John Deere L130 Flexible use

I know exactly what you mean about toe in on 4wd RCs, works like a charm and good on you for making a versatile setup! Those spindle gussets look nice, good work!

Fortunately the steering arm colors ended up clashing which is what I was hoping for. I'm considering buying 6 cans of paint across the spectrum and assigning them each a number, then rolling a 6 sided die for each part I clean and paint. I get paid this Friday so I might do that this weekend.


This morning I made a little support from some bin scrap that I cut into a trapezoid. I clamped it with the washers I wanted for toe/ wheelbase fine tuning and tacked it up.




Mocked up


I know I say this a lot but I'm loving this project so much. I'm not sure what my game plan is for tomorrow morning, but I enjoy just winging things and working on whatever I feel like. Steering is getting pretty close to being done, same with front "suspension". I really wish I had a dummy engine to mock up the drive pulley. I'm looking forward to starting on the clutch, maybe I'll stick a junk pulley on the engine, weld some random bits of scrap to it where it sits and then pull the engine. That would let the pulley hang out in it's place without having the weight of the engine. It's really nice to stand this thing up on end for working on the underside. That would also let me start making solid progress on the transmission mounts and idler pulley locations. I'll just wing whatever I feel like when I get in tomorrow and see what happens.

I set the engine in its home and slipped the stock drive pulley on.  I welded a random bolt to the frame and to the pulley and then removed the engine.  Now i have a pulley hanging out in the location i need it so i can start working on the drivetrain and clutch soon.  Its the tiny useless one that has a piece missing.  Its there so i can run a belt over it and figure out where i want the idlers, clutch pivots and the transmission.  Il be running an 8 or 9in pulley once its ready.  Probably a 7 or 8in on the transmission for a little overdrive and hopefully zero slip issues and a very tunable clutch feel with springs and angles and such.




I also started on drilling the new 110mm bolt pattern in one of my wheel adaptors.  Sucks i have two different wheel bolt patterns, but whatever, il make it work.  I used the lathe and indicated the hub in on our tiny 4jaw.  I used my indicator again to scribe the 110mm circle.  I didnt take pictures but i used some dividers and math to plot the new 4 holes.  It looks visually perfect when i hold it up to my wheel, but drilling it tomorrow morning will let me know for sure.  



Im hoping to get to work pretty early tomorrow to have maybe a couple hours to tinker before i start.  Might not actually happen as i freeking love sleeping, but il try.  If everything goes as i want it to, it will sit on its own tires for the first time.  Might be a red letter day.

A red letter day for sure!  




I also started playing with potential transmission locations and mounts.  For now it's a thin piece of sheet metal leftover from cutting out the body pan that's easy to move around.  The final mount will be thicker and probably will encase the whole gearbox and use all 14 mounting holes for maximum strength.  Right now it looks like it will be just in front of the seat, right between my legs.  The chain is going to be a little longer than what I wanted, but any further back and I would have to raise my seat up which is out of the question.  
 





The belt looks to be a reasonable length and I should have plenty of room to stick a clutch in there.  The engine pulley will be a little larger than the transmission pulley and I should have ample friction available without a super stiff clutch spring.  The fj62 power steering belt would almost work, lol, but the rubber v would be way too grabby and it's not long enough for a robust clutch.  Hopefully the length I end up using is common and inexpensive.


It was really fun seeing it on its own axles.  That made me really happy.  It's stripped back down for more work, but I'm happy with the stance.  It's a little low in the back with the street tires which is cool for multiple reasons.  I'm lower to the ground and I'm the heaviest component, so that will help with stability.  It will also give me some positive caster which also will help stability and driving at speed.  The off-road tires for this project have a higher rear: front diameter ratio so with those on, it will be more level which should help with uphill stability and ground clearance.  Overall I'm really happy with how everything sits.

I just realized I didn't post the finishing of my 4 on 4in to 4 on 110mm hub for my other wheel.  I used some math, micrometers and dividers to describe the new 4 hole centers in relation to the old 4 holes.  When I had this part in the lathe and started indicating it in, I noticed the it's really poorly made and I hope they don't shake or anything.  The two pieces of it's construction are good by themselves but they were not very accurately welded together.  The flange wobbles a little bit in the radial and axial.  Not so much that I want to scrap them, but enough that I'm a little concerned about it.  If the thing shakes I'll probably have to either make my own or drop money on some higher quality ones.  These were less than $30 for the pair so I can't complain to much.  




