Big block OHV shoehorned in the 654

[Greentored 3,201]

Finally dragged the ol 654 down to the shop and went to thrashing yesterday on a 'mental health' day. Some of you may remember my thread awhile back, trying to decide on the hopped up 5hp briggs race kart engine, 6.5 Predator race kart engine, or the old generator 11hp OHV with the busted crank snout. Once I hit the 11hp with the tape measure, that decision was easy. And yes it fits under the stock hood!  Big block power, baby!

I removed the crank, turned it down to 1" and cut a keyway in it. To fit, the fuel tank mounting bosses had to be cut off the block and plates welded to the frame to offset the engine to the left about 1" for belt alignment. The governor arm is literally about 1/8" from the fuel tank securing strap bolt, everywhere else there is ample room. (No I was NOT the guy who hacked up that beautiful round hood to fit it- thats going to get fixed.) The factory tank even works, but unfortunately I had to lose the glass sediment bowl to do so.

Still LOTS of work to be done, but she took her maiden run yesterday after a 7 hour thrash and hack lol. With a 6" engine pulley and 3.5" trans pulley, it is a handful to say the least!

This is going to be a trail toy, and I plan to get the lift operable and keep a second pulley and belt set on hand to do some garden work as well.

Yep, this is my second Wheel Horse. Addiction confirmed

Will keep you all updated with pics and progress. Please see my thread in the transmission forum if you know your way around these early Unidrives- having some issues with shifting.

[WHX?? 48,766]

I'm in 

Did the motor have a tapered crank? If so how did you deal with that? 

[Greentored 3,201]

3 minutes ago, WHX24 said:

I'm in 

Did the motor have a tapered crank? If so how did you deal with that? 

Yes sir it did. Being very fortunate to have a mill and lathe in the shop, I pulled the crank, squared off where it snapped, turned it down to 1" and cut a 3/16 keyway in it. Luckily there was plenty of shaft left to run a pulley.

[WHX?? 48,766]

Ok.... next stupid question … How in the heck do snap a crank like that on a genny?!?!? 

[Pullstart 62,784]

Looks fun!  Are we doing something about that big glob of yellow someone spilled on the engine?

[Skwerl58 702]

Great rescue !!!  Great way to spend a day. I enjoy reading about others who share their ability to do this type of work. Turning down the crank after the damage to make it usable is a form of labor that has been lost. Most now look at the worth or value monetarily of the project and would have tossed the motor, It is a pleasure to watch as this and other projects unfold here on Red Square.

[ebinmaine 67,266]

3 hours ago, Skwerl58 said:

Great rescue !!!  Great way to spend a day. I enjoy reading about others who share their ability to do this type of work. Turning down the crank after the damage to make it usable is a form of labor that has been lost. Most now look at the worth or value monetarily of the project and would have tossed the motor, It is a pleasure to watch as this and other projects unfold here on Red Square.

Agreed. Love fixing old stuff to be able to use it again.

 

 

Great work on this tractor!

 

 

[Greentored 3,201]

@WHX24 no kidding! I snagged the generator for 300 about 4 years ago, guy was needing money and it didnt have maybe 2 weekends on it. I did the maintenance and cleaned it up, ran it for 5 minutes and parked it. A week later, the old man needed one on the job site and none of his 3 would start (see my thread about his old John Deere- my 'not a poster child for maintenance' comment  )   I gladly offered up the mcculloch- put some hours on her!  3 hours later he calls and says "your generator made a loud pop and it wont charge but runs fine, just knocking real bad."  I have no clue how that could snap, but it did. I broke the generator housing trying to get the broken piece out, so under the bench it went, til this week.

 

[Greentored 3,201]

Updated pics and rode her 1.2 miles home yesterday and terrorized the neighborhood. Check out the front spindle wear! I welded them up, then realized that spindle swinging around on the lathe while turning it back to size was a bad accident waiting to happen. I belt sanded them back to size, got some 1" OD bar stock, drilled it to 3/4", slid over the spindles and plug welded in the center, then polished the OD, knocked the bushings out of the wheels and drilled them to 1". Problem solved and heavier duty too!

