KAL the Extended Journey.

Nothing much with Kal since I put on the sleeve hitch.  Sometime I will take that off and put it on Thor I think.  Put the Back rack back on.  CQ was right.  It was pretty handy at Haspin, not just for the ammo box storage, but made a good seat when just chillin.

The old tractor has come a long ways from this...


To this...

Yeah I'll bet. I'm gonna put a rack on the MM20. I find it rather hard to carry my 5 gallon tank to a tractor that ran out of gas. Not to mention a shotgun.

Rack is back on.  Didn't blow myself up either.  Welding the upper braces back on just an inch from the half-full gas tank.  I kept it dowsed with water.



You can really tell the ammo cans are a different red in that shot.  LOL. 

Looks like I may be able to get Kal out on the trail this weekend.  Nothing Haspin rugged, but should be fun non-the-less.  I'll try to get some Pix or Video.

Finally got around to creating a camera mount for Kal.  I think this angle will do.  Please ignore the time and date.

Awe the ATV place up here where we are camping is closed.  No video of Kal ripping it up.

That's a shame. Oh well, it happens. As for welding near the gas tank, gotta just watch out for fumes. Especially with a half empty tank. Probably completely full would be better. Also gotta watch out for batteries too. Especially during charging but somewhat all the time. I think they give off more gas when charging. I've welded pretty close to stuff here and there without issue. Sometimes I use a wet rag to protect stuff when needed.

My battery is up under the hood. I also disconnect it to weld.  I had a damp rag over the tank.

Generally speaking I don't mind too much welding near stuff as long as i'm not welding directly on the tank.

That's the truth.

Wow, has it been that long since Kal was driven?  I haven't been too happy with Red lately, so I busted Kal out of the shed.  Not sure how with the fuel shut-off being turned off, but Kal has 4x too much oil in it?!?!  Draining that out.  Pretty black too from Haspin still.  Time to freshen it up a bit and have it ready for some possible snow on Wednesday.  Kal will have sled duty this year.  @Doug posted some of his Haspin footage from last year on YouTube and it reminded me of 2 issues I had.

1) I kept popping out of 2nd gear (think my leg was hitting it).

2) Had to shift a lot as 3rd was too stout a gear to climb hills.  (possible not confortable yet with tractor on the trails).  So I either need to do one of a few things.
---A) Find a bigger motor (love to have a 20hp pressure lube)
---B) Bigger transaxle pulley.
---C) anything else I come up with.

Amazingly enough, I only lost the belt 2 times while at Haspin with the belt twist.  I probably would have lost it more If I could have stayed one more day.

Both times I lost the belt on pretty serious frame flexing.  So some frame bracing is in order.

Haspin 2020 at first was a no go for me, but now there is a small possibility to make it.  With that in mind, I would like to make a few changes.

1) Frame bracing
2) Thicker belt, I was running a 1/2 when I think I should have had a 5/8.
3) I don't have all the parts, but I may consider the 90 gearbox.  It may take out the twist, but it would introduce more belt slip possibly.  It would probably be cool, but a horizontal opposed would look nice in there, with the breather busting out the hood.  LOL, but that would take almost a complete overhaul of the tractor.

Maybe keep the belt twist. Run the belt twist to a jackshaft, then the jackshaft to the transaxle. On the belt twist part, keep it tensioned to the jackshaft. Put the clutch on the belt from jackshaft to trans.

I like the belt twist. One belt is less fuss. Just need more keepers.

The belt twist has held up well.  The issue I think is the small idler I added to help keep the belt aligned.  

A) The "V" is for a too small a belt.
B) I think it is also about 1/2-1 inch too small around.



I believe I do have a replacement idler for it, also one under the tractor need replaced too.  There is one noisy idler under there somewhere.  (Be awesome if it were the one to be replaced.)

Later today, I'll see if Kal can finally earn that snow badge. I've tried once but he wouldn't start last year.

Kal hooks up so much the front wheels just want to slide.  Be a good working tractor in the snow!  Traction all day!

No good for trying to do donuts.

Went for one more rip in the snow and for some reason went down a cylinder?!?! I don't think I blew the motor... maybe a valve sticking or maybe a cracked spark plug?  Not sure, I will tear into it later this summer.  I ran it out of gas for storage.  Also seemed to have been burning oil in the end too.  Boy do I reek of exhaust from it now.

Hillbilly Offroading wrote:

Wow I'm a huge fan of the old style Murray gt hood. I like the progress so far @MightyRaze. Is  Kal-El laying in parts now? I see alot of his parts on Red.

Proof that Kal is not sitting in a pile of parts after some pieces have transferred to Red.

Not being able to do Haspin this year got me thinking about repairing the ol' tractor.  First thing, I robbed the rear tires off Patriot. (I will admit, it's slowly loosing parts now the 9N has kind of replaced it)  Talk about a tight fit.  As you can see, it has Red's old fronts.  Attached the booster and it fired right up.  



It seemed to run OK to the garage.



Little hard to turn with the little fronts.

So, this is what I have observed and need a fixin...

• oil change, it had 2x capacity.  Lots of gas in the block even though I have a shutoff
  
• probably needs a carb kit
  
• valve job
  
• new head gaskets
  
• upgrade tail lights?
  
• if $$ is ok, maybe new fronts.
  
• Not sure I like the frontiers on the rear.
  
• Air filter, one on it was robbed.
  
• possibly a new exhaust.
  

Have you braced the frame yet?

Adding braces to it. Not yet. I was just thinking this evening about a full tear down. Still some Haspin dirt up in there.

Started tear down.  Pretty smooth so far.  I don't know if I will put the Dixie horn back in.  I like having the extra space.  May change to a regular horn.

I may not get to go to Haspin this week, but I will be dealing with some of that fine Haspin dirt from last year!

That escalated faster than I planned.  Engine gasket set on order as well as a carb kit.



I'm gonna cut those top braces back off of the rear rack and redo where they can be removable.



Lots more dirt than I expected.  With everything off, I was able to inspect the belt twist.  Yeah my little idler to bring the belt up higher is a major issue.  Surprised I only threw my belt 2 times at haspin last year.  That will be changed out.  I am also going to possibly step up the drive pulley to a 5".  Engine pulley has a fair bit of rust on it as well.  May need replaced.

Holy cow! Looks like a dog shaking the water off. Should be good all braces up.