Offroad lawnmower

[muddstir]

I started this project about 4 years ago, then it got put on hold. About a week ago i was cleaning my basement out to start building kitchen cabnets and i found parts here, there, everywhere. So i piled them up and figured i'd start working on it in any free time i get. I got a good start on it before it got put on hold so i don't got a lot of begining pics but its a good thing i'd kinda strayed away from my original ideal. That means id get to redo some of the stuff that is already done. I want to stick to my original ideal

• • Keep look of mower body
  • Independent suspension all the way around
  • Stretch wheelbase about 3in
  • Not a stock mower motor
  • 4x4-(when needed)

Here is a pic of the pile in my basement -(not everything is in the pic i started to take stuff out to the garage)

[Torrey72]

Cool. You can name it "Mowzilla"

[muddstir]

Originally Posted by Torrey72

Cool. You can name it "Mowzilla"

thats a cool name but i think i,m going to roll with allis-cat. alot of the parts are from arctic cat so i think its useable. But Mowzilla is cool

[Clyde65]

I think those tires are a little small for a 4by.

[muddstir]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

I think those tires are a little small for a 4by.

the atv ones- thats where i started to stray away from my 1st ideal. i was having a hard time planing the four wheel drive system out so i got impatient and switched to a 2-wd system and then it went on hold. i know id not be happy with that so im removing all that and starting fresh still useing then for mock up till i fig out what size i really want. i know i dont want nothing real big its not giong to be a monster mower im thinking 26 rear and 23/24 in front like 23s but having a hard time finding something i like to match rear. i do want a tire difference to keep the mower look and i dont really want a 27 in rear, and i want a all-terrian tire. id like to have something orded by this weekend

the ones on the wagon-yes very small and they would get stuck on a grain of sand.

[Torrey72]

How this. "The Scalper" by Allis-Cat. It's part of their "Earth Raper" line of mowers.

[muddstir]

i don't have any pics from the start of it till now, so i'll do the best of a time line to get up to the point that i'm at now with recent pics i took. might take a few days to get up to date, i have very limited computer time.

it was sometime in 2006-2007- the 1st thing i got was a body and frame, my brother was going to scrap it but i was able to save it from being hauled away. i got it just like the pic except in the pic there is no frame and i have done some notching on the fender support/mount thing.



since i got it with no motor, transaxle or front end i knew this would be a complete build. so i had a old polaris 440 snowmobile motor sitting in a storge shed i figure i'd use it here. (i never got to ride that snowmobile so i was not sure about using it becouse of power wise but i thought i'll never know unless i try it. so i went ahead and decided that would be my power plant)

[muddstir]

Knowing that it would take alot of modifing to fit that motor on the stock frame, i decided to make a new stronger frame incorperating all the stock mounts for the body to keep the stock look. If im making a stronger frame for it why not go full suspension on it, and what goes good with suspension goes better with 4x4. So my plan was born. Since the stock frame was stamped like a tray if figured i use c-channel for frame rails instead of tube frame to try to keep some what of a stock look. So i figured some drawings out for the channel frame in headed into work where i made it like this

i picked out 11ga sheetmetal to make the frame rails and all the cross braces to tie them together. I sheared them to size out of a sheet of metal



Then i made a program on the turret punch and ran the strips of metal that i sheared to make the frame rails. It mainly notched the corners and put some holes it them.


I then went to the brake press and bent up all the sides to make the channel.


Last was the welder were i clamped and bolted together thn welded it all up. (With using the polaris motor i had to cut the engine bay frame rails out and widen it out to fit the chain case and clutch assembly. )

[muddstir]

After the main frame was done the motor was bolted to the frame and i mounted the hood. The hood was able to close all the way and not hit the motor, the clutch is a different story but i havent got that far yet. (sorry no pic) Then it went on hold for awhile, i was trying to figure out the suspension for the 4x4. I was wanting to build it all myself but with no real knowlage of how to design an a-arm setup, with cv shalfs, and not having a lathe or mill on hand i was stuck. So after awhile i got impatient and i had to pick one of my options i came up with, 1-do a straight axle set up that was soild mount, or 2- do a 2wd ifs setup with an old junk four wheeler i was scrapping. I pick #2 on intensions of it would be a better ride and i can get replacment parts easier/easier to fix when broken. I started by cutting up atv frame and welded it to the mower frame i made. Then braced it up alittle for strengh. Mount up all the a-arms and other dodads and the front is done minus the steering. But all that work is going to be reworked becouse i do want it to be an optional 4x4. Here is a pic of the 2wd system

[68C15]

this I gotta see!!! sounds like fun.

is that frame strong enough to prevent flex?

[muddstir]

Originally Posted by 68C15

this I gotta see!!! sounds like fun.

is that frame strong enough to prevent flex?

I hope so, I want to beat the tar out of this thing when finished.
I still have some more bracing to add but the body needs put on to work around it.

[fryer1979]

Oh I am so in.

[muddstir]

The last part I put on it before it went on hold was an old atv subframe. All I basicly did was trim some junk off of it that didn't need to be on there then notched the frame i made to accept it. I tack it in place, squared it up, and put some extra bracing on it so it wouldn't shift on me. Then on hold it went.
Last week when i was going to start on it i was going to jump right in and cut all the front framework out and start there but i decided to finish up the rear frist. So the frist thing i had to do was connect the front of the atv frame to my frame. I did that by taking some of the scrap i cutoff to clean up the atv frame and I welded some tube to it. I notched the ends to fit and welded then on. pic 1 is before front was connected and pic 2 is with connectors in place ready for weld.

