raye321 8 #26 Posted June 20 (edited) It is cool. They should have named it Work Horse. The Raider 12 has been through a lot through the decades. Never been to the shop for any type of repairs. I have changed plugs, oil etc, gas line and filter, normal stuff. Had to replace one front tire, the other tires are original. The drive belt is original. Recently I noticed it would start out slow when in 2nd or 3rd gear like a clutch slipping and found the drive belt was quite worn. In the mid '60s my Father built a tractor from scratch using a 1940's truck transmission and rear end from a salvage yard. Cut it down to make it smaller size. Made the back fenders from 55 gal. steel barrels. designed a clutch to fit. Bought a new Tecumseh 12 hp motor. Hydraulic controlled front blade for plowing snow and a tiller for the back to plow gardens in the spring. As a kid, I made a few bucks plowing snow and tilling gardens around the area. It was a beast. With a positraction rear end and gear ratio from motor to trans., You couldn't stall in. I have a pic of it. If I can find it, I'll post it here. Somewhere in the '90's, it broke a rear axle, had to retire it and I bought a snow blower attachment for the Wheel Horse and used it for several years before buying a walk behind. On the Wheel Horse, I thought about cutting the weld on the idler bracket, move it back and reweld. But I don't think the replacement belt I bought is the right one. Right measurements but maybe angle degree is wrong and it just seems too short. The clutch pedal is almost all the way down when I put the belt on. I'm a bit stubborn, I can't see spending $70 on a belt on a 53 year old tractor; unless I absolutely have too! Edited June 20 by raye321 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,420 #27 Posted June 20 Love hearing stories about machines like that and when people have history with them. I can see your logic about not wanting to spend $70 on a belt on a 52-year-old tractor. Search eBay with the number I posted above and you'll find one for about $44 shipped right to your house. That still sounds a little high but the fact of the matter is, prices on a lot of parts have doubled over the last 5 to 8 years. I've been the route that you are experiencing right now. At least twice. That's the reason why I stopped using anything but good belts on manual transmission tractors. Like @squonk I have no problem at all using a green Gates belt but I can't buy one anywhere near around me for less than 50 bucks or so. So I order the original equipment for a few dollars less. When you get a few minutes to fiddle with it, I would be super curious to see what the actual measurement is around the outside diameter of your old belt. Also of the new belt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,729 #28 Posted June 20 @raye321 i have a raider 12 carcass and the belt guide is welded. Looks factory 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raye321 8 #29 Posted June 20 The new belt looks like 83 5/8", new one 83" Yeah, the guide rail looks like welded from factory, so I decided not to mess with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raye321 8 #30 Posted June 21 (edited) I found the photo of my Father's homemade tractor he made in the 1960's. The picture was taken close to it's retirement sometime around 2012. Edited June 21 by raye321 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,420 #31 Posted June 21 That's ridiculously awesome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raye321 8 #32 Posted June 22 I misspelled in the above message. The measurements I took on the new and old belts; New belt-83" Old belt-82 5/8" ( I know that sounds off, but that's what it looked like) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
