Dirty Rat - Sears

Well, apparently my leak was in the bottom center of the tank. (mostly)  You can see the spot in the middle in my arrows pic.  (note none of the arrows point to the actual leak)



Yeah that circular area that looks like the leak.  LOL  Yeah, it appears the por15 wept through that hole and sealed it off.



Tractor is all assembled back together.  Now I need to look into making a gas pedal.

Nice, the gas pedal can be kinda tricky I find, have you looked into a thumb type throttle like on an ATV?

i've built a few gas peddles myself and was successful. but as @TechnoChicken sometimes they can be tricky. i've been struggling on this build i've tried a few different avenues but can't come up with anything i'm happy with. so that's on the back burner for now.

If I had handlebars, I'd probably use a thumb throttle.  I know some use it on their steering wheel, but knowing me, I'd get it tangled.

Got some updates tonight.  Got a foot throttle 90% complete.  Just need a foot pad and painted.

Took an interesting route.  Used some copper tube to run a brake cable through.







Seems to work well.  When I get it fired up, I can test it better.

Other news, I got me a 90 that I have clamped up either to go as is... or attach a muffler should I want it a little quieter. 

I like the foot throttle! Not to let the cat out of the bag but it looks to me like you used the shank of an old screwdriver for the pedal and a throttle control lever as the pivot ya? That's pretty inventive! The copper line is a great idea too AND looks cool! TDR is really shaping up beautifully, nice work! Love the air cleaner mod too!

Yeah, actually that's a pretty cool idea, my throttle uses a lawn tractor hand throttle cable but it keeps breaking from the flexing...

Brianator wrote:

I like the foot throttle! Not to let the cat out of the bag but it looks to me like you used the shank of an old screwdriver for the pedal and a throttle control lever as the pivot ya? That's pretty inventive! The copper line is a great idea too AND looks cool! TDR is really shaping up beautifully, nice work! Love the air cleaner mod too!

Yes, to the thottle control lever, no to the screwdriver.  I used some (5/16th? Size down from 3/8 ) rod.  Seemed strong enough to use.  Not done with it yet, like Technochicken said above, but I'll get to that.  I thought the copper line would give it some character!

TechnoChicken wrote:

Yeah, actually that's a pretty cool idea, my throttle uses a lawn tractor hand throttle cable but it keeps breaking from the flexing...

Yes, the throttle control is the weak point.  I'm hoping to sturdy that up soon.  Maybe recreate the weak spot with stronger steel?  Not sure yet.  At this point it is at least mocked up and functional.

loving that exhaust ! fits this build perfect !

diddie wrote:

loving that exhaust ! fits this build perfect !

I have one more piece for the exhaust that will finish that off. I think it should be the icing on the cake. Won't be able to get to it till this weekend.

I was messing with the foot throttle tonight. After about 20 pumps with my foot the copper broke down and started bending. Cool idea but fail. Probably get normal line for it. Boo…

I’ve seen brake line (steel) used for that.

MightyRaze wrote:

I was messing with the foot throttle tonight. After about 20 pumps with my foot the copper broke down and started bending. Cool idea but fail. Probably get normal line for it. Boo…

That kinda sucks, the copper pipe was a really cool idea, what lines would you normally use?

The outer sheathe that comes with the brake cables I use.  Its standard bicycle brake cable.  I just didn't have any.  I found some orange to keep the idea of the copper.

MightyRaze wrote:

I was messing with the foot throttle tonight. After about 20 pumps with my foot the copper broke down and started bending. Cool idea but fail. Probably get normal line for it. Boo…

Aw that's too bad but if you're really fond of the actual copper (it does look really cool) then who says you can't slip the brake cable sheathing inside copper line to get the exact look you want with proper functionality!? Just food for thought...

Take 2 of the gas petal is installed and 1000% better.





Now for addressing the weak point.  That is just above the phillips screw that is the pivot point.

I think a small gusset would address that (red triangle) and to finish filling in the welds in the green circled area.  Maybe the top too.

Exhaust tomorrow, and maybe take 2 of putting in gas.  Today is actually the day everything should be cured, but I'll give it one more day.

So, I stiffened up the throttle control lever part of my throttle.  I was going to put a pedal on it, but I think I will just paint and go as is.  I tried to put the pedal on it, but it just got in the way of my foot.  I'll probably throw some fuel line over it.

I should have my muffler sometime tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I will be busy tomorrow evening, so Saturday may be the inaugural ride!  Take 2.

We'll see.

At this point I will call it complete.  She runs, she drives, she goes, she woes, (not to well forward, but that is just an adjustment).  I'll try to cut a prefinal video next week sometime.







The refresh of the oppy is a torque monster!  I checked the tach.  It had about a 1 second delay.  I didn't think that was too bad.  Top end full throttle was running 3760 and idle was running 1000, but that was an initial kink in the foot throttle.  I made some updates there and it came down to 900ish? Not worried at this point.  Muffler sounds great!

On the initial shakedown run today, I decided not to video but to concentrate on the tractor.  I found a quick flaw with the foot throttle that a bend was easy to fix, but could rear it's ugly head again.  So I plan on addressing it and creating a new foot throttle in the upcoming months.

Current throttle catches on the bolt at the arrow!



I'll probably make a full pedal like on one of my other rigs.  All in all a good day! 

Other things, the tach was easy to read from seat.  Also, the voltmeter was easy and clear as well.  Half idle it ran up to 13.2 and full throttle 14.1 so you can easily see if it is charging.

Nice! Looking pretty sweet, all you need is a top speed run...
I'm assuming that tractor won't do wheelies with that wheelbase and the way it's centered?

It looks great nice work!

Got it out again today, pretty fun little ride.  Still no video yet.  @Technochicken I did get a top run.  Not as fast as I hoped, but got 23MPH at 5008k RPM.  Then again, I do have small tires in the rear.

MightyRaze wrote:

Got it out again today, pretty fun little ride.  Still no video yet.  @Technochicken I did get a top run.  Not as fast as I hoped, but got 23MPH at 5008k RPM.  Then again, I do have small tires in the rear.

23 isn't terrible, about 37 km/h, which is probably slower than my rig, what do you guys use for speed testing? is it an app you download?

I've typically used ulysses, but this one was rated better so I grabbed it.  It didn't have an ad.  This one was just called speedometer.

EDIT:  It has an ad.

Let me introduce foot throttle 2.0, it is not flimsy!