2 Seats, 2 Steering Wheels

[Pullstart 62,867]

I have a Milwaukee metal cutting “skill” saw.  It’s a beast!  They are geared different for a slower blade tipmspeed.

[rjg854 11,361]

Milwaukee. ............GOOD 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Took the seat bracket over to my shop this morning and drilled holes and bolted the seats on...was gonna go back to the tire shop and do some more work on it, but got sidetracked on my Choremaster project instead

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Made a little oops that I didn't discover until I got to work this morning. Was getting ready to mount the seat assembly back on the tractor and Flynt asked me why the seats were backwards...I didn't even realize they were when I bolted them on yesterday...easy fix to turn them around though

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Got the bracing made for the seats earlier...the angle iron brackets on top of the axle will serve as mounting points for the fender braces as well

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

As if I didn't have enough to figure out with offsetting the steering to the left hand side of the tractor, we have now decided that to get the look we are looking for with this tractor it really needs a narrow front end. My original plan was to rig up a chain drive steering system from the new shaft to the existing system, however I'm afraid with the steering shaft and wheel at the factory angle it's going to be too cramped for my long legs when in the seat. My plan now is to do the narrow front end, and then angle the steering shaft more towards the front of the tractor (similar to the Farmall BN that inspired this build) and this will allow me to build a simple steering linkage on the front of the machine. Found some 6" tri rib tires that will go great with this build, but having trouble finding the wheels, @953 nut where did you get the wheels you used on your 953 narrow front?

[953 nut 55,228]

21 minutes ago, HandyProfessor said:

@953 nut where did you get the wheels you used on your 953 narrow front?

I picked them up at a flea market a few years back. I think they would be rather tall for your tractor, perhaps a pair of 4" would be better.

         I'm thinking that you may want to run dual rear tires if you plan to go with a narrow front end. Weight distribution and stability could become an issue with one person on yours.

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

23 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

I picked them up at a flea market a few years back. I think they would be rather tall for your tractor, perhaps a pair of 4" would be better.

         I'm thinking that you may want to run dual rear tires if you plan to go with a narrow front end. Weight distribution and stability could become an issue with one person on yours.

Very good points made there, thank you. I'll keep looking for some 4" wheels and tires. You brought up a valid point of running dual rear tires as well, that was actually in my mind when I originally came up with this idea, may go back to that route

[Pullstart 62,867]

I agree with Richard Bryce, duals would be very good on a narrow front 2 seater.  Are those rears 6-12’s?  A set of those would do well to help with stability!

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Yes they are 6-12s Kevin...guess I need to be locating another pair of wheels and fab up some adapters

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

New steering wheel from Steiner Tractor was delivered last week. Had another extremely slow day at work today, so I did some figuring out on the mounting of the two wheels. As much as I would like to have the look of the tricycle front, safety concerns (coupled with the fact that I can't seem to locate another set of wheels to dual the rears) made me decide to keep the stock front axle. I did however turn it around a half turn so the steering mechanism is in front of the frame instead of up underneath. This way I can fabricate a pitman arm on the end of the steering shaft connected to the axle by a single tie rod, quite simple design but should work quite well. 

 

Tacked some of the mount together and got the drivers wheel and shaft mounted where I want them, and that's when I noticed I had a brain fart. I removed the engine prior to welding since the gas tank leaks a bit, and wasn't thinking about the belt or the belt guard. The original design I had is going to interfere with them, reengineered a better idea in my head but ran out of time to put it together. Luckily its all just tacked together so should come apart pretty easily.

[8ntruck 7,004]

By turning the front axle around, you have changed the Akerman angle on the front steering.  Not sure how well the tractor will steer.

 

Notice that the steering arms on the front axle are angled in towards each other.  This is the Akerman angle.  In the stock axle location with therein rod behind the axle, the Akerman angle will cause the wheel on the inside of the turn to turn sharper than the wheel on the outside of the turn.  This prevents the tires from scrubbing in the turn.

 

With the tie rod in front of the axle and the steering arms angled towards each other, the outside tire will turn sharper than the inside tire - opposite of what you want to happen.  The front tires will be scrubbing in a turn.

 

You can improve the steering geometry by making the steering arms parallel when the front wheels are straight (dirt track race car practice), or angling them outwards at the same angle that they are now angled toward each other.  Different length tie rods will be needed for either solution.  Not sure if you will have tire clearance if you angle the steering arms outward, though.

 

I look forward to following the rest of your build.

[Lee1977 6,659]

If you ever do a tricycle front. There is an old Case Tractor where they went out front of the hood raised the frame for larger front tires. 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

26 minutes ago, Lee1977 said:

If you ever do a tricycle front. There is an old Case Tractor where they went out front of the hood raised the frame for larger front tires. 

Funny you should mention that. I just bought one of those Case DCs with the front end you are referring to today, only mine has the adjustable wide front on it. But I do know where there is another one with the tricycle front not too far from where I picked this one up today.

[Pullstart 62,867]

Bryce, the first thing I thought of was what bill pointed out about Ackerman.  Your inside tire should turn sharper than the outside.  If you turn them by hand the way they are now, most likely the front won’t turn much bout the outside will.  Looks good though, I like the idea of your steering box fix!

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Been a while since I’ve had any motivation to work on this build. Snowed most of the day here today, so the business at the shop was slow. Had to go out on a couple wrecker calls, but between that I had a lot of free time on my hands. So figured what the heck I’d drag it out of the corner and work on it. Enlarged the center hole on the other rear wheel so it would fit the hub, and got it installed on the tractor. Also got the steering mechanism figured out, and worked on re-engineering the mounts for the steering wheels. Think I’ve got a better system figured out that won’t interfere with the drive belt.

[ebinmaine 67,496]

Good to see you're back at it!

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Good to see you're back at it!

It feels good to be back working on it again...after Krystal and the boys left I just couldn’t find the motivation to work on it...so it got shoved in the corner of the shop with a bunch of stuff piled around it. Our offfice manager’s kids have been doing a lot of their school work from here at the shop with all the distance learning due to COVID. Her son found it the other day and asked me what it was and if he could ride on it, that was enough to motivate me to get busy on it again.

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Guy I work with was cleaning his garage out and found this a while back. He brought it to me and thought I needed to incorporate it into this build somehow...I’m thinking custom shifter would be the perfect fit for it. 

[ebinmaine 67,496]

38 minutes ago, HandyProfessor said:

custom shifter

Agreed

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

It occurred to me I mentioned making the wheel fit the hub, but I never updated on what wheels I was using for the rear. I bought these 12” trailer wheels back in the summer for a steal. They had scratches on them so I was able to purchase them for something like $8 a piece...bolt pattern was perfect but the center hub hole was just a bit small. Little bit of work with my die grinder and a round flap wheel and they fit perfectly now

[Pullstart 62,867]

Good stuff, Bryce!

[WHNJ701 4,165]

22 hours ago, HandyProfessor said:

Guy I work with was cleaning his garage out and found this a while back. He brought it to me and thought I needed to incorporate it into this build somehow...I’m thinking custom shifter would be the perfect fit for it. 

It's kinda got that baird beaver tractor steering look to it?  Did he know what it was from

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

4 hours ago, jabelman said:

It's kinda got that baird beaver tractor steering look to it?  Did he know what it was from

I honestly have no idea what it came off of...but it did make for an awesome shifter...still got some final details to work out on it, but it looks good on there

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Got the mounts for the second wheel put on today...now I’m at a standstill until I can get another steering wheel ordered from Steiner. Need to get back over to Woodward Steel and pick up another seat too...robbed one of them for another project a while back