Project T-Rex

I hope you all have a good day and just like I said here is Project XXXXXX.
To start I have the main components


We have a Yard Machine frame and body. (Yes it has been a ATLT before hence all of the mud)

We are going to run a 3-5 HP honda engine


Paired with a Peerless 915


I thought it was cool but it has grease fittings!


That is all for now just wanted to get the thread started!

3-5hp interesting. I ran a 6hp on an ATLT for a while. Worked well. It's just moving the mower. Might lack in power for more strenuous activities like deeper mud and hills. Need project there!

I’ve seen a few folks run push mower or pressure washer engines on tractors, they will definitely pull a tractor around fine as they’re so light. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Excellent! Starting from scratch should make an interesting build!

Well an afternoons work led to this. (Also this thing has been named T-Rex by the person we are building it for)

The small rims are just for moving around the shop.

But lets look at what made this happen.
First we had to make mounting brackets as this 915 is wider then the FNR



This is what it looked like mounted up


We also took the Vari-drive system out so lots of room to build a clutch


And we will have plenty of space for mounting up to honda motor in it. The top speed for this build will be bout 10 MPH so not woried about power.



Also this 915 is so worn out there is about 1/4 inch of up and down play in the axles!!
Things to work out are tires for the rear. I am looking for smaller and narrow ag tires so if you know of any cheapo ones that would be appreciated. Need to make a clutch, brake, and shifter.

Please give me any constructive critsism as that is why i joined!

Also just thought I'd mention that i was glad the 915 was wider for angles and tipping also I want to run smaller tires for low center of gravity. Where this mower is going it shoundnt need alot of clearance

When you made your new braces for the 915, did you need to lower the mounts for a better alignment for the belt to engine? I know varidrive units the trans pulleys can tend to be up higher in the rear.

Since the engine isn't installed its just sitting on the frame we didnt check that (Pro move lol) the trans did get lowered bout 1/2 inch making the rear end sit higher i think a little bit of a taller pulley should solve our problems but I am open to better ideas. (I know they are out there...)

No, the lower pulley will be better for a direct to engine application. You may have to lower it just a tiny bit more. Once you get your engine in you can better eyeball that.

Ahh ok thanks for the input. We will figure out belt alignment once motor is in which will prob be the next step. I also didn't think that the varidrive prob messes normal belt alignment

Sorry guys had to go into work at 4:45 this morning so no work got done on T-Rex I have to go into to work around 6 so hopefully after work tommorow I can look at mounting the engine or something.

Why Hallo!
So today got us an afternoons worth of work!
First we decided to run the small rears and run them so to make them work we made some spacers to keep the wheel where it belongs.
And they worked out nicely. The right side rim has a diff offset so no washer was needed with the spacer.


Now here is where i ask yall to keep the hate back...Now know that there wasnt another option at the time... so to run this rear wheel setup we need keys lik all LTs but this set of rims didnt have key ways...
("It'll Be Fine"- Ike/CarsandCameras)



Yea thats a wood screw... Moving on!

Atempted builting a recoil start didnt work out will make classic pulley on top of flywheel later.
A bummer seeing i thought i did pretty good. For a personal level tho.


Also Striped most of the wiring. This thing aint going to need any.


Then started on moutning engine. Got the rear 2 bolts mocked up just need to drill the hole for the front!



Will thats it for this one and deff more to come! Please Give me your thoughts!

Not going to hate, but I bet it isn't going to last long.   

Yea I know I was told for now just to try and wedge something in there to take up the space so if we get it driving before we get correct rims and tires we could test everything

Also @MightyRaze or anybody do you have ideas on making a clutch I'm kinda clueless at this point but I know I need to make it so I was just wondering If you had a previous post or would explain to me the working gs of a vertical shaft clutch. Thanks for all of your advice!

Going from a non-clutching tractor will be a task.  You will need to build a braking/clutching from scratch.  I would search out some tractor diagrams for some Ideas.  You have a front clutch pulley idea like many craftsmans, then there are some rear pulley ideas like murray.

Few ideas here:
Clutch set up (atltf.com)

Here is one that I set up once.  Worked well.
Basically you will need some kind of pedal, and a rod to attach a point to pull a rod to pivot a pulley or pulleys. You can have the same rod pull the brake lever after some pulling. Or as many like to do and that is a seperate brake and clutch pedal.



Hope this helps get the ball rolling.

Couple more vids.

@MightyRaze OK I thunk I get the idea and I do plan on running the brake as a hand lever so not worry about that and this tractor does have a pedal and rod in I just need to set up the pivot point and pulleys. Thanks so much1

Excellent! I wasn't sure as I didn't see that side of the tractor. That will make things a lot easier.

@MightyRaze Yes! We plan on working on it this afternoon noon so hopefully we can mount the motor and move along on the list!

Well some more progress!

First I tore the fender pan of it for better access for making the front trans mount, the shifter, clutch, and brake. Todays goal was to start on the brake. After first figuring out how a LT disk brake worked ( My suburbran is has a band brake) I tore it apart to see if i could make a car style E- brake.

I then put it back on to relize what i already knew would happen and you might also be thinking. Rotate. in V 1.0 I only have one bolt honding it so it rotated. V 2.0 had me cut my first piece of shipping crate bracket in have to give be and adjustable and sizeed per fect extension that gives my more leverage on the brakes and more mounting holes for my handle. And i used the single hole in the brake leer as my mount and not to worry as this peice of angle is angled on both sides and just the right amount so a very good find!


Then it was installed and that where the brakes were left for today.


Also found my first evidence that this is a 915.(Just went of what someone told me)

Then we mounted the engine which ended up being a poain but she in most of the way may have some more fine tuning down to it later but shes in there and we just need to see if it runs! It should do as the person I got it from said they had it running.

Then we also need an exhaust. I am think something simple like a stack or a dump right in front of the foot boards. Let me know what you think!

Looking good! I don’t recommend stacks as in the case of a roll over, being impaled by a hot exhaust pipe doesn’t strike me as very fun.

That 915 is quite the odd transmission, having the input off to the side like that.

Sounds good. Didn't think about roll overs... this tractor needs to be the appadimy of safety so good call thanks!

Got her to run! Who know Gasoline engines needed Gasoline!

Sorry cant show vid but she runs fine just needs a little carb clean as surges a little

Hallo and sorry for the long time in between updates. (Life got busy)
Today was mostly brainstorming but we did get some done.
We finished the brake lever for now at least it may change


Trying to make it like a car E-Brake may make it longer in the future.


Now i have some icing on the cake. Its about the clutch system. I have been thinking about how to do it and i do know what i would do but i think in this build it would be best to run a centrifugal clutch
like this
https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Garage-Centrifugal-Clutch-Pulley/dp/B08CN8MP7C/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=centrifugal+clutch&qid=1689215268&sr=8-15
So what do you guys think of that i dont see any probs with it yet and I think I will order one up soon!