Mighty's Li'l Red 2.0

I'm just about done with the 2.0 build.  I have a couple pieces of stickies to put on, I also need a smaller belt.  The 96 inch I have is a little loose now after some use.  I will look into my adjustment pulley before I get a smaller belt.

Little parting shot for now.  I'm trying to put together a video of the updates.



Future updates.
After the Holidays and got some bills paid down, I will be looking into some new rear tires unless some good ones fall into my lap.  It's going to suck because there will not be any bonuses this year company wide.  Thank you inferior middle east pilots that do not know how to fly, but that is a rant for another day.

Wind yesterday was high and today I got home just as it got dark.  Still hoping to have a new walk around video soon.  In the mean time... thanks to @Creepycrawler for some vinyl.

Looks good mighty! What size front tire and wheel are you running?

8x5 wheel (4on4 lug) with 8" Kenda 16x6.50-8 snow tires.  I wish they were a little wider.  In case you were wondering the rears are 22x11-8 Carlisle Trail Pro on 8x7 wheel.

Nice. Those tires look better on the 8inch rim than the 6inch.

Never got around to making a video.  Here are some pix anyways.

Finally got around to making a little video!

Looking good mighty. Those front tires look a lot more appropriate than any of the other ones you've had on here.

Rode Red around the yard last night to let the dogs chase me and wear them out.  Got a little more seat time to get to know the new config.  Amazingly enough, Kal runs much smoother in the rear even though it has no seat springs and Red does.  Both are nice and smooth in the front.

So, I have had the rack and pinion on a couple months now.  While the solid feel in the steering wheel is nice, the steering SUX.  I wish there were a few more notches in the rack for a little more lock to lock motion. I may need to work out a better solution.

So your saying the steering is too close of a ratio? Do you know what it is?

I have the rack about as close to the spindle as I can get to turn as sharp as I can.  I'll probably take it out and put in a bellcrank of some kind.  Maybe when it warms up.... not too motivated with all the colder weather right now.

Oh yeah, this rack is half turn left or right to lock.  So one turn lock to lock.  Same on on my other tractor is about 1.5 lock to lock.  ???

Like I said, I'll fiddle with it when I warms up.  I have no rides planned this year with it.  Too much other stuff in the way.

Neat paint job. I don't think I've seen this build before.

Jeremiah R. Cooper wrote:

Neat paint job. I don't think I've seen this build before.

Thanks, been tweaking this one since 2016.

OK, I'm a goof. I was playing with Li'l Red in the snow today and realized.... I screwed up the steering. I could have sworn my ackerman angles were right. Not even close. I don't even have any angle. How did I mess this up. I bet if I fixed this, the steering would be fine.

Ran with it anyways, took each of the girls on a quarter mile round trip on the sled.  Red is running really well.  I fear it may need some future engine lovin.

Other than the steering issue that I figured out and will fix at a later time, Red didn't let me down today! Worked like a charm!

Started resolving the steering issue. 


It is an ackerman issue.  I welded on some new steering arms or is that knuckels?  Either way, Getting a little better with the welder.


While I have the spindles off, I decided to weld on those braces I forgot last year too!






Now all I need to do is correct the rack to the new width.  It is narrower than adjustment will allow at this point.  I'll get this thing dialed in.

So... I was not happy with the ends on the rack and pinion as they were hard to work with and also had some play in them.  Decided to change them over to heim joints.  Works much better now.



Please ignore that goober weld... I got off target and started welding up the spindle instead of the seam.  Garage light reflected on the back side of my helmet and lost my place.  Other side is much prettier. 



Just about ready to put it back on the tractor.  Little more cleaning up and maybe some kind gusset to strengthen the gearbox mount.

On a side note... man I am tired of rain...


Back yard has looked like that now for over a month.

@MightyRaze wrote:

Please ignore that goober weld

Hey, as long as it holds...

Heh, I think we're all tired of rain... 2 floods here in under a week and expecting another,  can't walk through that field because it's too moist, and our driveway literally has a small creek running through it because of spring heads the rain has caused to bubble up... Seems like you either get too much, or not enough.

@Murraymountain wrote:

@MightyRaze wrote:

Please ignore that goober weld

Hey, as long as it holds...

Heh, I think we're all tired of rain... 2 floods here in under a week and expecting another,  can't walk through that field because it's too moist, and our driveway literally has a small creek running through it because of spring heads the rain has caused to bubble up... Seems like you either get too much, or not enough.

Oh it will hold, just isn't pretty and I didn't feel it was necessary to pretty it back up.  More metal the better right?

We have a small spring popped up in the back of our yard as well.  Once the rain stops, it will run for another week or so.  And unfortunately I have one in the Garage too.  It's manageable, but I need to get rid of it.

I also failed to mention that I am changing out the plastic bushings to bronze bushings before final install.  See if some bronze MTD ones will fit on there.

Bronze bushings worked GREAT, took all the slop out.





Then I tried something and loved it..  

Yeah that tire size definitely looks better! Just need some Mud Lite's or something on the rear now, haha.

Well...

Li'l Red grew up today.

was...


Now...



Dug out the rims that came with my 820 and slapped Kal's tires on them.  I think it raised Kal about 3 inches all together.

Right now she is sitting at 42" wide in the rear.  I think I will take it down to 40" or 39".



I did finally get it out today.  May need to massage the steering still.  It is a bit tight.

OK, now she sits at 39.5" both front and rear.

Did some experimenting tonight and realized I made my new steering arms 1 inch too short.  That is causing my tight steering and also, my steering geometry to be a bit off.  I basically accomplished what @prancstaman warned me of when I was building Patriot.

@prancstaman wrote:

Would be a good idea to move the rack a little closer to the axle so the arms are angled back while going straight. That way when at full turn you are pulling the spindle arm with a straight or angled back rod. If the rod is slightly forward while at full turn, the rod might lock up at full turn.

Little sample of what I mean.

For testing purposes, I drilled another hole in my existing arms as far as I could get them out and it was instantly better.  I'll chop and weld some extensions on later this week.

LOL, Did I draw that? I don't even remember, LOL.