RED STAG 69 Raider 12 The Best Rusty Copy

@Crazy_Carl might be because it's late and I'm tired but that intro was funnier than it needed to be lol. Also that engraving looks mint  

@ranch king pro 08 If you’re into humor…have you seen?

@Crazy_Carl oh god there's more! I'll watch those sometime today

I finished up installing the winch today.  I've only got about 2-3 projects left on my list before RED STAG's next serious outing.

Instead of hurting myself pushing the tractor around the shop, I figured I could just pull it around with a sling to reposition the tractor depending on what exactly I'm working on.

I really like how my wiring job came out.  Hey what's going on here?! What squirrel broke into the tractor shop and took RED STAG's HEAD?!

I did not use the rocker switch assembly that came with winch kit.  I used a SPDT momentary on-off-on switch with a protective rubber boot.  I shortened the wiring harness and used heat shrink to seal up the end of the cable jacket

Before bedtime I got a little headstart on my brake line/blleeder screw guard.

I have some details left to finish, but my brake disc guard is pretty much done.🤌

Tonight I braced up the brake disc guard to make it stiffer and more robust. I'm considering this project done.



I also created an axle cradle from a 14" 2x6 and two 2x6 blocks ripped down to 2.5" wide. Looks like something like this but a 1/2 longer could work for a Wheel Horse with a plow mount. The cradle really helps keep the tractor more stable especially when removing only the right side tire for belt maintenance.

Well today I finally executed an idea from a very old Creepy Crawler video where you drill the rivets out holding your idler pulley together to replace the bearing.  I picked up a nice Italian made SKF bearing from Napa for $13.  I scrounged some hardware from work and made it happen.  The quickest and easiest way for me to drill the rivets was to skip center punching, just line up the center drill, after drilling with the # 3 center drill, I dusted the head off with a 3/8 drill.  I did this all in the drill press.  I assembled with lockwashers and blue locktite.

Well after upgrading my Mac OS so I could run FreeCad and make a template for a 5 on 4.5" bolt hole circle to re-drill my brand new ALUMINUM RIMS, RED STAG has a new pair of shoes! 25x11-10 ITP Mudlites to be exact. I like the trusted mud performance and how squishy they are.



Then I used some scales to weigh what the tractor weighs with me on it with the help of my Dad to read the scales and it comes to a light 665 lbs with rider with a 100 lb difference between the front and rear axles. This doesn't include the toolbox or beers in the trunk lol.

Love mudlites! I had a pretty bald set bouncing around between mutt, budgie, and the gt6k. Just good all around tires. Tried some 25x11-10s on mutt and they did good even though I couldn’t run them too low for fear of falling off the bead. Even the cracked up 26x12-12s that are on the gt6k right now are good performers. Those new rims are real sharp too!

Love the attention to detail and the new tires and rims!

gotta love the safety crocks. OSHA would be mad they're not in sports mode

I did a very small mod today and just added a couple U-bolts to the dash tower to give the bungee cord that holds the hood shut a permanent place to hook onto.

Your factory hood latch not work well?  I've found that mine works very well.

@MightyRaze it’s really worn out and barely works, plus when the frame twists just right it pops the hood open.

Red Stag is back in action after getting my head ported and shaved by captain315, she fired right up and runs great on 93 now, it runs very smooth like a Japanese motorcycle, it seems to have more power because if I let the clutch out slowly in third while idling she just chuggs right along, I’m looking forward to a real test out at the farm hopefully soon

I finally got out and did some riding this past weekend!  I've been waiting so long to test out my new rear wheels and hydraulic disc brake.




I really like the performance of the mudlites.  The hydraulic disc brake with a functional OEM parking brake is one of my favorite mods over.  However, I encountered an issue with my clutch slipping in deep water. I had to move the spring location in the back because the caliper was in the way.  However this was a bad angle of pull on clutch arm so it lost mechanical advantage.  So I added a metal piece onto the clutch arm with adjustable positions so the spring has more mechanical advantage when the clutch is fully engaged.  I'm looking forward to testing this out soon along with a new belt rear belt keeper bolt I've added.

Nice clutch adjustments.  LOL.