Hillbilly Offroading's "Mud Stompin Wards" Montgomery Ward Mud Mower [2020 Build-Off Entry] [Finalist] [Winner]

Excellent.  Only thing missing in your video was killing it without touching the engine.  I have followed your video's and FB updates so I know that it passes for that.  Great Job!  See you in the vote!

MightyRaze wrote:

Excellent.  Only thing missing in your video was killing it without touching the engine.  I have followed your video's and FB updates so I know that it passes for that.  Great Job!  See you in the vote!

Thank you. Well that didn't cross my mind to throw that in there.

[adm]Opened for build continuation.[/adm]

I appreciate it @MightyRaze. Its much nicer to be able to add on to the original thread then to create a new one and link the original to it. I know yall weren't doing it last year.

Hillbilly Offroading wrote:

I appreciate it @MightyRaze. Its much nicer to be able to add on to the original thread then to create a new one and link the original to it. I know yall weren't doing it last year.

Better understanding of the forum.  You can also find a link to this topic in the
Build-Off Competition :: Build-Off Archives :: 2020 Archive :: Finalist Archive still.  

I'm still learning the forum after 2.5 years. I'll see if I can find what your referring to.

Here's the latest 3 videos that was uploaded after the Build-Off Deadline.

It's no big, just that this topic has 2 shortcuts.  :-)

MightyRaze wrote:

It's no big, just that this topic has 2 shortcuts.  :-)

I see that now.

Last Saturday well evening before my New Muffler came in then the next morning we hit the woods up. I got barbed wire in mine tire I think [can't find the leak after submerging the tire in water] and sister blew the bead on hers. Lol! Burnt the belt up on mine trying to recover hers. Things have already started to change.

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I've decided to rip out my first seat suspension setup yhat I bent and bought these Sears 10/8 6" Springs. OMG there so comfortable. Yes it lifted my seat up 3.5" but now I'm able to raise my fenders to clear the tires better and now I have room to install my rear atv rack. The issue I ran in to before was the vamps were taller than the fenders and the seat sat lower then the top of fenders. The rack couldn't be ran under the seat and made the rack had to be hanging of the back of the ward pretty far. Just didn't look rights. Now as it sits it will go under the seat no problems.

Nice!  Sticker looks huge there.  LOL

MightyRaze wrote:

Nice!  Sticker looks huge there.  LOL

I'm not a fan of stickers on a tractor due to the fact of having to paint later down the road but them stickers were a perfect fit. That blue area is the original sticker on the tractor i painted over.

Sneak Peak ?

ew, muffler

It's already time for a make over on the '72 Montgomery Ward. After 25 days since I got built and running for the 2020 Atltf Build-Off I'm not fully pleased with it. Theres some things with appearance and functional things that need to be upgraded, fixed or redesign. As it sits its been ready to go riding but I was having some clutch issues. There solved but I lost a good bit of wheel speed its in for a redesign. Heres the plans. The list keeps going. Some happening now that won't take any . Some later this year and some with be later down the road. Let me know your thoughts and what you may or may not like. I'm open for ideas. Playlist of all the videos leading to this point https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL38WkMNv4-mOUjQIc3sTCfxzWELW97Vp_

#1 6" Sear 10/8 GT Seat Spring Upgraded.

#2 Remove the 7.5"x14" Rear Rack I Built.

#3 Install 37"x19" ATV Rack. Will be 8" higher then the existing one so its above the fenders and tires.

#4 Drill multiple level holes in the fenders to clear the 27" vamps better & make adjustable to the tire hight that id be running when ever 25"-30".

#5 Trim 1.5" off back side of foot boards I built to clear 30s in the future.

#6 Cover foot boards in bed liner and spary paint blue over them for scratch resistance.

#7 Lengthen the Shifter & Parking Brake Arms.

#8 Custom Piston Shifter.

#9 Kick the Rear Stance out little wider - 43" now to 45" or 46". When I'm done with it the seat gonna be about 6" higher then what it is in this picture.

#10 Bead Locks front and rear. Believe i have materials.

#11 Lengthen Sheering Shaft for steer wheel it sit higher

#12 Clutch arm piviot point will be moved back to be able to run a 5", 5.5", or hopefully a 6". Running a 4" now.

#13 Transaxle has been upgraded from a 2.5 to a 3" to be able to run a ⅝ belt. If I can run something larger on the gear box this Pulley will go up in size for slippage issues. Right now with the 3" it will actually pop wheelies before it wouldn't. Yes it does way because in the mud hole. Lol!

#14 Cut hood in half where the grill meets the hood. Solid mount the grill & weld 2 door hinges flip up and have a kick to hold hood up.

#15 Lock Peerless 2300

#16 Id like to find a sheet of polished aluminum for dash. Really cleans a build up.

#17 Steering Stops and pivot lock.

#18 Searching for a Vanguard or Command but I probably won't find one so I'll be dropping in a 16hp Cast Iron Briggs with a few mods done to it.

#19 Exhaust system.

