Hey thanks a lot fellas. I use this tractor all the time wheeling it or putting it to work, but unfortunately I haven't really added anything to it worthy of an update since the last one
On the other hand though, the ol' GT is in definitely in need of a re-vamp. I have some improvements in mind so maybe I can document the freshening up of that build when I get to it.
Awesome... as you probably saw, I am in the process of revamping my GT as well! Can't wait to see what you do with it!!!
PROJECTS: Marshal ........................93 Craftsman GT6000 Red Bandit ...................72 Wheel Horse Raider 12 Dirty Rat........................77 Sears Suburban Bowser...........................01 Murray Widebody LT The Green Machine ....1990 Craftsman II GT18 Other projects
Well no interesting updates on this one lately, but I took a couple neat wheeling pictures to wake to ol' thread up:
Actually I did install a wireless remote kit for my winch and I absolutely love it, but that's about it for updates. I might try and get some pictures of the wireless setup, try and keep the thread going with more than just off-road pictures, haha.
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Well I guess a little update on the Allis is in order. Decided to fab up a new exhaust:
Even used some fancy header paint!
Turned out alright, got a nice thump to it. I also got a couple pictures of the wireless winch setup like I said I was gonna do, here's the antenna bolted up nice and safe under the dash:
And the remote control I have hanging from the manual control switch, which still works normally:
Last but not least I finally installed a nice set of LED lights on this machine:
Way better than the factory lights, they were just like candles trying to ride at night.
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Very nice upgrades. Those lights look like they were made for the tractor! Very much noise difference in the new pipe? Personally even if it is louder, sometimes the tone changes are easier on my ears.
PROJECTS: Marshal ........................93 Craftsman GT6000 Red Bandit ...................72 Wheel Horse Raider 12 Dirty Rat........................77 Sears Suburban Bowser...........................01 Murray Widebody LT The Green Machine ....1990 Craftsman II GT18 Other projects
Thanks fellas. Yeah the light upgrade was not a moment too soon, haha. I was quite happy with how they fit inside the hood cutouts, I actually made a little bracket that bolts underneath the hood and the lights are hanging on that.
The new pipe isn't really hard on the ears since it's more of a low thump, and it's pointing down at the ground. The only downfall is it makes a heck of a dust storm when you are on gravel, but I can live with that, haha.
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Looks great Allis! Those LEDs nestle right in the hood nicely. I bet the wireless remote is nice for that winch. Hope the cold isnt too hard on the batteries for it.
Did a little tinkering tonight.. I was having touble with my headlights flickering pretty bad when I was driving around which I figured was from a bad ground. There was no ground strap or anything between the hood and frame so I just ran a wire from the head light bracket to a good engine ground:
Happy to say it fixed the issue. Next thing I need to address is the fender pivot brackets:
Noticed they're starting to break away from the fender metal, so I'll have to weld those up and probably do some bracing to strengthen it up. All part of the fun!
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Little more exciting than the last update.. I've been wanting to make a skidplate for the underside of this rig. The frame is open under neat so the driveshaft and stuff are exposed to any obejcts that might find their way up in there.
Wanted to make it pretty heavy duty, so of course I started with some good ol' angle steel for a frame:
Pretty solid once it was welded up:
Then I skinned it with some 1/8" steel, should be plenty heavy enough:
Bolts underneath the footboards at the front, and uses two transmission mount bolts at the rear:
Should be able to scrape that on some stuff, haha. I still wanna add a couple little splash gaurds and some extra bracing as well as a good coat of paint, but I think it's turning out pretty good so far.
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Okay I finally got back to the skiplate on the ol' Allis. I decided to forget about the splash guards on the side and instead just add a drain hole at the back cross brace:
Should he good enough. I did want to brace the angled piece at the back that protects the front of the transaxle:
Should be plenty strong now. Then I gave 'er a good coat of paint and bolted 'er up again:
Pretty happy with that! Next I bent the broken part of the fender bracket back into place and threw a couple welds on:
However I wanted to try and strengthen that area so I welded a couple braces in there to try and prevent another breakage:
Little paint to cover the bad welds, haha. I also welded the cracks on the top of the fender pan, then smoothed 'em out and threw some paint on to keep the rust away:
Looks much better. We're in pretty good shape now!
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Nice pictures! Hard to believe you don't have any snow on the ground. I see that nice impact on the skid plate! Looks like it took it very well! I bet it is nice having the confidence that you have some trans protection under there. Especially when it comes to hidden stumps or rocks.
PROJECTS: Marshal ........................93 Craftsman GT6000 Red Bandit ...................72 Wheel Horse Raider 12 Dirty Rat........................77 Sears Suburban Bowser...........................01 Murray Widebody LT The Green Machine ....1990 Craftsman II GT18 Other projects
Yeah the peace of mind is nice, having some protection under the ol' tractor.
Our snow was here for Christmas and a few days before, but now it has pretty much melted away like it was never even here. This is the GT out riding on the 29th:
Plenty of big snow drifts then, but she went away pretty quick!
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill
Well I've really been wheeling this tractor lately and she's holding up great. Got a few shots today on a trail ride:
However, the open differential really sucks, so I thought I'd try locking 'er up. Don't know how much you guys know about these tractors, but the differential is actually external, mounted on the axle tube on the RH side. Basically it allows the axle shaft to turn inside the RH wheel hub when it differentials, so the wheel doesn't turn.
Here it is all tore apart:
You can see that gear still on the axle, with the toothed side facing the transaxle and the shoulder facing out. Well it's on the axle with two keyways 180° apart and a snapring holding it in place. So all I did was flip it around and put the differential back together:
You can see how it engages with all the pinions now. There is also a similar gear inside the wheel hub, so both of the big gears are making full contact with the planetary pinions now.
All put together and a short test run
So kinda like the gear flip everyone warns against but a bit different. I'll try it and see what happens, if it grenades you're welcome to laugh at me and say "I told ya so"
"This'll either wake you up or put you to sleep forever!"- Red Green "Whatever you do you should do right, even if it's something wrong." - Hank Hill