doc724 925 #101 Posted December 4, 2015 They look good and 1/16 clearance on each side is perfect. I also like the hitch pins to hold the loader to the subframe. Much better than the stock ones. I have to put the stock ones in backwards (point to the outside) so I can whack them with a hammer when they get difficult to pull out by hand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #102 Posted December 4, 2015 (edited) Had some more time in the shop last night and got some more work done. The other "horse shoe" is finished and I picked up some angle, and roundstock, cut to size from the steel store earlier in the day. Everything is turning out great. The holding pegs for the front pump carrier are welded (pump carrier fits like a glove) and the subframe hanger cross bar (3/4" round stock) is mocked up in the 1/4" plate "ears". I only need a couple more pieces of square and rectangular tube to get this subframe complete. Its really coming together quicker than I had planned. The pump is due to be delivered today via UPS. The funny part about last night was, I had written off the rest of the Packer game and turned it off. When I came back in the house and flipped the TV on to see how bad the lost by, there were 30 seconds left in the game and I was just in time to catch one of the more memorable victories for the Packers in while. Awesome. Edited July 2, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #103 Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Houston, we have pump! Holy cats these cast iron pumps are heavy, it's gotta be better than 10lbs It fits the pump mount plate I drew up and had cut out perfectly too. I'm told that the weight of the pump itself is all it takes to set the belt tension. I believe it too. I also found that Farm and Fleet sells stock size hydraulic hoses and my pump supply hose is 3/8" x 60" long. On sale today for $11.99. Now I only need a couple of pipe fittings and a suction hose in 3/4" diameter. Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevebo-(Moderator) 8,348 #104 Posted December 5, 2015 Now that is some nice fabrication!! Nice welds for sure to boot !! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #105 Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) On 12/4/2015 at 9:25 PM, stevebo said: Now that is some nice fabrication!! Nice welds for sure to boot !! Thanks Stevebo! I just called it quits in the shop, I got the pump carrier DONE. I've got nearly 1-3/4" of range on the adjuster slots, so I figure that should be plenty to slip a belt over the sheaves and then have it tight when adjusted down. I've got an old borderline mower belt I'm going to butcher in order to figure out what length belt I'll need to buy in order to run this pump off the PTO. PhoenixPulley.com should have a 6.5" pulley for about $20. That's the next item I'll have to shop for. I'm calling it a night. Photos of progress: Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whfan74 2,066 #106 Posted December 5, 2015 You are making great progress and I admire your craftsmanship! Keep up the good work! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #107 Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Here is a factory pump carrier for comparison Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 49,124 #108 Posted December 5, 2015 Just found this thread and will be following Snomo....ditto on the Packer win, nice work looks like you got the welding thing down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikekot3 92 #109 Posted December 5, 2015 Very nice fabrication work and it was well laid out in your cad program too. McGyver would be proud of you ! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #110 Posted December 5, 2015 13 minutes ago, WHX6 said: Just found this thread and will be following Snomo....ditto on the Packer win, nice work looks like you got the welding thing down. I can't stop watching that hail Rodgers throw. It doesn't get old! The welding has sort of come together for me for sure. Last night I bumped the wire speed dial by accident down by 1/2 of one value and it is crazy how little change from the sweet spot affects how the weld goes down. The sound was all wrong and the arc kept fizzling out. It took me a minute to think to check the dials. But then it was back to normal, like squirting molten steel to the soundtrack of bacon and eggs crackling in a cast iron pan. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 49,124 #111 Posted December 5, 2015 I got a bro that teaches welding at MATC ... ya run into problems I'll hook ya up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #112 Posted December 5, 2015 50 minutes ago, mikekot3 said: Very nice fabrication work and it was well laid out in your cad program too. McGyver would be proud of you ! Thanks Mike! Macgyver was a childhood hero of mine. I was 6 when it first aired and 13 when it ended (I'm 36 yrs old now). I watched the buh-jeezus out of that show. