back over I went. All could have been easily avoided if my brakes we working. Good brakes are now number 1 on my list of upgrades

On a hardcore ride like this one it's really all about the basics (strong locked rear end, aggressive tires, brakes, clutch, belt system, properly torqued fasteners, and riding skill).  

This was one epic ride by the way.  This was the second favorite trip I've ever taken in my life.  It was so much fun riding trails that are for atvs and side by sides.  The conditions were wet and greasy and the hills were steep.  It was very challenging but this is a great group of guys to ride with.  @Creepycrawler would lead, get through an obstacle, then get off his tractor to help push or pull the guys coming behind him (I have this on video).  We got a lot of looks from the guys in side by sides.  One guy even called us the real heroes as I recall.  And at the end of the day I got to have a and talk shop with @Creepycrawler and @redzz02!  What a dream come true.

Now that I've been officaially broken in I'm looking more forward to Haspin next year and more group rides.

Nice write-up.  I too, am hoping to see Haspin next year. If all goes to plan and what you guys have described here.  I would more than likely bring Kal (what I would anyways)  I might bring Li'l Red too, but the brakes on it are not the best.  I've always mentioned how poor they were.  I really enjoy the "First timer" posts on their first off road adventure.  To them, what was lacked and needed is fresh and more impressionable.

Bring Lil' red too!  Creepycrawler had a belt idler issue with Rusty so he switched early on to the AMF on day 2 and did all the hardcore wheeling with that.  A spare tractor on a trip is a good idea.

There was a young kid with us named Lucky.  He had an 8 speed wheel horse with an open diff and a 6.5hp predator. His tractor is in rough shape now but it's the perfect starting point for a project.  Good kid though.  Tom took a video of him tossing his phone aside in the mud to help pull my tractor up a hill.  My tools came in handy more than once to tighten his motor down.  He only had two bolts and they kept coming loose.  The screw holding the pivot point for his shifter was either broken or missing so he had a tough time shifting and no recoil either, just a pull rope, but he had a good never give up attitude and kept pushing on.   The learning experience he gained is priceless.