Well, it's been awhile since I worked on this old girl and because I stole the wheels for The Mud Duck she's been completely disabled sitting on a jack so I thought it was time to change that!
Late last year I came across a thread here on how to add front brakes to your lawn tractor and I just happen to have a parts ATV so I have been working on this in the background here and there as it wasn't a rush to do it but as of now it's the only way I'm able to get this ol' girl back on wheels and one step closer to being able to test drive it!
First thing I did was pop some 35mm x 15mm bearings in the drums to size it up and see if it will work which it looked like it would!
The spindles are 5/8" and the holes in the backplates are about 17-18mm so I turned down some 5/8" x 3/4" bushings and then cut them to sit flush with the backplates.
Back when I was working on the front end (reinforcing the axle and spindles) I decided to do another quick test fit with the ATV wheels, turns out the wheels need to be flipped inside out for clearance which widens the front track a little and luckily the valve stem(s) clears the brake drum although barely!
Now fast forward to today and they're on!
I still need to make a tab to hold the backplate from spinning but at least this beast is back on it feet so I can roll it in and out of the shelter so I can keep working on it. All I've done is work on it so it's going to be really satisfying to actually drive the thing eventually! Lol.
Let me know what you think!
Last edited by Brianator on May 23rd 2022, 8:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Hardy Har har! Lol. I do need it get it running and driving so I can test it and find it's weaknesses and it would be nice to actually drive it again, it's been 3 years or so! The Mud Duck will be down for a bit while I re-engineer the front bumper/winch plate (need to remove the motor and disassemble the front end) so I want to have this "motorvated" before I get into that, hopefully soon. I think I'll put some more work into it today, it's a holiday up here (Victoria Day)!
I did get some more work done on it today! The bumper/winchplate is fully bolted on but with the original grille brackets, I still need to make the new (extended) ones at some point as they will also be the mount for a skidplate so I guess I'll have to take it easy on it for now. I drilled the holes out for the winch itself and have mounted it with 1/2" grade 8 bolts, the winch fairlead and d-ring are also installed and I re-installed the grille/hood and side panels. All the VariDrive/clutch components have been cleaned up, re-installed and working smooth and I've also installed new belts.
Now that the running gear and body are ready the next step will be to mount the fuel tank, make an exhaust, hook up a kill switch and fire the motor for the first time since being freshened/upgraded then it's go time! Lol.
She looks real nice. Love the tire choice. Gives it a mean stance.
It definitely gives the illusion of a mean stance but it sits basically dead level! Lol. I still appreciate the kind words though!
She's getting closer and closer to a fire up and test run!
I made some tank brackets out of All Round and painted them as well as the bracket the fuel tank sits on and cleaned up the tank itself. I also installed the pull start, the starter/starter gear cover, plumbed the fuel system and filled the crankcase with oil (before I forget!). I worked on the intake snorkel too (sorry no pics yet) and that's almost ready to install.
All that's left to do for a test run is finish the intake, build an exhaust, install a choke cable, hook up a kill switch and add fuel!
Eager to get this thing running, yesterday after work I installed the original muffler (for now), finished up the intake (made from plumbing pieces), installed a choke cable and hooked up a kill switch in a temporary fashion...
...and go figure it doesn't want to start! It gave one measly little cough and that's it! It has spark, fuel and air and I feel confident I have the engine timed properly so I'm not sure what gives but I'm going to give it another go today.
I did remove the snorkel and had a friend spray in it, still no luck... oh welly!
Something is going on internally I can feel it when turn it over by hand so I'll have to revist it in the future and open the motor back up unfortunately. I had scored a full pressure lubed 16hp Kohler Courage (CV16S) for $25 and have been picking away at it so once I get it running I think I'll drop it in and call it a day! Lol. I would like to get it mobile so I can test it, find it weaknesses and have some fun with it so I'll probably get back into it soon enough!
If it's not a sticky valve try some more valve clearance. I bet you don't have a leak tester on hand?