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc724 925 #113 Posted December 5, 2015 Andy, I can't tell from the pix, but you did remember to tip the welded angle (pump mount) on the mule drive to match the pitch of the engine? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #114 Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. The kohler command is tipped back something between 5-10 degrees in the frame. In an effort to match that, during mock up, I scribed a few parallel lines on the pump carrier. You can see them in the photo below. With those to work off of, I crawled under the machine and held the pump and cross member (angle iron) in place and chose appropriate set back, elevation, and inclination of the angle iron, made a note of that and ran some beads. The pump shaft and the pto shaft are pretty darn close to parallel while mounted. The angle iron hangs a bit lower than the bottom of the pump carrier so that I can slide the pump up all way to slacken the belt and set it in the sheaves. Had I known that ahead of time I would have added and extra 1" or so to the bottom of the pump carrier side plates so that the angle iron bottom would have sat flush with the pump carrier side plate bottoms. Oh well. It's beefy as is and going nowhere. Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WNYPCRepair 1,921 #115 Posted December 5, 2015 1 hour ago, Snowmobileaddict said: I can't stop watching that hail Rodgers throw. It doesn't get old! The welding has sort of come together for me for sure. Last night I bumped the wire speed dial by accident down by 1/2 of one value and it is crazy how little change from the sweet spot affects how the weld goes down. The sound was all wrong and the arc kept fizzling out. It took me a minute to think to check the dials. But then it was back to normal, like squirting molten steel to the soundtrack of bacon and eggs crackling in a cast iron pan. Occasionally I forget to turn the gas on, it is immediately apparent what is wrong. Makes a big difference. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc724 925 #116 Posted December 5, 2015 Ah yes, the devil is in the details. You have captured exactly how to mount the belt, in fact the weight of the pump alone is enough to tension the belt. My pump bracket does hang down below the angle iron. Yours looks fine to me. I leave my pump attached to the mule when it is off the machine. Makes is a bit awkward to slip the mule in but it beats trying to hold the pump with one hand while you put the two bolts in which hold it to the mule. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #117 Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) These pumps are HEAVY. 15lbs with the mounting plate: Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #118 Posted December 7, 2015 (edited) Haven't been assembling as much over the weekend as free time has been minimal and I can't do much more without a trip to the other steel store to pick up the last of the square and rectangular tube to finish up the subframe. I did locate the pulley that I will be using at SurplusCenter.com it is pictured below. The 6.75 OD pulley has an effective OD of 6.4" when used with a B-section drive belt. This is the same cross section belt as the mower drive belt. Also, its as close as I could find to the stock pulley that Kwik-Way used which was 6.6" OD with a slightly smaller effective diameter (~6.35") when used with a B-section belt. The pulley below will drive my pump off the PTO at nearly a dead-on 1:1 ratio which is what Kwik-Way intended for. I was also pleased to find out that the local Fleet Farm sells 48" long 3/4" ID hydraulic suction line with hose clamps for only $9.99. I'll have to get there and pick that up along with some pipe nipples and elbows to come off the pump and a couple of hose barb fittings for the suction line connections. I'm thinking I'll be at about $70 at the steel store this week for the last of the steel, $25 in pipe fittings and suction hose, $30 shipped for the pulley, and $18 shipped for some hardware to fasten the subframe to the back axles. That is where I am going to make a departure from the factory kwik-way subframe design. Kwik-way designed the 5xi subframe to be a tool-less attachment at the rear axles as shown: On my subframe I will not be using sections of fabricated angle for the longitudinal subframe members. Kwik-way made their own 1.25" x 2.5" angle iron for these pieces out of 1/4" steel. I am going to use fully boxed rectangular steel tube in 3/16" wall. Dimensions will be 1.5" x 2.5". Furthermore, at the back axle I am not going use a tool-less installation. I realize that the Kwik-Way brackets shown above can be nested with a rear quick attach and can both stay mounted together without interference. However, I have a quiet collector powered bagger with a pretty interesting PTO belt routing. It comes off the mower deck and spins a relay double pulley at the left rear axle. This double pulley cannot be nested