I'm also a little concerned about the strength of the new pattern.  There's not much material left and I'm considering welding the studs in and welding some braces in.  I really wish I had access to a larger lathe or mill so I could make my own hubs more easily, but we just don't do that kind of work.


Test fit went perfect.  Fits like it was factory made.  I'm so happy to have the rear wheels on their hubs so I can set it on its own tires for the first time.  There's still so much left to do still though.

Welding the studs should suffice just fine. Looking good!

Looking good! Lots of creative solutions here. That's a nice little lathe. I used to lay out bolt patterns on my South Bend lathe by using the spindle bull gear as an indexing ring with a little stop I made. Just index and drag the tool across the face, then a good center punch and off to the drill press. With a four jaw you could set a stop against the jaw and get a pretty reliable 90* index. Little bit of trig and dividers will get you pretty close for this though.

You may not need as tight of a clutch as a regular transaxle does, as you can get a lot of surface area with big pulleys and get your speed from sprocket combinations. Just a thought.

I bet with a bit of effort you could alter those hubs into some pretty tough ones. Just cutting the thin hubs off of those centers and replacing them with some made from 1/2" plate would be plenty tough. You should've seen the stuff I got into on my little South Bend! If I could swing it over the ways that was good enough that I could figure the rest out!

I cut out the clutch mount from a plate that used to be mounted to the top side of the frame. Now I can tack the mount anywhere I want for my setup. I settled on this spot because it seemed close to something that would work. It's only tacked because I might move it. It seems like this could work decent here though.



I'm also started on my transmission mounts. I cut and drilled some scrap strap material. Simple but it sets the pulley at the right height for the clutch and engine pulleys. Once it's in the right spot and I'm sure it's not moving, I'm going to add a good amount of bracing to what I have here. I want to incorporate the brake caliper mounts and the top case mounts into a bolt on cage type of thing. I'll add some angle and gussets and whatever I can think of for better rigidity.




The last of my update is the transmission location. It's going to just fit between the front of the seat and the back of the steering column console. I'll eventually build a sheet metal semi enclosure for it just in case it explodes or sheds a chain. I don't want sharp exploding metal bits right by my bits without a scatter shield of some kind. As of currently I think I want a shifter on the right side of the console as a lever to move forward and backward. Linkage should be pretty straight forward with this transmission location and will help facilitate the shifter design I'm after. I don't know if it will be a good shifter design or not, but I'm always open to suggestions and ideas.

The side steps fell off!

Man I knew these Deeres had a problem with rust but I didn’t know it was that bad

After removing the steps I thought about ways to lower the foot rests.  I considered making pegs or my own new steps and I settled on modifying the stock ones.  I'm trying to keep as much of the stock body as possible so it seemed the best choice.  I want them flush with the bottom of the frame so I lowered them.  The rigidity lip around the outside was sticking down below the frame with the platform level with the frame.  I ended cutting the lip off and flipping/ switching sides with them so I could run them upside down.  This will keep the strength, protect my feet and retain stock looking bodywork.  Fits all my requirements.  
The steps were also bent in the middle which I didn't want anymore, so before I attached the lip back to the platform, I cut a little pie slice out and welded it back shut.




I welded the opposing lip on and this was the end result.  It's not perfect as I didn't take tons of care cutting, but I'm happy enough with it and it's proof of concept.  I'll make the other one tomorrow morning




I also clamped the body pan to the frame and beat the overhang leftover from the steps down to hug the frame rails.  I'll eventually add a few fasteners to secure the body pan better.  Lower down on the frame I'll have separate mounts to bolt the new steps on and probably a flange that will bolt to the fenders.  I want the steps to look like they're still molded into the body pan and not completely separate.

Really love what you're doing here! And flipping the floorboards over... just brilliant!

I agree. Flipping those footboards is a great idea.

I've been keeping an eye on this thread. Detailed updates are some of my favorites but unfortunately I'm not able to spare the time to read all the details due to my own projects... However I'm definitely watching it closely. This is gonna be a monster and I am excited to see what you do with it! Good work man!