@pullstart- fixed that hideous yellow too! Squirted some red oxide primer and dark red on it, attempting to make it look like the tractor itself. Just needs some rust and dirt on it

She hollars with that big straight pipe on it, but I went with 1 3/4" because I have a old Harley slip in baffle for those times I dont want to get a visit from the local PD ha.

[Pullstart 62,784]

6 minutes ago, Greentored said:

@WHX24 no kidding! I snagged the generator for 300 about 4 years ago, guy was needing money and it didnt have maybe 2 weekends on it. I did the maintenance and cleaned it up, ran it for 5 minutes and parked it. A week later, the old man needed one on the job site and none of his 3 would start (see my thread about his old John Deere- my 'not a poster child for maintenance' comment  )   I gladly offered up the mcculloch- put some hours on her!  3 hours later he calls and says "your generator made a loud pop and it wont charge but runs fine, just knocking real bad."  I have no clue how that could snap, but it did. I broke the generator housing trying to get the broken piece out, so under the bench it went, til this week.

 

 

So that’s a fairly low hour engine...  but quite the bummer on the break!  My last genny was given to my from my wife’s grandpa, it was too loud all of the sudden, now that the invertor gennys were coming out and super quiet...  ran great for years.  A family member needed an easy source of power to raise their barn and didn’t want to run their 9500 watt unit.  The first weekend I got it back for camping, it ran a few hours charging then quit putting out any juice.  Runs great still, don’t charge!

 

4 minutes ago, Greentored said:

Updated pics and rode her 1.2 miles home yesterday and terrorized the neighborhood. Check out the front spindle wear! I welded them up, then realized that spindle swinging around on the lathe while turning it back to size was a bad accident waiting to happen. I belt sanded them back to size, got some 1" OD bar stock, drilled it to 3/4", slid over the spindles and plug welded in the center, then polished the OD, knocked the bushings out of the wheels and drilled them to 1". Problem solved and heavier duty too!

@pullstart- fixed that hideous yellow too! Squirted some red oxide primer and dark red on it, attempting to make it look like the tractor itself. Just needs some rust and dirt on it

She hollars with that big straight pipe on it, but I went with 1 3/4" because I have a old Harley slip in baffle for those times I dont want to get a visit from the local PD ha.

 

That spindle looks like it made it’s way around the block once or twice, huh?  Guard looks great!  Take it easy on the 3rd gear launches with that light front end!

[Greentored 3,201]

11 minutes ago, pullstart said:

 

 

 

 

That spindle looks like it made it’s way around the block once or twice, huh?  Guard looks great!  Take it easy on the 3rd gear launches with that light front end!

I just replied on the trans issue thread- you guys wont like this, but im doing 2-3 shifts on the fly and it actually clicks in well if im careful. I also tried winding it up in 2nd and banging 3rd on the fly, which resulted in a nice wheelie at 15mph. I wont make a habit of this but it WAS fun!

I also mentioned in the other thread, if these early Unidrives are somewhat rare or sought after, I will gladly swap someone for a more common trans that might not be as big a deal if it explodes. 

[tom2p 2,394]

lmao at the wheelie 

 

never did feel comfortable driving my 704 with the front end up in the air ... nuh uh ...

 

but we did a lot of wheelies with the smaller cheapo lawn tractors similar to the one in my profile picture 

 

changed 1 speed transmission to 3 speed transmission for instant speed increase - and when starting from stop in 3rd

gear could lift front end up with ease and then feather clutch to ride it 

 

installed a J&R (krizman ?) two stroke silencer/spark arrestor for a nice muffled sound ... silencer probably cost around the same as the tractor lol

 

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by tom2p

[Greentored 3,201]

On to the next chapter- I hope you fellas are enjoying this 'temporary insanity', which is what Ive decided to name her

Due to the Corona crap, our state is under a stay at home order. Our small group of close knit friends in the neighborhood are either working from home or commuting and isolated at their jobs with a skeleton crew (myself included), nobody goes anywhere except work and home, so we collectively decided its ok for us to 'hang out in the hood' and just skip the hugs and handshakes. Considering the fact that we are all going crazy being locked down, and alcohol consumption is certainly higher than normal in the evenings, the ol girl got a lot of 'hot laps' by the guys, took a few tours around the neighborhood (I dropped the Harley baffle in the stack to calm her down for these shenanigans ha) and topped it off with a 'beer and smokes' run to the gas station a mile away. 88 cents on gas to top her off!