#20 Slide the axle forward 4"-6" to be able to clear my 22s all the way and larger tires later down the road. Right now at full articulation I can not turn the tires much with out hitting foot boards. Stretching will require me to cut the frame in front of the engine block. On my parts tractor I will cut the frame behind the engine block and it should work. The pivot point for the axle it actually part of the cast iron oil pan so I'm gonna need the oil pan and frame rails from the other tractor to stretch mine. That being said the axle will be at the very front of tractor but not passed the hood. Ill have about 6"-8" of frame past the front of the tractor to actually mount the winch to the frame instead of a bolt on winch bumper like I have now. Its gonna be interesting to see how this all turns out. This will be on hold for awhile so it doesn't screw the year up with riding with a group of guys NW of me in Ohio.

So far the rear rack has been taken off. Theres a size comparison photo in there of the new one. Need to mount it soon. I've raised the fenders 1.5" to clear the vamps better. Center tread was taller then the fenders so once in a while they rubbed. Got tired of my knuckles getting busted up by the tires when I would go to grab the weed handles. Too many vlose calls of fingers getting caught up underneath. Id like to keep all 10 digits. I went ahead and drilled holes at the 2.5" level for 30s later down the road. Cut off a little more then a inch off the back of the foot boards. Shouldn't have any issues running something taller later down the road. I pulled the 16hp briggs out of the parts tractor to get a better look of the frame for the stretch. Should be a pice of cake. Moving that cake to the front of the frame should allow me to run a set of 24x9x10 vampires like I originally planned. Have to begin searching for a set again. Next topic I'll talk about the new motor that's getting swapped in.

Welp this is disappointing. Last night i was cleaning up the lower drive way preparing for the snow storm and i completely for got to go down to the scrap pile in the wood to gather up material to mount the rear rack. 9 inches at the moment and still dumping. Calling for up to 14". Thats gonna set me back a few days. On the other hand the trans has been pulled and dropped off at @redzz02 to get locked along with the Southern States MST206 & Jacobsen Homelite's 820. Big thanks to him for taking the the time to lock them and loading me up with some stickers i wasn't expecting. Figured let someone that knows what there doing lock them and experiment with a junk trans just incase I screw something up. Lol! Yes you'll never learn until you try. Trial-and-error but there no way im taking a chance with a good trans. With the with the rear end being locked and trying to turn these tires the clutch is gonna need some mager work. Both pulleys are needing to be bumped up to a 5" to 4" or 6" to 4". Currently a 4" to 3". Clutch piviot point needs moved back to clear something larger on the gear box to raise the trans size up for slippage issues.

I decided to junk the 6" springs even though it was like riding on a cloud. Tractor was super tippy feeling riding in the woods on unlevel ground and running it fast around turns. 30" seat height is way better then 36". Getting the center of gravity down it key. Now instead of the rack being under the seat I gotta work it around the seat. At least the steering wheel and shifter know doesn't need lengthen. Whats yalls seat height set at? Seat got painted black as well. Didn't need to have a billboard on the back of my tractor for somebody to drive by my house see it then proceed to look the channel up and see what all we own if you know what I mean.

Just scored some new and used tires this evening. You can't beat $5 each. He had so many more but I only care for running 11" or wider on the back and the 24s for 11" rim wasn't too appealing. Time to paint the 12" [Sears Killer] rims and mount them up tomorrow for the Wards.

3) 25x11x12 Carlisle AT489s ½" or Better Tread
2) 25x8x12 Dunlop KT121 Like Brand New

Man what a blast the other day. I've never opened this tractor up like this before. Might just rip that governor out and take it up a little more. I was always skittish to open it up because of binding the steering up with the tires hitting or flipping this tractor from the open diff. The woods aren't flat. Welded me in some steering stops and got a buddy to lock the diff up posi. I blew a bead with a inner tube in the tire. Interesting because you people say it cant happen . Kept poping out of 3rd gear. I knew the 3rd gear was warn fown or something from the little bit ive rode it the end of last year beginning of this year but i only noticed it would happen once in awhile going up hills.

After 3 hours of riding it yesterday it was happening quite a bit going up hills or in the mud hole. With the extra 500 rpms and a different pulley swap I was actually able to do most of everything in 3rd unlike before where it was nothing butt 2nd. Not the best shots but hey got some air from jumping a dirt mound and hit some roots in my 12-14" ruts. Got the fronts up above the ruts in the 16-18" range.. After nothing went wrong I just had to go back for more. Lost alot of steering with the steering stops but atleast with full articulation I can turn the steering wheel all the way with no binding. Yes monster belt slipage issues do to clutch dumping close to 30 times in the drive way trying to get footage and the SD card kept corrupting everything. How does a ⅝" belt stretch from 30" to 31" after some clutch dumps? Got some footage heading your way soon.

Bought a 30mm flat slide carb for the old wards. Test fitted if on parts tractor. Sticks out farther then what I was wanting. Already planned to snorkel it but the motor, gas tank, and battery are basically the same with has the hood and to tight to actually pipe it under the hood so not sure what exactly I'm gonna do. Carb bolt pattern isn't as wide as I'd like which is just great.

@Mightyraze noticed this today that his and mine wasn't switched over. Lol