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Miths loader project

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Thought I would make a thread to document my loader project.

It is based on a subframe that is bolted to the tractors chassis (pressed 1/8'' steel with flat steel uderneath)
Subframelaidout5.jpg


All welded up, guess what, it fits perfectly ;)
Subframetacked.jpg


Welded the 2 uprights up. They are bolted to the subframe with 2 huge bolts.
Towersfromfront.jpg


Shows the bolts that hold the uprights on, you can also see the bar that stops the subframe spreading and stiffens it all. I can stand on the top of the uprights and it doesnt bend or spread, nor do my welds break, success :cool:
LHtowerbolts.jpg


A bit of bodywork back on. You can (almost) see the brackets that the diagonal attaches to to stop the uprights bending forwards or backwards. It is now in place and bolted on.
RHsubframeandtowerswithbodywork.jpg


I have no more pics since then. I have done more work but nothing that is noticable particularly.
Next step is to move the front axle 200mm forward and the rear axle 200mm backward. Both the axles will be 100mm futher down from the chassis for more ground clearance in the middle so I dont get hung up.
Hopefully by next weekend I should have a nice shiny new metal cutting bandsaw so I can cut the arms and weld the pivot points on (they are all cut and drilled).
Lots more work after that, hydraulics, ROPS, bucket, widen the rear axle, front axle, 3pt, and so on

Its alot of work but as many of yuo have said, a tractor without an FEL is just a slow way to get around.
Cheers

PS, sorry dial up guys, big pics.
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Built a frame for the rear axle and moved it back today. It sure looks mean now.
It went about 3'' further back and 3'' down.
Just wait till I widen it 12'' :D ;)
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Major modifications Mith!
What a cool project for the first one here on FF.
I look forward to watching your progress!
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Thanks, lots of work still to do.
It would have been easier to make a new tractor from scratch (or metal), I wasnt really expecting it to become this much of a project. Possibly a little too big for a first large scale fabriction project but hey, its too late now.
I just decided I need some new rear tyres, how does some nice 28'' tyres sound. Ive started preparing myself for the quote already, I might even book myself into the cardiac section of the ER, save waiting for a bed eh?
Should be a beast when its done sometime in the next 10 years.

Hey, ya think FF would like to sponsor it, the bank account is taking a beating :(
 

johnday

The Crazy Scot, #3
SUPER Site Supporter
Hi Jim; Looks like your making a little progress. Wish I had some of your determination. Looks like your picking up the welding thing pretty good too!:coolshade :beer:
 

emerald

New member
I told ya mate, you'll end up building a whole new tractor before you get all these mods done :)

No matter, its all for a good cause. Widen the rear axle did you say?
How you propose to do that?

I have had to rethink some of my plans, cos the cost was going vertical. Its back to a more basic machine now. Looking into using a landie rear end, perhaps shortened a bit, if I can find numbers for strength after its done. It will save me a wheel motor by doing that. And give me brakes as a bonus, and a diff. But who needs brakes! :D

Downside is, he ratio is too boggin low then. With 2ft tall tyres, and a 240RPM hydraulic motor, I would have about 6ft of travel per second top speed!........yawn. I need to see if any of those off road dealers have custom gear ratios for landie rear ends. Maybe a 2:1 or even a little less.

Making one locally in a machine shop would cost $$$.

Buckets of rain here today, so its PC city for the day.


Emerald
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Way man, really sunny and warm here, jus shows what a few miles does eh?

Yea, widen the rear, I'm gunna make some collars to fit over the existing axles which extend off the end of the axles, making it wider. I plan to put bearings round the collar and make a support so all the load is on the bearings rather than the gearbox. Hopefully no breakage that way.

Dont blame ya for trying for different ideas. If you just use landie diffs that you should be able to get away with 1 motor per axle right?
Take a looksee on ebay, you might find some custom rear diffs for a landie.
 

emerald

New member
A few hundred miles more like, your down south right?

I'm cautious by nature when it comes to fcukin with existing axles. Its the same reason why I havent gone to a scrappie and argued about his silly axle price, then brought it home and go hacking. The strength does go a lot when shortening. I'll have to ask a few questions in some landie forum later on (when I find one) and see what comes back.

I would use one big hydraulic motor to drive the diff, in the rear of the machine of course. Up front I'll use convential steering. Thats another bone of conention at the moment too. The ole stick n two ropes to steer may be too weak ;)

Perhaps a landie front end too, who knows. I will make it articulate just as a regular tractor would. Ok I lied, there is another big word :rolleyes:

Steering is then another conern, it needs to by hydraulic cos this thing is gonna be heavy. Landie power steering might do it, if not, its off with MR Orbital steering jobbie then...more $$$.

So I now need to find out, what is the strongest landie axle made, who can make me a custom gear to bring the ratio to 2:1 or close to 1:1. Ground speed will be unbearable otherwise. Then, what weight will landie wheels support. Next, are tractor type tyres available for those, and what is their weight support. Otherwise, it will mean, custom made 8 stud axles...ching ching!