with the type of bracket that Kwik-Way designed for the subframe above. That PTO belt routing for my quiet collector is shown below: A video showing how the dump mechanism works is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWfwjvN1MV0 and my thread all about the Toro Quiet Collector is here: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/33251-got-my-dump-from-the-seat-bagger-for-5xi/#comment-286794 Because I keep that double pulley mounted at the rear axle for most of the year I figured making the loader frame tool-less at the rear axle is not needed for my application. What I plan on doing is using (2) heavy duty 1/2" rectangular u-bolts that will go over the top of the rear axle castings, and pass through the rectangular tube subframe members (I'll be drilling some 1/2" holes with y drill press). This will make for a strong secure connection and will require a socket wrench to fasten (locknuts) at the rear of the subframe. Here are the u-bolts that I found would fit over the rear axle castings and be long enough to pass through the rectangular steel tube: That's about all for now. A budget check shows that so far, I'm into the project for $760 and that includes $76 in gas and $38 in tolls. After some more abrasives supplies, primer and paint, I should be right on the mark I was shooting for (between $900 and a grand) for a working 5xi loader. I am still toying with the idea of buying a new old stock Kwik-way bucket. If I do that, then I'll really have basically a brand new loader. Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict typo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikekot3 92 #119 Posted December 8, 2015 I loved watching MacGyver also. He was someone I looked up to. Wish I was that quick in coming up with ideas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #120 Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) Spent some time tonight getting my workshop into Christmas mode as well as sanding and getting the main frame into a first coat of primer. Ran out of rattle can red oxide so I'll have to add that to the list too. Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #121 Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) I just picked up the last of the steel to fabricate the subframe. 3/16" wall make for a HEAVY subframe. I weighed all the parts and maybe I could have gone with 1/8" wall. Oh well. Heavy means heavy duty right? The subframe that fastens to the midmount and the rear axles weighs in at 60 pounds. Ay-Chihuahua!!! After the kids go to sleep tonight, its shop time. I really want to get this thing hanging on the tractor tonight. Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #122 Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Victory!!! I ran out of steam but got where I wanted to be. The subframe is hanging on the midmount (it fits like a glove) and is supported at the rear axles now temporarily with floor jacks for final fitment and adjustment of the cross tube to make sure my diagonal braces will line up with their respective holes without me having to drill new ones. I found that with everything where it is in the photos I am within 1/4" or less for all critical dimensions and spacing measurements that I got from doc724 and other sources. I'll triple check everything for proper fit and clearance and then get to tacking the rest of it together and final welding. In the photos below the cross tube and the upright brackets with the risers are not welded up. They are just sitting there so I could line up the diagonal braces. I'm saving that for another fabrication session when I'm not as tired and a bit more sharp. Here are the photos, I'm going to sleep!!! Way too tired to go on.... Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc724 925 #123 Posted December 12, 2015 Looks good. Given that you were trying to recreate the fitment, I would say that dimensions with 1/4 inch of target is darn good! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #124 Posted December 12, 2015 Thanks doc, couldn't have gotten this far without all the help you've given! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowmobileaddict 403 #125 Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) I got the subframe tacked while it was mounted and then pulled it off to final weld. Everyone was right, the clearances on the subframe to slide it under the tractor and into position is really tight. I stopped fiddling around with it and ran a floor jack up and under the rear of the tractor. MUCH easier than wiggling the the steering around and messing with getting it lined up just so it won't hit the frame, tires, steering, etc.. Small price to pay for such a nice implement. Some more pix of this beefy subframe. Still need to finish final welding. Lots of beads on this piece. Got tired of giving my welder time to catch its breath (30% duty cycle on this one). More photos: Edited July 12, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
