This is BEAST !

Don’t forget the oil slingers and the valve seats

Valve seats are a symptom of overheating. I've never even heard of an oil slinger failure.

What kind of carb does that vanguard have? Downdraft?

Not uncommon to see an opposed with a broken con rod either, sometimes both actually. However that can probably be said for a lot of older engines.

That can be caused by being run with low oil or even a lack of oil changes too though.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Valve seats are a symptom of overheating. I've never even heard of an oil slinger failure.

What kind of carb does that vanguard have? Downdraft?

Yes it is a downdraft carb.

got the 18 hp Vanguard fired up today before i remove it i wanted to make sure it was good to go ! and i wasn't disappointed. carb was gummed up and something was keeping it from cranking with the key but wasn't looking to diagnose something i wasn't going to use. so cleaned carb and jumped the solenoid and it ran great. hopefully i'll get it removed this week.

This rack has paid off for sure, hauls everything i need into the woods to cut firewood. much easier then trying to carry the chainsaw with one hand steer with the other and leave the tools behind !

hey everyone ! hope ya'll are doing good and staying safe. Haven't been on here much for awhile due to some computer issues. but back up and running now. never had a chance to change the engine on the beast as previosly stated due to buying a rotted out broke down wore out golf cart last fall and it turned out to occupie a lot of time. will try to start a thread on the other builds heading on it as i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Been staying in to avoid this virus been off work for the last two weeks and taking at least the next week off all volintary to help slow this spread down. luckily still working on mowers out of my garage to make money so it's all good. hoping to get a chance to get out and play on the beast soon. weather has been up and down but seems like the good days i'm busy and the cold rainy days i'm free lol such is life! take care all!!

Good to see you're still around. Hope all is well. I don't blame you for not swapping to that vanguard, changing the belt system to work with horizontals is a bit of a chore to do. I mean, it wasn't altogether bad for me because i didn't even know how the original system worked but yknow lol.

got some seat time today:driving: Mushroom hunting ! found a dozen so gonna have a treat tonight. ? wonder how many got crushed that i didn't see

a quick Beast update ! nothing has changed that's good and bad ! good cause that means it's running and working great. the bad is i still haven't done my Horizontal engine swap due to the fact i hate to mess with it when it's all working good. and it's getting plenty of use.

Wait till it breaks to convert!  No sense changing what works if you are using is regularly.

Wow didn't realize how long i had been away till i looked at my last post here. Some times life gets in the way LOL ! see some new faces and machines on here! so i welcome you and hope ya'll welcome me back

Glad to have ya back.  Any new updates on the BEAST?  I remember you put a 2300 in that thing.  I'm in the process of figuring that out for one of my suburbans.

Thanks coach it feels good to be here! Lol.

Welcome back, I spotted and checked out your rig a while back, very cool stuff!

Welcome back! Out of curiosity, I see you have a little bit of the hood on the tractor there and I was wondering about what prompted you to go to the exoskeleton. You did a very nice job btw and I love the camo paint job!

@MightyRaze i did lock that 2300 this summer and liquid filled the front tires. other than that she's the same.

@Brianator Thanks i appreiciate it !

@Rustbucket Garage Thank you sir ! no real reason just thought it would look good.

we finally have had some decent weather here in Indiana the last couple days. So i got the Beast out for a rip, and it was running like garbage. carb/fuel pump issues, went on ebay to buy a rebuild kit but found a complete carb/fuel pump for 35 dollars obviously china nock off but i'll give it a shot.

We've had mild weather here the last couple days too!

Report back ASAP I want to see more of Beast that thing is awesome! Lol

Got the new carb today ! 
the Beast is in the shop now getting prepped for the transplant ! it may be touch and go for a while but we're optimistic that it will accept it !!

Out with the old and install a new Fuel filter for the new recipiant !

Had some leakage going on and had to use a high tech removal process ! (Warning i Am a shop rag professional do not try this at home) 
also found the fuel pump pulse hose was cracked and loose at the connections so grafted in a new section

surgery was a success ! got everything installed and closed up and Breathed some new life into The Beast !!


It was a bit cold out today (at least by my standards) 28 degrees. but still had to go for a rip and it ran like a champ. the yard paid for it.

diddie wrote:

Got the new carb today ! 
the Beast is in the shop now getting prepped for the transplant ! it may be touch and go for a while but we're optimistic that it will accept it !!

Looking sweet!
(Nice beard you got there man )

Man, I like that rig!

And I like your spare parts area, WOW!

I never realized your engine cage folded forward.  Either I did not pay attention before or what.  Very cool.

MightyRaze wrote:

I never realized your engine cage folded forward.  Either I did not pay attention before or what.  Very cool.

yeah it still functions like a regular hood for easy access to get to everything ! and fortunatley you can get to a lot of stuff without flipping it up ! best of both worlds !!

Nevadablue wrote:

Man, I like that rig!

And I like your spare parts area, WOW!

Thanks ! i hate to get rid of anything that can benifit me even if its just a simple little piece, it's nice to have on hand

This past weekend was beautiful so me and my buddy took advantage of it and put the Beast along with my Cub named Hoss ! to work cutting and moving  some downed trees. (future fire wood) and cleaned up my trails. plus maybe played around a bit ! 







got a nice haul of wood pulled out and ready to cut and split ! and i'm not sure what i was discussing in this last shot but i'd say it was something very insightful !!