2055 White resto modding “White Lightning”

HVLP guns are the bomb! I think everyone needs one. Easier to use, easier to clean. Just need a good regulator setup.

Everybody has their screw ups with paint... me and my boss got into a fight with an ancient rattle can the other day, and when I sprayed my horizontal mill there was so much overspray that just about everything in my shop was coated. Well, still is. I can still tell what tools were out and where they were on the floor that day....

Agreed! Definitely so much easier than a pressure pot. And anything beats a spray can hands down.

Decided since I’m going to be wet sanding this instead of buffing it I’ll put a cheap clear coat over it with some blue flake in it. Difficult? Probably. But, I think it’ll look cool so I’ll try it once it gets warm out sometime between the next 3 to never months lol

Just wanted to let everybody know that if progress seems slow it’s because I’m dealing with my own “high quality people” situation like another member on this forum, so my ability to work on hobbies is limited now. Hope to get back into the swing of things in a few weeks though!

Tractor stuff wise I looked at the paint again today and it’s definitely saveable. I’ll let it cure for a couple weeks and wet sand.

I hear ya man.  As another guy that has dealt with "high quality people" myself about 11 years ago.  I hope things turn out well.  Take your time.  No timer on it now. 

@Rustbucket Garage hello! Totally new to the forum as well as tractors in general. You have a very similar set up to mine and I was hoping you could help answer some questions about the snow thrower attachment. I was gifted a White GT-2055 by my FIL and took the mower deck off to attach the snow thrower, however I seem to be missing the "index bracket" shown in thr attachment. I have been totally unable to locate a replacement for this part, but FIL says it should be there as it was needed for the mower deck. I believe this is the only thing missing - the thrower turns and seems to work fine but doesn't lift up and down. Thank you for your help!

Welcome to the ATLTF @NewTractor6184!

Are these bars welded together (red circle) or are they supposed to be connected at the ends (yellow arrows)?

If the index bar is required which I'll assume it is because it's mentioned in the manual as you've shown it would be pretty darn easy to make which is nice!

Hopefully @Rustbucket Garage doesn't make you wait too long for a proper answer! Lol

@Brianator Thanks for your reply! Yes, the yellow arrows can/should be connected.

Great idea, if I can't find the part, if I had the exact specs of the index bracket I could attempt to have it made! Thank you.

NewTractor6184 wrote:

@Rustbucket Garage hello! Totally new to the forum as well as tractors in general. You have a very similar set up to mine and I was hoping you could help answer some questions about the snow thrower attachment. I was gifted a White GT-2055 by my FIL and took the mower deck off to attach the snow thrower, however I seem to be missing the "index bracket" shown in thr attachment. I have been totally unable to locate a replacement for this part, but FIL says it should be there as it was needed for the mower deck. I believe this is the only thing missing - the thrower turns and seems to work fine but doesn't lift up and down. Thank you for your help!
Welcome to the forum! That is a very nice 2055 there. She'll serve you quite well! I'm jealous of the suspension seat

The index bracket shouldn't be an issue, that does help a bit to prevent sway in the blower, but the reason they have them is to provide a height adjustment for the mower decks. You should be ok to run without it, and if it's a concern a simple piece of flat stock drilled with a 1/2 hole and a 3/8 pin hole at the bottom should work well. If you'd like I can get some measurements here for ya.

In terms of the blower not lifting, are you able to get pressure at the cylinder? The design of these is not great because they don't lift much at all once the support shaft wears into the lift a bit. Mine in stock form right now gets about 2 inches at the max lift. I plan to replace the bizarre lift shafts MTD used with a simple bar that runs straight up to the cross shaft. I have a picture somewheres, as soon as my phone is working tomorrow I'll put it up for ya!

If you don't have lifting power at the ram, check the valve body and make sure the blower frame didn't bend the valve body bracket. I had that happen and it wouldn't move up because the lever wouldn't get enough clearance with the tunnel cover. Beyond that, the valve itself may just need adjustment- I'm not an expert but the manual covers that a little bit there.