....and then it happened. See the above 'alcohol consumption' comment  Tried my first wheelie from a standing start in second gear, buzzed her up to about 3 grand and dumped the clutch. She came up in a hurry and carried em a few feet before I got scared and let off. Once she set down, I grabbed third and pinned the throttle, but she was ALL OVER the street. I got on the brakes and at the exact moment we came to a stop, the right rear tire fell off.  Ive driven some REAL quick, big horsepower cars that dont provide the 'pucker factor' this thing does HA.Guess the cast iron 3 lug hubs arent going to cut it, cant imagine why!

With that being said, I would think someone must make a steel 5 on 4.5, 1" drive hub, perhaps even one of the WHs? Anyone want the other 3 lug hub for a restoration? I really dont want to be destroying good, original parts left and right. If this happens, may have to rethink the drivetrain, although the trans itself is doing a great job!

Edited April 12, 2020 by Greentored

[Pullstart 62,784]

Is it just me, or does that hub look like it was hairline cracked for a while?  Maybe it’s the color of the casting?

[ebinmaine 67,266]

Not sure about steel but a horse 310 - 8 in the eighties should have a 1"  hub. Might even have 2 set screws which would help you.

 

[Greentored 3,201]

@pullstart, I agree and think it did already have a crack. When I got the tractor, the key was sheared on that side, but was catching the set screw on a small 'hump' of the key, which provided a LOT of driveline slop. The axle would actually spin a full revolution and catch on the set screw, then when changing direction or letting off the gas it rotated the opposite way a full turn and caught again. I dont think that helped it any.

@ebinmaine I scored a set of 5 lug 1" hubs from a kid on facebook wheel horse page for 25 shipped! Theyre single set screw, but Im going to add a second one. It should be fine, especially if I knock off the wheelies lol.

[WHX?? 48,766]

19 hours ago, Greentored said:

Anyone want the other 3 lug hub for a restoration?

Yes don't scrap it they are getting to be scarce. 

[Greentored 3,201]

I Vee'd out the break, MIG welded it, then ground it off and pressed a piece of .180 wall DOM rollbar material over it and drilled for two set screws as a temporary fix. So far so good!

She made her first offroad cruise this evening without so much as a sneeze.

Long video but hope someone enjoys it

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Greentored

[ebinmaine 67,266]

Watched.

Enjoyed.

Subscribed.

 

 

[tom2p 2,394]

thumbs up !

 

 

[Pullstart 62,784]

I’m sacrificing bandwidth to my working at home wife until it’s 5 o’clock somewhere.  Looking forward to hearing that monster roar!  In the meantime, you’ve mentioned mash the throttle.  Foot pedal I’m guessing?

[Greentored 3,201]

1 hour ago, pullstart said:

I’m sacrificing bandwidth to my working at home wife until it’s 5 o’clock somewhere.  Looking forward to hearing that monster roar!  In the meantime, you’ve mentioned mash the throttle.  Foot pedal I’m guessing?

Yes sir- hooked it up to the original mower deck pedal, and rigged up the old choke cable. Works so well Im not going to change it LOL

[Tractorhead 9,064]

Nice mellow Sound.

 

Footpedal is a good idea for Trailriding

[Pullstart 62,784]

Sounds great, I see what you mean about shifting... must be something to do with letting off the throttle, as to where most tractors are at WOT when working?

[Greentored 3,201]

3 hours ago, pullstart said:

Sounds great, I see what you mean about shifting... must be something to do with letting off the throttle, as to where most tractors are at WOT when working?

Not sure why it works out alright, especially buzzing that trans 4x more rpm than it was designed for. Perhaps since its moving faster than in original form, the tractor is actually rolling and all gears turning while making a shift, versus moving at 2-3mph and coming to a near stop when clutching. It will give a quick 'grrt' if I monkey fadoodle around, so its gotta be a quick shift. 10w30 in it now and after 2-3 miles of riding the trans case isnt even warm, nor the axle housings, spindles, etc...  I think shes gonna live a happy life as long as I do more cruising than pounding on it...which IS the plan