Lawn Ranger 8 speed conversion

[Rollerman 290]

Last winter I decided to try useing a snow blower on my L156 Lawn Ranger.

It did pretty good, but you had to ride the clutch at times to slow it down.

Since I had a 4 pinion rear trans W/1" axles out of a Work Horse I figured I'd throw it in the Ranger & help find a better slower speed for snow blower work.

Besides I've seen a few Lawn Rangers out there setup with the 8 speeds & it just looks cool.

It's a very simple swap

As I said I used an 8 speed with 1" axles so I could swap the Rangers hubs right over.

I picked up a generic 4" pulley to fit the 5/8" input shaft of the 8 speed.

The right side panel has to be notched to fit around the tranny dip stick hole & the hi/low shifter.

Forgive me for my bad notches....couldn't find my sharp axe that day.

I used a hole saw to modify the tool tray under the fender pan for the tranny dip stick.

Useing a cover plate from an 8 speed tractor I traced the shift gate for the hi/low shifter on to the Rangers cover plate.

I suppose you could skip this & leave it open, but it does give some strength to the Ranger.

On the Rangers & other 3 speed shortframes the brake linkage pulls the band up from the front.

On an 8 speed it pulls it from the back going over the top of the brake drum.

I used a deck lift linkage by putting a bow in it to clear the brake drum....works great.

All finished & extra credit if you noticed Gene (Haasman35) thumb screws & seen the front tire is about to blow.

I will probably change the trans pulley to a cast one at some point.

The cheapy generic is a little to wide & suposed to fit 1/2" & 5/8" belts.

I ended up haveing to use a shorter belt since it rides lower in the pulley also giveing the Ranger a little extra speed, but thats not all bad since I have the low range to work with too.

[sorekiwi 761]

Nice work Stephen. That'll be a useful little tractor, and it looks like a factory installlation.

Were there any issues making the belt guard fit? I thought I read somewhere that the pulley on the 8 speed sticks out a little further than the 4 speed one.

A recent addition to my "to-do list" is to put an 8 speed into my 502 to use the sickle bar more efficiently. I have the same issue as you had with the blower, having to slip the clutch to keep the speed slow enough. Mind you I am thinking that the stock 8 speed ratio's are a little too low, so the slightly smaller pulley you have used might be even better....

[Rollerman 290]

Mike I should have stated in my post, but forgot.

I used a 1/4" washer taped (to hold in place when I put it on) to the inside of the belt guard at the two points it's bolted down through the face to get just enough room between the belt guard & pulley.

I ended up useing a 1" shorter belt since it rides lower in the new driven pulley.

Looking forward to our first snow now so I can try it out.

[Kelly 1,030]

I like it, someday I'll have time and my barn cleaned out to complete a few projects, I really like the looks of that little thing, ags and the blower make it look tuff :notworthy:

[rickv1957 72]

Steve,looks like a good job on the tranny installation,nice tractor!,Rick

[Suburban 550 28]

Nice work, Stephen. Looks like a tuff little machine. Hope it gets the job done for you. :notworthy:

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,510]

Looks like you did a nice clean swap over Stephen. Thanks for the pics and story (nothing like Ian's stories tho ) .

Mike......

[Rollerman 290]

nothing like Ian's stories tho

Yes your right Mike, not enough bottled inspiration. :notworthy:

[gattonde 1]

Nice way of getting the old girl to slow down. I like it. I have an extra 8 speed laying around and just might do the same to my Lawn Ranger. Keep the pictures coming. What engine do you have in your Lawn Ranger?

Dan

[Rollerman 290]

What engine do you have in your Lawn Ranger?

Dan it's an HH70 Tecumseh of unknown origin...swap meet find.

Plans are to eventully go with a K181 Kohler.

Still working out the fuel tank mounts though.

[Curmudgeon 28]

Cool, I've done 3 to 8 speed swaps before, for the most part, they are bolt on. Just a few minor details here and there.

Nice job!

[can whlvr 993]

nice job swapping trannys,she will be much handier now

[Rollerman 290]

Just to touch base & give a performance evaluation on my 8 speed equipted Lawn Ranger.

We had around 3 to 4" of heavy wet snow today.

Normally with that kind of snow (wet) I'd clog the shute.

I was able to run today in 2nd or 3rd on the low side & it ate the snow up.

Yeah I know....3 or 4 inches...big woop.

In my slice of heaven we don't see the heavy lake effect snow like across the border & closer to the big lake.

Hope to get pics the next time when someone's here to hold the camera.

Or I could put it in low 1, hop off & get some shots minus the driver. :notworthy:

[Coadster32 793]

Or I could put it in low 1, hop off & get some shots minus the driver.

Now you're talking!

I don't suspect tomorrow they'll be any shortages of 12 inch plowing/blowing pics. (I'm hoping to be in there also)

[Gene_S 93]

Hey Stephen,

Your lawn ranger looks really good. I'm glad your happy with your thumb screw also!!! Next time I'm up your way I'll drop off a steering wheel for your (can't remember the model) 416 that needs the correct one.

Good work

Gene