Wheel Slip-A-Disc

Since I posted in the new member sub, I ended up ordering a new powerplant. Picked up a BSV23, hopefully I can make it sound great and work great on my Wheel Horse parts tractor. Posting about it seems like a great way to keep notes for myself and source outside views and experience from others who have it. I'll work on taking better pictures.

My current goal is engine mockup/alignment. I am attempting to squeeze the winch in front of the motor but under and behind the hood on the frame. It seems I can make this happen with minimal hood trimming.

The engine width is greater than I expected. I know the dimensions were listed and all that but having it on frame really shows me that I didn't envision it well. I'll likely need to modify or make a new flywheel cover that is not as thick. This will allow me to shift the engine more to the left side to get the belt aligned and not hit the factory pedals.

Once I make a mount and have it all in place I will work on the engine wiring and controls which will then allow me to take a few "test" rides and discover if any changes need to be made.

That thing looks tough! Swept front axle too which is pretty awesome!

Clutch pedal clearance can be a pretty big issue when shoving a big engine into these tractors. I actually had to thin up the clutch pedal on my 414 so it would stop hitting the flywheel screen on the opposed haha.

Most folks i know will fool around with their pulley hubs a bit to make sure the pulley sits as close to the engine as possible to save clearance. Pulley alignment isn’t such a big deal so long as they’re not canted a bunch. Even with some misalignment the belt pretty well stays in the grooves under tension and the keepers you have to make anyway will keep the belt from flying off when the clutch is pushed in.

Btw, the universal sort of pulley swap for a wheel horse is a 7 engine 5 trans. Gives a nice speed boost (generally not much over 20mph) and places all the gears in handy spots for different situations.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Clutch pedal clearance can be a pretty big issue when shoving a big engine into these tractors. I actually had to thin up the clutch pedal on my 414 so it would stop hitting the flywheel screen on the opposed haha.

Some trimming on the pedal is a good tip.

Most folks i know will fool around with their pulley hubs a bit to make sure the pulley sits as close to the engine as possible to save clearance. Pulley alignment isn’t such a big deal so long as they’re not canted a bunch. Even with some misalignment the belt pretty well stays in the grooves under tension and the keepers you have to make anyway will keep the belt from flying off when the clutch is pushed in.

I am sure I am overthinking it but would having the pulleys out of alignment add extra drag and heat to the belt? Must not be enough to cause failure.

Btw, the universal sort of pulley swap for a wheel horse is a 7 engine 5 trans. Gives a nice speed boost (generally not much over 20mph) and places all the gears in handy spots for different situations.

I tried 6f 3.5r with the predator and it was much too long for it.

I ordered a 4.75 that has a pressure locking hub to try. The set screw pulleys seem to come loose easy.

I think I have a 7" pulley that fits the new engine. I will try this combo and likely get a locking hub pulley for the engine if the axle side stays tight.

The taper lock pulleys are pretty sweet. Make it a breeze to remove the pulley or swap bore sizes. Most of us just run set screw pulleys, like the ones you get at tractor supply with the weld in hubs. Those can get wobbly if you’re not careful welding them. Taper lock pulleys are definitely the best in terms of runout. Some of is also run cast iron pulleys, they work pretty good and the set screws don’t usually come loose. There are some amazon ones but zoro has a better selection, with next day shipping for most of their stock like McMaster does.

And I only ground maybe a 1/4” off the pedal, it wasnt supposed to interfere but after some frame flexing it started to.

And no, in the grand scheme of things a bit of misalignment doesn’t cause much drag. If you can sight down the belt and nothing looks too wonky it’ll be alright.

During my work week I decided that my best path forward for mounting the engine was to start with the winch, as I want it tucked right behind the hood. With this done I would then know how far forward/back the engine must sit on the frame.

Today I started fabricating my winch/hood mounting bracket. I decided to recover some bits from a hitch bracket that was removed from my old Jeep XJ just to try out what I had in mind.





After some drilling and trimming it seems like I could make what is here work, however, there is not much material where the holes for the winch plate need to be drilled. I plan to make something very similar with 2" angle.





I guess I will have to try and knock the dents out of the hood and also trim it so the winch can fit that far forward. I thought the dents added character!

With the winch mocked up without the hood it looks as though I can move the engine 4 ish inches forward if needed or wanted. I don't really know if it's better to have that weight forward, back, or as centered as possible when crawling over wet downed trees and all that mud.

Forward is pretty ideal. Especially if you can move weight forward without actually adding weight. These wheel horses have a big rear weight bias, you will find the front end in the air more often than not with good power and no cast iron kohler or big mower deck. You may wind up wanting to fill your front tires with fluid, it makes things a bit more comfortable for beginner and casual riders.

Weight on the front is your friend to help keep the front end down while crawling hills and logs and rocks and stuff. Some guys load their front tires with ballast even.

@RichieRichOverdrive beat me to that while I was typing! Lol

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Forward is pretty ideal. Especially if you can move weight forward without actually adding weight. These wheel horses have a big rear weight bias, you will find the front end in the air more often than not with good power and no cast iron kohler or big mower deck. You may wind up wanting to fill your front tires with fluid, it makes things a bit more comfortable for beginner and casual riders.

Brianator wrote:

Weight on the front is your friend to help keep the front end down while crawling hills and logs and rocks and stuff. Some guys load their front tires with ballast even.

@RichieRichOverdrive beat me to that while I was typing! Lol

Thank you for the insight, with that advice I pushed the engine further forward with some space for maintenance in mind. I lifted the front left and right sides individually with the wheels at full lock to check clearance. I also sat on it to get the frame flex involved too.

Not much else done with it today. Winch snugged onto it's place.

Yep, was thinking the same. Nose weight is good for climbing steep stuff comfortably. I have 2 gallons of RV antifreeze in each front tire of my suburban, plus the cast iron swept axle which moves the front tires forward an extra 2 inches. Can still pull the wheels when I want to but makes me feel a lot better while climbing!

That looks like a real beast and I like the red and black theme you have happening!

Not sure why the pictures didn't work but I fixed it for you. In case you used the wrong icon this is the one you're after.

Brianator wrote:

That looks like a real beast and I like the red and black theme you have happening!

Not sure why the pictures didn't work but I fixed it for you. In case you used the wrong icon this is the one you're after.

See what had happened was I pushed that button but for some reason only copied one of the links and did not just press the insert button.

Skill issue.



Thanks for the assist!

TenderBottom wrote:

 Allright then.... That's a cool tree in the background Lol

Well that's about the creepiest thing I've seen tonight! Lol