Murray to IH 1568

[Pullstart 62,835]

That looks very stout and awesome!

[SylvanLakeWH 25,535]

[Pullstart 62,835]

Mark, if you wished, you could easily grown your YouTube channel, with a little bit of camera work capturing your build process!

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

Mark, I am as amazed at your fabrication skills as I am at @formariz 's woodworking skills!

 

Absolutely amazing what you can do there!

 

This is more than a hobby, isn't it?  You must do something similar for a living with many years experience I'm guessing?

 

 

[Pullstart 62,835]

20 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Mark, I am as amazed at your fabrication skills as I am at @formariz 's woodworking skills!

 

Absolutely amazing what you can do there!

 

This is more than a hobby, isn't it?  You must do something similar for a living with many years experience I'm guessing?

 

 

Can’t be too many years, he’s like 20, plus or minus a few!

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Thank you gentlemen for your continued support, very humbling and rewarding to read you are enjoying this build.

 

@Pullstart I have, and still am for that matter, thinking about posting more 'serious' on YouTube. The only issue with that is that it will take me even longer to finish building components. Also much of the video would be me standing around scratching my head 

Any tips on how to get started and what (not) to post?

 

@Jeff-C175 thank you, I too have deep respect for what @formariz can do with dead tree carcasses  

The metalwork I do is purely a hobby.

That being said, my dad is a metalworker, construction of machines and components and was/is an avid tinkerer. I was always surrounded by grinders, welders, drills and stuff like that.

So when time came, after what you would call college, at 16 to 20yo I went to get an associates degree in general mechanical engineering.

Then got a job at a high precision machine shop for 3 years and after that I worked at an Industrial rental company (welders, generators, light towers etc.) for 12.5 years. Currently unemployed and looking for something else.

 

Soo long story short, not something I do for a living but for sure I've been tinkering away for years. Oh.. did I mention I love working with metal and being precise? 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

29 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

20, plus or minus a few!

 

Yeah.. sure.. just like you, right? 

[davem1111 2,030]

In addition to clicking "excellent" on your pictures and descriptions, I also want to say "I love this tractor and the fabrication work you've done to create it".   It is truly a work of mechanical art. 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Thank you for commenting @davem1111 and your kind words, much appreciated 

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

 Wheels off today..

 

I had already installed some setscrews in the hubs but they proved to be too small. The hubs were loose on the axle after my last testdrive.

To combat that I redrilled the thread to M8 (0.3") while also adding an extra threaded hole at 90° from the first hole (yes I learned that trick on this forum).

 

Now the wheels should hold firmly on the axle.

 

And finally, after what felt like an hour with the diegrinder I got the holes to fit the nut for the wheelweight bracket. 

Testfit you say? Ofcourse! Fits 

 

 

Now all I have to is get my blasting cabinet running and blast and paint the wheelweights and that's another thing done.

Probably going to work on the 3-point again next.

Edited November 10, 2022 by sjoemie himself

[Pullstart 62,835]

41 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

To combat that I redrilled the thread to M8 (0.3") while also adding an extra threaded hole at 90° from the first hole (yes I learned that trick on this forum).

Over here, our tapped holes are 3/8-16, similar to your 10mm 1.5 thread.    those wheel weights look great!

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

13 hours ago, Pullstart said:

3/8-16, similar to your 10mm

Hmm.. even bigger than M8 you say.. No biggie, I can always go up in size. Although I think that WH may have bigger diameter axles than what my Murray (Peerless) has. The key in the hubs is only about 5mm (0.2") wide.

 

Going to try it out like this and see what the verdict will be.

[Oldskool 6,643]

As always.....Looking real good there.

Those weights look right at home mounted that way.

[953 nut 55,189]

On 9/1/2022 at 8:34 AM, sjoemie himself said:

I think i've asked before but those seats.. where could I purchase something like it? Would you mind measuring how wide the seat is?

Sorry, I haven't been following along for a few weeks. The seats on the 953 are not something readily available but you may be able to find a metal chair or stool that has a pleasing seat and frame to adapt to your 1568. The cushion of the seat is 18" wide.

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

@953 nut no worries! There's more to life then tractors  Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I think you're right about the availability of the seat (or any WH part for that matter) on this side of the pond.

I've been looking at boat seats lately. They look to be very comfortable, all weather proof and affordable.

I would like to get a seat that's not too wide to keep the right look for the tractor. Luckily my rear.. erm.. "unidrive" isn't that wide so that won't be a problem 

[ebinmaine 67,425]

3 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

been looking at boat seats lately. They look to be very comfortable, all weather proof and affordable

I've had the same thought for when I may need to go seat hunting.   Color and pattern selection is very good.  

Some also fold down to keep most of the weather off them when not in use.  

 

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Yep! I mean you have to like the colors and patterns but these are very comfortable. Hard to beat that price. Tractor or lawnmower seats are way less comfortable and the same or higher price..

 

[ebinmaine 67,425]

1 minute ago, sjoemie himself said:

Yep! I mean you have to like the colors and patterns but these are very comfortable. Hard to beat that price. Tractor or lawnmower seats are way less comfortable and the same or higher price..

 

 

 

IMHO... 

This one looks reasonable on a tractor. Availability of different colors is good. 

 

[Pullstart 62,835]

36 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

There's more to life then tractors

   
 

 

 

 

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

13 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

   

 

What I'm watching while typing that.. 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Bit of an update.

Tested the tractor again now with the modified hitch and wheelweights. 

First tested it on some compacted soil, no traction issues to speak of, did a good job.

Then went on to test on soil that gets ripped up a few times a week (horse arena) which is pretty loose and fluffy.

It performed well. Still some wheel slippage but not nearly as much as before.

Funny thing is it now understeers in tight corners. Guess I'd better put on my frontweights next time 

 

Pictures you say..? Yeah.. that's where I goofed a little. I was too excited and totally forgot to take pictures and/or video.

 

Waiting for the weather to improve to go out testing again. That wet stuff falling from the sky and my bare metal tractor don't like eachother that much 

[Pullstart 62,835]

That thing isn’t heavy enough to steer, with all you added to it?    I’d be curious to see how it tips the scales compared to a factory Murray..

 

26 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

wet stuff falling from the sky and my bare metal

Patina!  

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

On 11/17/2022 at 10:53 AM, Pullstart said:

how it tips the scales

That is the most asked question i've received about this project.

When it's finished I'll drive by the local scrapyard and if they can weigh it for me.

 

On 11/17/2022 at 10:53 AM, Pullstart said:

Patina!

Yeah.. but no.. only thing I like patina on is on Corten (or similar) steel.

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

No update, just a bit of a tease.. sorry, not sorry 

 

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Yes i'm still alive. After being unemployed for a few months I've found a new job which (obviously) takes up a lot of my time, been working fulltime again for about two months now. 

Besides that there were a few others things that needed my attention so I don't have a big update to show but progress nonetheless.. worked on the 3-point hitch again, to be more specific the upper hinge. Turned some bronze bushings and shrunk them in the housing then welded the housing to the tractor. Once fully welded everything will get linebored to make sure it turns without binding.

 

Turned and welded upper hinge.

 

Bronze bushings

 

Heated up the hinge and shrunk in the bushings

 

Cut out a spot for the upper hinge

 

Welded it in, still more reinforcing to do.

 

Greetings from the Netherlands, Mark