[muddstir]

After the front frame connectors were welded in place I went along and welded the atv frame to my frame so it was no longer just tack together. Then I had to clearance my frame to give the shock and the upper shock mount a little room


I then bent some metal, figured out how to notch my frame to fit the metal I bent, and then I cut the metal I bent to fit my notched frame

[muddstir]

I can't believe its almost been two months since my last post. I've been on optional overtime since july and then they decided to make it mandatory in the middle of november. So that meant 5-12hr days and 8 hr on sat, so not much got done.
I ordered my rear tires and they came in around 11-15-2011 I went with kenda bear claws 26x12x12 their a little more aggressive than I wanted but in that tire size they are about the least aggressive ones I could find. The wheel is a g-force slammer, I got the bigger offset ones and I now found out that 90% of the tires extend out of the fenders. The fenders that are on this body are really narrow so I'll try to widen them to cover more of the tire. I haven't ordered the front tires yet becouse I can't make up my mind on the rims to get. Im going to run kenda tires up front, the smallest ones they make for a 12in rim is a 24 but im not sure if I should run the stock offset- the rim looks flat on the outside. I dont like the look of the rim but I like the look of keeping the tires closer to the body giving it the tractor look, or go with the deep offset rims- they look 100 times better but i think it will look to wide and not really flow with the look of the tractor. Heres some pic of rims and tires

[muddstir]

The only other thing i did was work in the garage, I was tired of tripping over junk and with a new table saw coming i needed some more room. I insolated the backwall and hung up osb and did the same on some on the side walls then put up all kinds of shelves. That gave me alot of storage. If you look at some of my eariler post pics you can see the difference that it made

[oldblue1968chevy]

cool build


ps, im a fan of those bearclaws they wear good, not too agressive and CHEAP (or used to be) compared to tires in its class

[muddstir]

I ordered my front tires this week they are 24x8x12 the smallest kenda bear claws they make for a 12in rim. I also bought a arctic cat 500 atv frame off of the net it showed up on Monday. It's going to get the front a-arm section cut off and welded under my frame. Not sure if i can get time to work on it this weekend but the girlfriend is going away for 2 weeks so im hoping for a roller by the end of this upcoming week (Feb 3). Still need to buy all the bolts,and bushings for the a-arms and shocks.

[Maxxd07]

This will be cool, Im in!

[muddstir]

This weekend I got the old front end setup that I had welded on it cut off. The arctic cat frame is marked and ready to be cut apart but there are a few things that I want to clean up on the frame that I made. I'm thinking that the new front frame setup should be welded on it by wendsday. Still not sure of a name for it, when I go to paint it I want to keep the stock sticker look so the name has to somewhat go with Allis Chalmers. Kinda like- Twisted A-- C--- or Inbred A-- C--. If anyone thinks of anything good let me know . I'm starting to like the Inbrerd one.

[muddstir]

Here is some pics of the tractor frame without the frontend and the arctic cat frame cut in half.

[muddstir]

I got the new front frame tacked in place and I had to flex the front suspension to make sure that the tire didn't rub any part of the frame (it didn't). So now i'm ready to weld the front frame to my other frame and trim off all the extra pipes that don't need to be on there. I'll have do something different with the front shocks because there in the way of the engine. Here is a pic of the frame with all of the a-arms mounted, I couldn't get the tires to stay on due to the short studs my hubs have so there not in the pic

[muddstir]

HELP I need some opinions- ran into a snag with the look of the tractor - read on


Got a good bit of work done to the Allis. I got the front end and rear end all mounted into place squared up and then completely welded it up. Then it was on to the front shock mounts, I had to put the tractor together to place the front shock mounts so I could get the right ride height/ look/ stance that I wanted. Then I had to sit the motor in the frame to make sure when I was placing the shock mounts that they don't end up in the way of the motor. Now here is my problem the more I looked at the Allis with the bigger front tires on it (the 24in ones), it looked like something was wrong either the front tires were to big compared to the back or the center of the front tires needed to be shifted forward to lengthen the wheel base ( where the center of the front wheels are right now is where the tractor front end was.) Then for the hell of it I put on some other tires I had laying around and to me it looked better but still not right (these tires were 20 in ones) So my question really is what looks better (A)- the 24 in tires- the first two pics OR (B)- the 20 in tires - the next two pics OR (C)- Cut off the front frame and move it out some-let me know how far and what tire size you like with this option. If you have any other ideals let me know. The last pic I thought it look neat with the hood open to show the motor and sorry the pics are kinda crappy I put the tractor together in my basement not thinking that I would have to take pics of it. Some day ill post my other pics of how i got to this point but haven't had much computer time lately.[IMG][/IMG]
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[68C15]

I think you're right. the new fronts are too tall and the wheel base is too short. something sized like the old ones and move them forward about 8"

[muddstir]

Originally Posted by 68C15

I think you're right. the new fronts are too tall and the wheel base is too short. something sized like the old ones and move them forward about 8"

Thank you 68C15 for your input Does "old ones" mean the ones on the purple rims.