I did an overhaul an an old beast a while back and I couldn't get it to start.. clearances the valves a bit more and it ran like a kitten. Afterwards I redid the clearance to factory spec and it did just fine
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It sure is @Nevadablue but I have bigger things to stress about so no big deal, I'll definitely keep y'all updated but I'll do it in it's proper thread which also allows others who aren't aware a chance to catch up with what I've done!
As a matter of fact @Conqueeftador I do have one I made a couple years ago but until I find out what is causing the resistance/jamming while it's rotating I won't bother, good advice though!
Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions guys, I do appreciate it!
And the engine from The Trailblazer is officially installed, new sump gasket, oil topped up and all controls are hooked up!
I'm hoping to actually drive this beast tomorrow for the first time since starting work on it! Lol. I just have a little bit of wiring to do to hook up the push button start and the kill switch then quickly toss a battery in it and it's go time!
She's officially running, driving and doing pretty well over obstacles! I will need to limit the steering however, it can oversteer and get the tire into the frame but that should be an easy fix!
Something that did need attention right away was the clutch/brake pedal, I could push it into the tire before the belt was disengaged and brake would grab so that's a bit of an issue!
Notice the Sharpie marks on the side of the floorboard to show where the rod sits normally, where it hits the tire and where it needs to be.
What I did was cut the rod most of the way through, bent it and used vise grips to pivot it and check the clearance until I got it set then started welding the gap in!
I ground the welds down pretty smooth then painted it with bedliner.
Now it just barely clears the tire when at full steering and articulation but it will touch if I really press down and I expect when the tractor is really flexing it will also but it's not a problem anyways because I still need to limit the steering.
I think it actually looks really cool so I'll need to duplicate it for the front brake pedal on the other side!
I thought I'd take the steering wheel off so it's easy to remove to get the tractor in the back of my friends truck (has a cap) and go figure the bolt would snap! I thought it felt like it was loosening too easy! Guess I'll have to weld a bolt on or something.
It was so great to finally drive this rig and do some testing around the yard, I've been working on it (on and off) since October! First tractor project, last to run and drive, funny how that goes eh?!
Good idea @MightyRaze but that "bolt" is either a stud of some kind or a machined part of the steering shaft and because it's the same thickness as the flats on the shaft I couldn't drill and tap for a bolt unless I went with a 1/4" bolt and I don't think I'd trust that for offroading. Better it happened how it did instead of breaking off in my hand that's for sure!
I may give your idea a try just to see if it happens to be a threaded stud, what's the worst that could happen right!?
I found a little treat for this beast today after work!
That's right, a 3 speed Peerless MST and I scored it for $30! It will essentially make this rig a 21 speed (because of the Vari-Drive) and it should bolt right in but the pulley isn't right for it and the input shaft is 5/8" compared to the original 910's 1/2" so I have some figurin' to do!
What's really cool about it is apparently (according to the Peerless manual) it has gear driven reverse (no chain to break) and uses 80w90 gear oil instead of grease so that's a HUGE bonus!
Plus I didn't think the original 910 with 1/2" input shaft and 5/8" axles would hold up for very long but this one with the 5/8" input shaft and 3/4" axles should hold up pretty well on this light machine!
You'll notice on the pulley I wrote down the approximate gear ratios so once I figure out the ratio (singular) on the 910 it will give me an idea if I'll gain any top end or if I'll just gain slower speeds? I'll probably try and figure that out tomorrow, this ought to be a good upgrade regardless!
I think so too and I've never seen one either! I looked it up last night and apparently @RCG converted one into a MST-206! Here's a link to the video
I won't even be thinking of this as a 3 speed, I'll be calling it a "range selector" with High/Low/Bull Low (and reverse)! Turns out that 2nd gear is the same (or very similar) ratio to the F/N/R @ 10.8:1 which means I'll end up with a slighter higher top end in 3rd @ 6.8:1 and some ridiculously low creeper gears in 1st @ 24:1 which I imagine will probably be useless! Lol
I had a look under tractor and realized that I'll have some fab work to do on the plate that holds the Vari-Drive idler pulley and shifter to fit the 203 but I'll be damned if I'm going to disable this rig just after I brought it to life so instead I decided I'll do all the work on the carbon copy parts tractor (the Silver Bullet - future racer) then transfer the parts around.
