Its Official, The Lady Ranger Is Born

[71_Bronco 1,072]

Spent the afternoon in the garage today. Felt good to have a few hours un-interuoted to just tinker and wrench on the tractor.

 

Previously, I had dubbed this tractor the "Night Ranger" as my plan was to do it semi-gloss black. This was my choice, even though I was building the tractor for my young daughter.

 

I had picked up a can of Satin Magenta the other day, as I thought it would look super sharp on the Lawn Ranger. Not so bright and bubble-gum-y like a bright pink.

 

I threw a quick coat of paint on the hood (came out like poop, but just trying to test the color) to see how it would look, and to see if my daughter liked it.

 

Well, she loved the color, as do I. I think the pink with black accents will look super-sharp (vs a mono-chrome pink).

 

So now, the Night Ranger has transformed to the Lady Ranger.

 

Still have a lot to do on the project, but its nice to see it starting to piece together.

 

Here she is, so far, with the test-color-hood. Excuse the garage mess, I need to do a full clean / re-organize.

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,604]

Lucky kid!

Lucky dad!

[Pullstart 62,917]

Awesome!

[ebinmaine 67,671]

13 hours ago, 71_Bronco said:

building the tractor for my young daughter

That's awesome. 

 

The 2-tone should look very good. 

[kpinnc 12,111]

Very cool project! My girls never liked my tractors enough to want one. Glad to hear another kid likes tractors!

 

Absolutely none of my business, it's just one parent speaking to another- but you may want to include running board style footrests. Looks like you already thought of this since the originals are gone. If not, those stirrups on those older tractors were dangerous, and even more so that close to the ground. Kids like to drag their feet, and that could go very badly. 

[71_Bronco 1,072]

7 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Very cool project! My girls never liked my tractors enough to want one. Glad to hear another kid likes tractors!

 

Absolutely none of my business, it's just one parent speaking to another- but you may want to include running board style footrests. Looks like you already thought of this since the originals are gone. If not, those stirrups on those older tractors were dangerous, and even more so that close to the ground. Kids like to drag their feet, and that could go very badly. 

 

Yes, I have considered some kind of running board. The original lawn rangers did not come with anything, not even stirrups.

 

I also need to fabricate some kind of belt guard for the starter-generator as well. I don't like the idea of the exposed belt so close to the clutch pedal, even for an adult-only tractor.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,604]

C series footboards may be a relatively easy retrofit… they have an “up” portion at the rear to protect driver from the rear tires as well… see pic example… would also provide base for a vertical belt guard if you can’t find one for that particular engine… 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by SylvanLakeWH
Added pic

[ebinmaine 67,671]

23 minutes ago, 71_Bronco said:

need to fabricate some kind of belt guard for the starter-generator

Could you use a K series guard as a beginning point?

 

Or maybe one off an air compressor?

 

[Pullstart 62,917]

I didn’t even see the Wisconsin engine hiding under the hood!  So cool!

[71_Bronco 1,072]

31 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

I didn’t even see the Wisconsin engine hiding under the hood!  So cool!

 

Engine is an S7D, rated at 7.2 HP @ 3,600 RPM. Got it for $100 if I recall correctly. Had it on the shelf when I got the Lawn Ranger, and thought it would be a cool, unique project to try to shoe-horn it under the hood.

 

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Could you use a K series guard as a beginning point?

 

Or maybe one off an air compressor?

 

 

Probably going to make something custom. I was kicking around the idea of a custom starter-generator mount, to up it up high like the Kohlers do. This would, in theory, give room for the battery.

 

My other plan was to put the battery under the seat, but I'd have to make sure I add a cover to prevent the seat from bending down and hitting the terminals.