I didn't take pictures for some reason while shortening the steering shaft, but I cut 4in out of it since the seat is lower. I cut out the little tower on the plastic dash and also cut some webbing of the steering wheel itself so that the hub could partially recess into the dash. It wasn't quite enough so I also cut an inch out of the steel lower section of the dash. I laid the dash down and welded the mounting flange in flush to the bottom of the cut. This lowered the console by 1 3/4in. With the modifications I made to the plastic, this allowed the steering setup to work. I have enough hand clearance and the wheel is as low as it can be without interfering with my feet and legs while pretending to work the throttle and clutch.







Lastly I cut 2.5in of the bottom front section of the hood assembly. More trimming in multiple places will still be needed in the future but I won't know what and where until later on the build. I plan on keeping everything as low as possible without compromising engine cooling. I'm liking the stock look even though it's pretty modified, that's exactly what I'm trying to keep. I'm going to mock it back up on tires and hopefully figure out a good way to attach the steps tomorrow morning. I need as much ground clearance with the steps as low as possible and I have a feeling it's going to be difficult.

I put it back on tires and added some foot pegs where I'd like the foot controls to pivot on. I'll get the pedals working and then add the steps where they fit.

I'm surprised to find that I can shorten the console and steering shaft another couple inches too.





I'm happy that I can shorten the console more, it looks a little tall visually in the proportions of things. I'll see what I can do at lunch today. I can't take any more from the bottom, so maybe I'll remove more from the top section below where the plastic section mounts. 2 inches is my goal, then I'll shorten the steering shaft accordingly and set the clearance to my knees.

Shortening the steering shaft and console of mowers is definitely an underrated mod. Mutt is far shorter because of that, even though the frame sits higher than stock.

I really like the lowering of the bodywork. It looks cool and helps with visibility and center of gravity. I lowered my console, hood and dash another 2 inches today and I think it's at the final height. I really like the side profile, the visibility is good and the steering wheel height is very comfortable. Since I cut some out of the bottom already and want to keep stock looking lines, the next 2in we're removed from the upper section. The part facing me doesn't quite match as well, but I'll cover that up eventually. The side worked out really well. Cut out a strip and welded back together





The new side side profile without shortening the steering shaft.


After shortening the steering shaft again.


I don't know the exact measurements because I've been eyeballing the steering shaft, but compared to the new one I have to shorten and sleeve nicely shows the stock length. The mock-up one is damaged and I'm only using it to get the height dialed in. I was surprised how much I've taken out of the height of this tractor

You're doing such a great job and moving along at a good pace but have you considered slowing er down for a couple weeks and entering into the 2023 Build Off? I really think you should!

Brianator wrote:

You're doing such a great job and moving along at a good pace but have you considered slowing er down for a couple weeks and entering into the 2023 Build Off? I really think you should!

I have considered that, though I'm really not interested in competition or comparing myself or build against any others. I like reading the build threads but competition is just not my thing. Nothing against the build off.

Personally I'm really benefiting from this creative outlet right now and stopping is also something I really don't want to do. Going to work early and tinkering on this is the high point of my days. I'd also like to have this completed and able to be played with when the weather starts warming up. I don't even know if I'm going to enjoy driving it enough to keep it around or if I'll give it away or something. I have nowhere to keep it other than work and if I'm not going to use it much, I may as well give it to someone who will.

I'll keep the build off in mind though and I'll read through the rules and stuff again.

Fair enough @Krawler86 I can understand that.

I used the Build Off more as an excuse to do something with that tractor so it wasn't just sitting around rotting, I never worried about winning or not I'm just happy to have given it some afterlife, now I have a heavy duty tractor that's alot of fun to use!

I think I will end up entering it then if people feel this way about it. I guess it would be cool to possibly win and be featured. I need to read up on what is allowed as far as an already in progress project. I don't want to completely stop but I can slow down and tinker on other stuff. Like cleaning up the engine and transmission and researching more modifications for the transmission. I have an idea on how to change it to a 3 speed but be able to slam gears and shift on the fly with much less potential damage. I guess I'll stop updates for now and maybe just post a little one each week or something like that. I'm assuming the contest starts 1-1-23?