Here's an owner's manual that's really saved my tail once or twice

@Rustbucket Garage Thanks for the info, I will get out there and check it out. If you have pics of your set up that would be great - this being the first time I put it all together (and without the manual at the time), I'd appreciate it. Thanks for sending that link over for the manual, definitely answered a few questions. And, measurements for the index bracket would be great, i'll have it ready for when I swap back to the mower deck.

Sorry for the wait @NewTractor6184! I was in the barn today but forgot my phone… whoops. I will get out tomorrow afternoon there for ya.

Got the transmission pulled today… what a chore that was. These shaft drive trannys are so heavy! Pulled the rims off and tried to use the prybar and hammer trick to get the hubs off but no dice. I’ll borrow a puller here soon and take them off, and then we can tear this puppy down for rebuild!

Well I got some time to go and putter today. Painted my brake caliper and wheel spacers and tranny brackets ferd blew fer MOAR POWAR!!! lol.

Here she is lookin’ mighty empty on the tail end:


@NewTractor6184 the bracket you were asking about is 7 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide, and 1/8 inch thick. The mounting hole is 5/8 from the top to the center of the bore, and is 1/2 diameter. There are 6 3/8 adjustment holes at the other end, the first centered 1/2 above the bottom, then 1 1/16, followed by, 1 5/8, 2 5/16, 2 15/16, and 3 9/16. Hope that helps ya bud! I’m not the best at describing these things so if you’d like I’ll try and make a blueprint tomorrow. If you want to make one or three you’ll only need the top mounting bolt hole and the very bottom unless you want to use the deck.

Oh, here’s the tranny all pulled out and looking grimy:

The brake caliper is made by the Airheart company. Never heard of em, I’ll be putting detective google on the chase later.

The Trans-a-mission (As Johnny Cash puts it) is torn down completely. Surprisingly the gears were PRISTINE inside! No chipped teeth, no abnormal wear, practically better than the set I bought. Axle seals were trashed though so that may be a part of the issue with the air and all. Axle shafts are painted, so I just need to clean the cases, get some new hardware, and we're good to go! (Just like that song, going one piece at a time.

Body update: Tried to wetsand the silver panels. I didn't know that wetsanding SS metallics is a very bad idea, so now the paint is in severe need of either some touch ups or a complete repaint. Here's what I'm thinking:

- Do a second coat of silver, then clear with some blue pearl OR

- Shoot the panels with the stock grey I bought OR

- Do em all blue to match the new hood. What do y'all think?

I plan to do an "electric boogaloo" of the buildoff entry also once I get my lazy self around to making a sign and taking a picture.

Silver with blue pearl clearcoat gets my vote that would look awesome!

I might also mix some of the aluminum into the grey. Be a neat effect, but I find spraying these metallics to be difficult. Dunno.

So been thinking steer tires a little today. I found it’s the same price for ATV tires as the turfs I was going to stick with.

Here’s what I’m considering between:

Or the turf master lug style turfs.

ATV tire Pros/cons:

Pros:

-6 ply
-aggressive tread which will be nice in snow
-look cool

Cons:
-Probably will wear out quicker because of the lesser tread contact
-all that exposed space will make them more vulnerable to punctures

Turfs:

Pros:
-Decent enough on the steer axle in snow, not amazing either
-4ply still isn’t something to sneeze at
-probably will last a good long while because of the tread blocking
-pretty hard to puncture because of how little of the tire isn’t covered by tread (I’m concerned primarily about small splinters of wood as I ride in the woods a lot

Cons:
- skid on ice or when the blower sucks in
-seem to dry rot a lot quicker than atv tires for some reason (atv tires seem to not weather check for about 10 years
-Don’t look as cool


What do y’all think?

I own the A003 (on The Warhorse) and to be honest, they're pretty darn good and dig in really well but they're not as good as the A015s (that you can view on the front of the Trailblazer),  I almost bought the top ones (A033) but obviously didn't.  Lol

So you know, aggressive tires don't always do well in snow or mud, the Kenda Turf Boss' that came on the Mud Duck floated on the snow and would get that heavy tractor through all of it but the aggressive Dunlop ATV tires just dug down and I was getting stuck constantly. Lol.

