Planning, Plotting, And Scheming- Name TBA

Well- I've been thinking about and talking about it. Time to take the first step- eyeballing and documenting. First- The starting point. It's a long-dead 1970-something (unsure as of yet) Bolens garden tractor. It's a hydro, and everything about it screams "BEEF!". The frame is quite stout, the front axle is a heavy cast-iron bugger, the hydro transaxle is also cast iron and huge. As big and badass as the hydro is, it's leaving. It did work when parked but I have a driveline idea I want to explore.

The original engine is long gone, a previous owner replaced it with a 18hp Vanny horizontal, which has been sitting in my garage. Needed a carb job when parked.

The plan: Another Mobile Utility and Light Extrication, bigger, badder, better. Standard features will include MULE's usuals- Bigger more aggressive tires, onboard air compressor and battery boost, winch, tool and fuel storage, etc. What's new? Aside from simply "bigger", the driveline is going to take a major left-hand turn. Briggs Vanny V-Twin 18hp horizontal, Comet 40 CVT, Race-Prepped Peerless 700 transmission, Disc Brakes, Live (go kart) axle. Ultimately, I'd like to make it a tandem, but we will see. I'd like to build a pickup-style bed, and an A-Frame or some other rear load-lifting apparatus. Not shown is the hood and seat (I have them) and the rear fender unit which I reconfigured to go on General Mayhem. Here's the starting point-

****************************************EDIT 03/11/14***********************************
I've decided The John Deere 112 will become MULEII. This project WILL continue, under a different name to be announced later

Wow awesome looking I love the older tractors I want one

I sure would be looking at that hydro to see if you can speed it up. Maybe swap some gears. Even though that is a beefier axle, we have snapped cart iron axles, they can be brittle.

Another frame up. Sweet build plans, when will all the parts be together?

Nah- as much as I am 100% sure that I could drop this hydro transaxle off a cliff and it would live, there's a driveline proof-of concept I am after. I am not planning on getting rid of it, it may yet get used somewhere.

I have the BULK of the parts together- frame, engine, RAGB, Comet40 complete, Peerless 700. I Have an axle with two good pillow blocks, plenty of brake parts and options. I have 2 rear tires and rims that I MIGHT use, and an assortment of front rim possibilities. I checked on the front tires I wanted to use, the rubber's shot. Dang.

Got some highlights from the start of the teardown. In no order- the BIG SOB cast iron hydro transaxle. The very cool, very re-useable mechanical brake calipers and the 1 1/4" keyed brake rotors/wheel hubs. The now very bare looking chassis.

That's the largest mower hydro I've seen. It has to be useful somewhere.

Agreed stretch. How big are the axles? Its like the Rockwell of hydros.

Rockwell indeed. And the axleshafts are 1 1/4", keyed. Which is great because it throws the door open to adaptation with common parts. I verified size by fitting a short section of 1 1/4" shaft (excess cut off the General) into the hubs.

I've got pretty much everything stripped bare now. The rear wheels, tires, and axle you see are there temporarily so I can roll it around to work on it.

the hubs are even better because you could put brakes back on and not worry about brake rotors.... haha nice.

I am thinking about it. I have a lot of braking options. I have these original mechanical calipers (2) A new in box go kart mechanical, a used of same type, and some hydro stuff. Either way, I'll be able to put this thing into a skid at speed...

Id use originals since they mount up already. Lol

Bit of a tough problem there, though. The axle shaft I was planning on using is smaller- can't remember if it's 1 3/16" or 1 1/8" so obviously the 1 1/4" goodies won't fit. I have to spend some time deciding if I should source another axle, or stick to what I have...

Probably 1 1/8. I havnt seen 3/16 yet. But who knows. Anythings possible

Anything IS possible, will measure later. Keyed shafting is available in a very wide variety of sizes, as are bearings, hubs, etc. This is farm and industrial driveline stuff, not go kart. Therefore, don't be surprised.

Gettin' Briggy wid it! A productive morning.

When the engine was last run, it was starting to need a carb job. I remember it needed the choke on to run, and then it was mothballed nearly 5 years ago.

I tore into the carb this morning and cleaned everything out. Was pretty nasty in there. So nasty in fact, that the anti-afterfire solenoid was siezed solid in the closed position. I whipped out ye olde wirecutters and cut the pin off, as well as the wire. Seeya!

Cleaned everything out, slapped the carb back on, rigged a gravity-feed test tank, et voila! Cranked right up, and idled nicely. Bueno.

This engine has a few very nice features. 20 amp regulated charging system, full pressure lube system with spin-on oil filter, and an auxiliary PTO shaft on the flywheel side. This is good. If I run into too many clearance issues running the CVT on the "normal" side, I can put it on the flywheel side and order a reverse-wind spring to run it backwards.

It wont work Doc... Not that twin. It wont do it.
Better to just send it to me for proper disposal... lol

PTO O.O more like a easyer way to mount a supercharger setup *HINT HINT HINT HINT* (did ya get that hint LOL )

Y'know... I HAVE been burning braincells trying to figure out what I can do with the auxiliary shaft! Sadly Jay (sorry) I doubt it will be running a supercharger. I might run an automotive alternator, But I'm leaning towards a hydraulic pump. To run what? Not sure yet, but I do have a useful ram...

maybe a old pump from a pickup truck snowplow, that would be cool.

The hydraulic pump could be for the tow bar to lift it. Instead of manual crank.

@crazykid1994 wrote:

The hydraulic pump could be for the tow bar to lift it. Instead of manual crank.

Now you're thinking! That is indeed one of the thoughts that I had. I have a couple of pump options and a small valve I can use. That's a little later on down the road. This driveline I'm scheming up is gonna take some doing...

Well if you run a steel box tube down the frame you could run the hydraulic lines through it and up into the ram. That way its hidden from any dangers of exploding lines or being cut