The "Colossus" project

[ebinmaine 67,529]

37 minutes ago, squonk said:

So how big of a chainsaw are you going to have to use to cut the roots loose when you go to work on this again Eric? 

 

 

[8ntruck 7,007]

Is that one of the chain saws powered by an aluminum 215 Buick V8?

[ebinmaine 67,529]

8 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Is that one of the chain saws powered by an aluminum 215 Buick V8?

 

Not sure on that particular beast. 

I found it while searching "Chainsaw V8". 

There are quite a few out there in the interwebs including a few Aussie GM Holden creations. 

 

[Pullstart 62,902]

On 8/25/2023 at 7:57 PM, Horse Newbie said:

… just a feelin’ ?

More than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play…

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,529]

7 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

More than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play…

 

 

Boston. My friend. One of my all time favorites.  

[oliver2-44 9,756]

On 8/27/2023 at 6:34 AM, ebinmaine said:

Boston. My friend. One of my all time favorites.  

An poor ol Colossus sits waiting wishing he could feel like a favorite.  

[ebinmaine 67,529]

12 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

An poor ol Colossus sits waiting wishing he could feel like a favorite.  

It's ok Jim.

The Big Wheel Horse won't be lonely much longer.  

😃

[Pullstart 62,902]

I think I got to page 66 or 72 to find progress without too much mumbo jumbo small talk   What’s Colossus looking like these days?

[ebinmaine 67,529]

2 hours ago, Pullstart said:

  What’s Colossus looking like these days?

Pretty much like what it was looking like back in the other days....

[Stormin 9,981]

19 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Pretty much like what it was looking like back in the other days....

 

Ask a silly question and get a silly answer. 

[ebinmaine 67,529]

We set the engine on the frame to see how it fit in the fore n aft direction. 

 

 

 

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Plenty of room to play with I would say. Looking good.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

Wow!!! 

 

We have movement!!!!! 

 

[ebinmaine 67,529]

1 minute ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Wow!!! 

 

We have movement!!!!! 

 

 

It'll still be slow... But sure ....

 

[ebinmaine 67,529]

10 hours ago, sjoemie himself said:

Plenty of room to play with I would say. Looking good.

 

My thought process here:

 

It was discussed at great length much earlier in the thread that it SHOULD be okay to mount the engine in the traditional crankshaft to the side orientation. 

Issue here is that this engine has a massive flywheel. 

Remember this engine weighs about 50 pounds more than any other Wheelhorse engine.  

 

The static weight center of the engine is just inside the flywheel side mounting holes. 

Driving on any slight tilt toward that side would make the dynamic weight center head that way even more. 

On our mountain side that could be bad. Fast. 

 

Even if I use a set of jackshafts/bearings to move the engine away from that side it would be a bit risky. 

 

[Stormin 9,981]

Looks good. But now all the cobwebs are off, where are the spiders going to go? 

[ebinmaine 67,529]

3 minutes ago, Stormin said:

Looks good. But now all the cobwebs are off, where are the spiders going to go? 

I was careful to remove the cobwebs ONLY from the front half of the machine. 

It will be a carefully considered spider relocation program.  

[953 nut 55,260]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

It will be a carefully considered spider relocation program.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

13 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

A 3.4 Billion dollar program indexed to keep pace with inflation... Offices in all 50 states and around the world... 

[8ntruck 7,007]

On 9/5/2023 at 4:55 AM, ebinmaine said:

 

My thought process here:

 

It was discussed at great length much earlier in the thread that it SHOULD be okay to mount the engine in the traditional crankshaft to the side orientation. 

Issue here is that this engine has a massive flywheel. 

Remember this engine weighs about 50 pounds more than any other Wheelhorse engine.  

 

The static weight center of the engine is just inside the flywheel side mounting holes. 

Driving on any slight tilt toward that side would make the dynamic weight center head that way even more. 

On our mountain side that could be bad. Fast. 

 

Even if I use a set of jackshafts/bearings to move the engine away from that side it would be a bit risky. 

 

Actually, the offset engine centre of gravity will increase the overturning moment of the tractor when titled towards the offset side and decrease the overturning moment when titled away from the offset side - up to a certain angle.

 

I''ll point out that the location of the driver's center of gravity will have a larger contribution to the overturning moment of the tractor, as there is more mass involved than the engine, and the driver's center of gravity is generally farther away from the ground than the engine's. 

 

Loaded tires will help stability on side hills because the additional mass is at the perimeter of the tractor's base and it is low on the tractor.

 

With your property, you need to figure out how to build Colossus so that the center of gravity at rest is about 10" below ground level!

Edited September 6, 2023 by 8ntruck

[ebinmaine 67,529]

52 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

With your property, you need to figure out how to build Colossus so that the center of gravity at rest is about 10" below ground level!

You got a formula for me to calcufigurate that???

 

 

53 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

Actually, the offset engine centre of gravity will increase the overturning moment of the tractor when titled towards the offset side and decrease the overturning moment when titled away from the offset side - up to a certain angle

Understood and agreed.  

It's exactly that downhill facing dynamic loading moment I won't be able to avoid.  

 

It's most likely I'll personally be the only driver of this machine on tilted ground.  

My weight is a strong 80 lbs more than the engine and most of that is higher as well.  

I'm trained to lean into the tilt so that's a help but not a fix.  

 

The tires are loaded all around. The rears have 7 gallons each. They'll also have a set of IHC 15" steel weights. 

Low ballast will be good.  

 

[8ntruck 7,007]

Do I have a formula to get the COG underground?  Nope.  But it probably needs some unobtainium.

 

With some creative usage of 4 bar linkages between the axles and frame, we can get the roll center underground.

[Pullstart 62,902]

On 9/4/2023 at 5:40 PM, ebinmaine said:

We set the engine on the frame to see how it fit in the fore n aft direction. 

 

 

 

 

This is your captain speaking.  Please keep your tray tables and seat backs in the upright position.   Dlight attendants, prepare for take off.

 

I wonder if you could use an Xi style mule drive or the like to transfer power to a side load transmission?  They use an engine mounted that away… but the other away I think.  Flywheel inboard, PTO outboard.

[ebinmaine 67,529]

1 minute ago, Pullstart said:

 

I wonder if you could use an Xi style mule drive or the like to transfer power to a side load transmission?  They use an engine mounted that away… but the other away I think.  Flywheel inboard, PTO outboard.

 

The direction the engine faces is less important to me than good function. 

 

How would I see how an XI drive works?

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,529]

31 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

unobtainium

Tough to find.  .....