Do you want or need to go with the 18-19 inch tall tire on the front? Are your stock tires 16x6.5x8? If you wanted something more stock sized but get great grip. I'll throw in maybe Carlisle XTrac.



I used to have them on the front of Li'L Red but my rear engine rider stole them from it before I went to the taller 19 inch for off-roading.

MightyRaze wrote:

Do you want or need to go with the 18-19 inch tall tire on the front?  Are your stock tires 16x6.5x8?  If you wanted something more stock sized but get great grip.  I'll throw in maybe  Carlisle XTrac.



I used to have them on the front of Li'L Red but my rear engine rider stole them from it before I went to the taller 19 inch for off-roading.

Mine stock are 18x6.50-8s, so the size difference isn’t much. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

MightyRaze wrote:

Do you want or need to go with the 18-19 inch tall tire on the front?  Are your stock tires 16x6.5x8?  If you wanted something more stock sized but get great grip.  I'll throw in maybe  Carlisle XTrac.



I used to have them on the front of Li'L Red but my rear engine rider stole them from it before I went to the taller 19 inch for off-roading.

Mine stock are 18x6.50-8s, so the size difference isn’t much. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Wow!  Didn't realize they came with taller tires!

Yeah. Finding tires has been a pain for this. I’m switching to 12 inch rims on the back for that reason.

Brianator wrote:

I own the A003 (on The Warhorse) and to be honest, they're pretty darn good and dig in really well but they're not as good as the A015s (that you can view on the front of the Trailblazer),  I almost bought the top ones (A033) but obviously didn't.  Lol

So you know,  aggressive tires don't always do well in snow or mud, the Kenda Turf Boss' that came on the Mud Duck floated on the snow and would get that heavy tractor through all of it  but the aggressive Dunlop ATV tires just dug down and I was getting stuck constantly. Lol.

I was looking at the A015s and it seems that the tires are 2 ply side wall and 2 ply tread and rated at only 200 lbs each: Not sure how well they’ll hold up to wood chips but they seem like really nice tires otherwise. How are you liking them?

Interesting.  Not noticed that before.  They say "6 ply rating" on the tire, but right beside that like you said. Tread and Sidewall: 2 plies Nylon each.  I guess they are saying those 2 plies are rated at 6.

As for how tough they may be.  I have A021's for Dirty Rat.  They are rated the same as the A015.  They have taken some poking stumps, sharp rocks, and sticks.  I have punctured one of them, but it was from a 2-inch needle from a tree to puncture.



I can say they are pretty soft.

I'm almost leaning towards those turfs because they're rated at 440 lbs each at 20 psi. Definitely shouldn't have any issues with load on those.

I'm loving the a015s, really grippy and smooth tires but ya the load rating isn't the best for a really heavy tractor like yours BUT I did run the A003s on the front of the Mud Duck for bit with no issues and it's not light! I've had no issues with either sets, I've been through alot of clear cut forest with tons of debris, hopping logs, clipping stumps on the sides of the trails, driving over any tree branches in my path and all sorts of other rough stuff without a single failure.

Keep in mind all of the tires mentioned recently are of the same 2 ply architecture with a 6 ply rating which although implies the number of plies actually doesn't, it's more of a load rating.

It's starting to sound like the Carlisle Turf Masters are the tires for you!  Available in 18x6.5-8 with a 760lb load rating @ 28psi and a more aggressive tread pattern than the Turf Savers.  Plus you can get their larger counterparts (MultiTracs) in 27x10-15 to match the rears... won't be cheap but you won't need new rear wheels and shouldn't have to replace them anytime soon if ever!

She now hasn’t moved under her own power in over a year.
Poor girl.

I did clean up the shop a little bit today and did a small amount of degreasing on the transaxle housing. I hope I get around to working on her as soon as I can find the motivation to do so. Maybe this week I’ll see about getting the new bearings in the axle housings.

:-( With warmer weather around the corner. Maybe motivation will rise!