[24] Ickx the Custom 10E Off Roader

#Buildoff2024

Here is my 2024 submission of a Custom 10E I found sitting in one of my buddies sheds. I got this mower last year and the motor was locked up so I took a break to work on some other projects.  Since then I have collected a good amount of random parts from swap meets including a 2wd honda atv front suspension, utv steering rack, cub 3 speed gear box with internal brake, a hi and lo range unit for it, and at the heart of the tractor will be a 23.5hp Kohler command pro with a built in 40amp alternator.

I'd love to get this done by October but certainly have a lot of custom fabrication to sort out with changing the frame to accommodate the cub gear box and significantly much larger engine.  No idea how the clutch system works and clearly missing some pieces like a flywheel but will figure it out as I go.







Approved MightyRaze 5/9/24

[adm]Welcome to the 2024 build-off!
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Looks to be quite a rig you have planned!  Good luck!

Got some time this weekend to work on Ickx and started it off by removing the old gear box which was not as simple as just unbolting it like I thought.  After about an hour of wrestling with it I finally got it down and if anyone would like it feel free to reach out, no charge.  From what I can tell everything works on it.

I put the dash, hood, and grill temporarily back on to make sure I still had a mower after the teardown and to get measurements for the Kohler.  Then started the process of figuring out if the Cub gear box is going to fit or if extensive modification if going to be needed.  To my surprise it perfectly slide in and lined up with two of the bolt holes, heck even my old wheels will bolt right up once I get the correct bolts for it.  The gear lever hole is going to require a bit of cutting but nothing to major to make that fit.

Next stages are to tap out some threads in the gear box for mounting because they are all gone, and then determine what angle everything needs to be in to line up and work correctly.

@hadjiikong that's a nice 633a I wish I was closer Lol

So happy to have a 3 day weekend with crappy weather so can spend some time in the garage! Trying to get this gearbox installed to figure out where the motor needs to sit to line up properly.  Today I was cutting out the metal for the gear box to properly fit and it is pretty close to fitting now.  Going to build a plate that bolts over the top of the holes to strengthen everything up at the end.  I might have to switch out the gear shift handle for the longer version and also extend the hi and low range lever.

Once I cut out the few pieces of metal by the hi and low range I should be able to lift the gear box high enough to hit the shaft on the motor perfectly!  Going to cut down the drive shaft so the motor can sit further back but then also extend out the front a bit to reuse the original mounting points of the hood and grill.

Going through the attic I found my old go-kart steering wheel with the quick disconnect and figured this will be perfect to use and I have plenty of DD shaft laying around to make it all work.  Hopefully tomorrow can get everything cut out and get the gear box mounted with the wheels back on to get it on the ground.  Next step after that is sorting out the front suspension.

Turns out I am a bit dumb when it comes to these gear driven transmissions and vtwin engines that drive them.  Turns out the output shaft is not what actually spins the gear box but actually the flywheel on the front of the engine.  Huge shout out to midwest super club in Iowa for helping me get everything figured out.  I grabbed a new clutch and hub assembly from them and got the motor facing the correct way now.

With doing this I can actually fit the grill in its stock location and only need to slightly modify the hood to get everything to fit!! Stock suspension is out and gear box looks to be in its final resting spot I just need to square it up a bit.  Going to add some frame rails so I can mount this pressure release plate and then sort out the engine placement.

You’re actually super lucky that MWSC kind of specializes in those kohler commands hahaha. Though knowing them, I bet that setup wasn’t cheap! Love how this is coming along. These customs were really lightweight for a Sears, if you keep it that way as much as possible you could wind up with a super agile rig with an indestructible drivetrain!

Wedding season has finally taken a break and got a few hours to spend on Ickx.  Got the transaxle finally mounted which trying to square up the holes proved to be pretty good challenge.  Having all of these extra holes from the original setup was bothering me so spent way too much time removing paint, welding them shut, and grinding them flat.  Now I can restart drilling my own holes.

Building a custom front suspension certainly has its challenges.  I made a rigging cage that allowed me to figure out what spacing is best to get the maximum amount of travel out of this ATV suspension/where I can make it fit.  Clearly I have to make some adjustments because the engine does not fit with the current setup and the upper control arm needs to move inward to fix the constant positive camber that is going on.  On the positive side it has 8.5 inches of travel.

I think my fix is going to mount the upper control arms to where the lower ones are sitting or just a little higher.  Problem with being shaft driven is the motor has to be lined up perfectly to the transaxle or issues start to arise.  Unless I were to add u-joints .  I just want to avoid having a mower that is doing the Carolina squat.