Project VAP Off-road logger

Got some front end reinforcement done during lunch, basically fully welded the stock axle, fixed the play in the spindles bores and beefed up a bit the soon to be non bolt on craddle!
Didn't go for a a whole lot of flex, it should be sufficient!
Also tried to find the exact power output of my engine googling the engine codes but no luck..
If any of you know I'll be glad to know if it's a 13.5 or 15hp?




More to come tomorrow!
Cheers!

A 28ci could be anywhere from 13 to 19hp I believe, it depends on the carb model, am I correct to assume it has a Walbro? I want to say WT54 would be a 18hp model but it's been months since I researched it all so I could be wrong.

Nice welds on the axle reinforcement.

You have a 28 cubic inch sleeve bearing engine built in 03. It's either a 12, 13, 14 horsepower.

The 28ci OHV I had was a 14.5. All of the 31ci engines I had were 17.5hp. Pretty safe bet that yours is a 14.5.

Brianator wrote:

A 28ci could be anywhere from 13 to 19hp I believe, it depends on the carb model, am I correct to assume it has a Walbro? I want to say WT54 would be a 18hp model but it's been months since I researched it all so I could be wrong.

Thanks for chiming in, will have a look at the carb to find out, boy it is hard to find infos on those engine !

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

The 28ci OHV I had was a 14.5. All of the 31ci engines I had were 17.5hp. Pretty safe bet that yours is a 14.5.

Hopefully, but being a european model, might be a smaller power output, europe is gready in terms of HP! LOL.
So if I understand well, the HP output is based on the carb only ?  all the 28 CI share the same engine?

A bit of update since I had a little bit of time to work on the mower.
The front end is back in fully welded with 10 degrees of caster, steering is back and lengthened to accommodate the new wheel base. Slight problem I spotted, bumpsteer, figured I will address this matter if it really borther when ridding.
About to fuse the rear transaxle in for good next week but before, I would like to know how much slack is a good belt slack for clutch disengage?
Is there any rule of thumb?
Should the belt be able to be removed from pulley when clutch push in?
Any Infos would be great .
Thank you guys!

Big thing is make sure your belt is snug when no clutch and not necessarily fall off when clutched.  Belt guides are 100% needed to make sure your belt disengages well.  Should your belt sag quite a bit, some kind of J hook style guide or one of those twist guides will help A LOT! Placed at the center of the sag.

I have ran clutches at varying slack, Mutt's currently has just enough slack for you to pop the belt off of the engine pulley. On that setup I had to add lots of keepers to centralize the slack around the engine and transmission pulleys, so the belt disengages from them. On the other hand, the GT6k has tons of slack with the belt pushed in and took just a few belt keepers to make work. I think Budgie was the same way, tons of slack and just a few keepers.

MightyRaze wrote:

Big thing is make sure your belt is snug when no clutch and not necessarily fall off when clutched.  Belt guides are 100% needed to make sure your belt disengages well.  Should your belt sag quite a bit, some kind of J hook style guide or one of those twist guides will help A LOT!  Placed at the center of the sag.

Well noted Mighty.
I have some of the stock ones that I can manage to move around finding the best spot.
So you think I should weld the transaxle in place when the belt is snug clutch out and work on the clutch mechanism to get the needed slack to desengage?

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

I have ran clutches at varying slack, Mutt's currently has just enough slack for you to pop the belt off of the engine pulley. On that setup I had to add lots of keepers to centralize the slack around the engine and transmission pulleys, so the belt disengages from them. On the other hand, the GT6k has tons of slack with the belt pushed in and took just a few belt keepers to make work. I think Budgie was the same way, tons of slack and just a few keepers.

Thanks for the input Richie, guess it will take a bit (hopefully) of trial and error but with yours and mighty advise I hope I can make it to work decently first time.

More update next week guys!

Hi Guys, got the clutch I believe sorted out, belt tension seems fairly tight when clutch is out and motor pulley spin freely when clutch is pushed in.
Got a few more things to do before test run but feel quite confident about that clutch deal.
Tried to follow the given advises, thanks again for the guys that chimed in .
Here are the pictures of the set up




Let me know if you see anything that may cause some troubles
Thanks

The only potential problem I see is how the idler near the engine pulley is pulling the belt away from the pulley but if it doesn't cause belt slip then it's not an issue! If it does you'll want to try and move it more towards the center of the machine

Brianator wrote:

The only potential problem I see is how the idler near the engine pulley is pulling the belt away from the pulley but if it doesn't cause belt slip then it's not an issue! If it does you'll want to try and move it more towards the center of the machine

You are right that I llok at it, this is the way it is made from factory only difference is a smaller engine pulley.

Will see what it does, if it goes to sh*t, then I'll correct it following your instructions but will have to rethink the relaease mecanism to invert the way it fonctions

Actually that is how many Engine side clutches work.  Engine pulley turns CCW (Looking from the angle pictured).  While it appears to pull the belt away, it is actually drawing the belt in on the pull side.  When clutch is pushed in, that tension is released from the pull side allowing the belt to slip.

I hope that made sense.

Sears Craftsman/AYP/Roper has used this same path for decades.   (Look at a sears suburban, same path just for a horizontal engine)
Look like the images above?

MightyRaze wrote:

Actually that is how many Engine side clutches work.  Engine pulley turns CCW (Looking from the angle pictured).  While it appears to pull the belt away, it is actually drawing the belt in on the pull side.  When clutch is pushed in, that tension is released from the pull side allowing the belt to slip.

I hope that made sense.

Sears Craftsman/AYP/Roper has used this same path for decades.   (Look at a sears suburban, same path just for a horizontal engine)
Look like the images above?

All good then! Can't wait to test ride and revert back! 
Thanks for your input

Tires look bada**

Headcase wrote:

Tires look bada**

badash is how we say it round here

Headcase wrote:

Tires look bada**

I tried to look for the best shaped and cheapest deals I could find used!
Of course, I looked for the sizes first, 19 fronts and 22 inches in the back.
Eager to find out if traction will be good for my needs with those Bear claws in the back.

Started on the frame reinforcement using some rectangular tubing I had laying around.
I split it in half as I only had a short piece in hand.
It stiffen the flimsy stock frame quite a bit already and I'm not done yet, still need to build a piece to join the two rail at the back in order to mount the rear fenders and seat and also find a way to make it strong enough to build the hitch and future accessories off of it.

Frame as I got it


Side raiils fuse over the existing




More to come probably tomorrow.

Good step forward, I can now sit on the darn thing!


Clutch pedal is now made to my liking, need to work on the shifter as neither one fit or shift nicely as is!

That frame is looking real stout! I think you will need some belt supports along the belt there to keep it from sagging. Or maybe you can do a belly pan, that would be cool!

Hammernco wrote:

Good step forward, I can now sit on the darn thing!


Clutch pedal is now made to my liking, need to work on the shifter as neither one fit or shift nicely as is!

Wow, nicely done, those welds look great, that Stick? We will not talk about my welds, lol yours look great!

Also you weld those rear rims on?

PizzaKitty26 wrote:

Also you weld those rear rims on?

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, I personally welded the ones on your rig and they seem to hold up well decent option compared to the expensive one which is buying hubs. And WAAAAAYYYY better then welding the hubs direct to the trans, that is an outright sin in my book

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

That frame is looking real stout! I think you will need some belt supports along the belt there to keep it from sagging. Or maybe you can do a belly pan, that would be cool!

Thaught about doing one, depends on the material I have in hand and how the belt does once I ride it