Here's the plate I speak of.
With that out of the way the 203 bolts right on...
...and I was really lucky, seems the tractor I got it from has the exact same width chassis because the front support brackets for both sides are a perfect fit, all I'll need to do is drill a hole per side to secure them!
But wait! There's more...
I had to do something about the steering wheel "bolt". Turns out it was machined onto the shaft as far as I can tell.
What I did was cut it flush, center punch it then started drilling a 1"deep hole all the way up to a 1/4" (biggest shown is 3/16")...
...drilled a hole clear through the sides...
...cut the head off a 5/16" bolt, turned it down to almost a 1/4", tapped it into the shaft then welded it through the holes and at the top...
...ground the sides smooth then re-installed the wheel!
I modified the Vari-Drive plate after work and now it's a good fit!
I had to cut a little over half of it's height off but before I did that I welded the upper corners for strength and ground them smooth.
Here what I was left with...
...but it was still hitting the top of the trans so I notched it.
There's a boss/bolt that I'm assuming is where the spring and ball for the shifter detent is and it was preventing the bracket from going ahead enough to bolt in so I cut the bracket and bent it up...
...then bent it back down so there's a bit of a gap...
...slid a piece of copper bar in so I could fill weld it and smoothed it out a little.
Here's the modified bracket that retains all the important stuff and fits perfect (now)!
I'll have to get up to the salvage yard as soon as possible so I can find a floor shifter I can modify to work that has the spring loaded bracket like my Roper so when I make a cutout in the shifter panel I can make a reverse lockout deal that you have to pull back and then over to get to reverse. Maybe I'll get lucky and find the right pulley too! If not I'll probably cut the center out of mine and use a weld on hub from Princess Auto to simplify the ordeal.
So far it's not being TOO difficult which is nice!
I've officially declared war on this 3 speed with VariDrive swap! I do however feel that I'm starting to win!
It's been a tough go the last few days, it seems fitting the trans and modifying the VariDrive bracket was the easy part! I did find a couple shifters and based on the belt/pulley layout I thought I built a winner out of them BUT I didn't realize or take in account that the input shaft on the MST is a couple inches further to the right than the 910 which kyboshed that...
...and the pulley I made (by cutting the hubs out of both the 910 and MSTs then welding the MST hub in the 910 pulley) because it puts it way over and into the VariDrive shifter linkage and also the idler pulley is now in the way.
I test fit the VariDrive belt into the Roper Trailblazers rear pulley (which is a weld on Princess Auto special) and it actually fits half decently as it's designed for A and B width belts so I grabbed a weld on hub and several pulleys of smaller sizes (7", 6.5", 5.5" and 5") so I could mock it up with the belt and start figuring stuff out. The 7" left good tension on the idler but still would've left too much other stuff to overcome so I popped the 6.5" on and it's still leaving half decent tension on the ider while leaving separation between the halves of the belt and much less to overcome although it was a serious battle that lasted a few hours!
Even with the 6.5" pulley the VariDrive linkage would still hit the belt...
...so I expanded the holes for the shifter plate so I could slide the linkage to the side... twice because I didn't do it enough the first time! Lol. I ended up with about 9/16" I could slide it over (note the paint line)
So now it's in, bracket clearanced to not touch the underside of the pulley and shifter itself spaced from underneath with a washer so it can't touch the underside of the pulley also, plate adjusted probably 19 times until I found the sweet spot and a little clearancing on the fender pan so the shifter doesn't bind when going up and down.
Here's a real short video of the VariDrive shifter in action.
I guess tomorrow I'll weld the pulley and fire up the tractor to test out the drive system as it sits (on jack stands). There's no sense swapping the tires to the new rims until I know it's going to work/not work. Better freaking work or I'm going to go nuclear on it! Lol.
If it's all good the next step is tires for a test drive then I'll have to come up with a shifter for The MST!
That's its for now, hopefully I'll have good news in the next day or 2!
Subject: 
May 22nd 2022, 8:49 pm