Perfer to run the calculations now, rather than get half way through and discover I am building a lemon that ate my wallet :smileywac

Rain easing off a bit, have about 2 miles vis now.


Emerald
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Hampshire.

I would axpect you would be Ok with a landie rear end shortened, I dont know what else you could use, tractor rear end?

66706.jpg

Is this the kind of thing, articulated frame? Axle at the front and rear with a ram for the articulation.

I think you got the right idea with the forward planning, maybe I should have taken a leaf out of your book ;( :D
 

emerald

New member
I have to ask about shortening the rear end first, gotta be sure it will take the loads. Dont want to find out the hard way, and waste a ton of money. I just rang a guy who is a wheeler dealer in landie parts and he asked 50 euro (about 30 stg) for a series III landie rear axle, complete with brakes etc. Best price I got in UK for just the axle was 150 stg!......reckon a fella was getting screwed? :eek:

And while Iw as there, I asked about an old 78 LWB landie that I had my eye on last year. It has anew galvo chassis and now is sitting in this guys place with a duff gearbox. Its a bargain price too. Damin it, I am not going shopping anymore, its too distracting.

So, I have an axle to collect and then deice to shorten or leave it 'dragster' style :whistle:

If anything the big tyres sticking out at the rear, will make it look like a real tractor heh heh.

I dont like those articulated machines, it makes them unstable when turning tight on rough ground. All the stress goes through one pretty small area too. not my idea of fun, or trying to keep it in service. The Cadtrac thing has that, as you well know, it doesnt fill me with confidence. I bet it would hurt lots, if it broke wile you were on it :4_11_9:

The wheels and tyres on that JD hybrid are very tasty, a set of them boys are just perfect.

Emerald
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Yeh, those tyres on that JD do sore look sweet, musta been pricey getting a set of 4 matched too.

I live 3 doors down from Keith Gott international, yeh should see some of the stuff they have down there, tracked utility vehicle with backhoe mounted on front with 2'' thick glass designed for mine disposal anyone? Bargain at £10,000, 61 hours. You aint never seen such a cool vehicle :D
stock_2969.jpg


If you built one of them, well, phew :D
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Mith said:
I live 3 doors down from Keith Gott international, yeh should see some of the stuff they have down there, tracked utility vehicle with backhoe mounted on front with 2'' thick glass designed for mine disposal anyone?

Bob_S - Take a look... A BH (or is that a FH since it's in the front) of the machine you're working on???
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Got more done.
Built the frame for the front axle and fitted it. I'm not really happy with it to be honest, not really sure what is wrong though. I had to extend the front axle out as a matter of need, otherwise the rams wouldnt fit and it wouldnt lift over 3 foot. I guess at the end of the day I can always start again if need be and I dont like the way it looks.
RHS.jpg


Shows the chassis extension out the front
Frontchassisextension.jpg


Another view of the movement
Frontaxle.jpg



The rear axle sure looks the part but I am not yet too sure of the technicalities of it. I fear that things are going to start breaking inside the box if I make it too much bigger. I've got spare ones somewhere in the undergrowth but it would be nice not to have to worry about it.
Rearaxle.jpg


It sure is a bit of a jump from stock, might be a bit of a sideways jump I fear
RearaxleLHS.jpg


I might just rip off all that I have done and start again from scratch, moving the uprights backwards thus eliminating all the problems I'm having. Maybe tomorrow after I sleep on it. Shoulda planned it better before I started huh?

Thats all for now, I dont work that fast :cool:
 

johnday

The Crazy Scot, #3
SUPER Site Supporter
Jim; That's pretty cool!! I wish I had the patience you do, much less the imagine. Keep on plugging away my man, can't wait to see the end product!:tiphat: :beer:
 

emerald

New member
I have been looking at your front end (dont get excited now) :D

The articulation joint is a bit too small for my liking, considering it will have a front loader and much additional weight to put with. A triangular shaped plate, instead is a vertical one as you have there would be much better. It would spread the stress along a larger area and give the pivot more 'meat' above it.

Likely you'll be putting new fron axle's on it too?

The rear end is a tough call, A C shape, or channel would be a better support. It would also remove the flexing to and fro, that flate plate cant handle. You could weld a piece on each side I guess. Dunno, hard to tell from the pic what kind of area you got underneath.

The chassis extension mods, make it a mean looking machine, just the ticket!


Emerald
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I hope your loader is for decoration because I think there is going to be a capacity issue! Might have to upgrade to a MTD V-Twin 25HP.......:D
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Well ive decided to scrap that one, gunna put the front axle back to where it was. Move the loader uprights back (they will be pretty much in the middle of the footwells) and do a custom fender job so you can still get on and off. the rear axle will stay (with some bigger wheels (currently 18'', will be 26'')).
I dont like the front axle that far out, just too weak.
Front axle will be upgraded, 1.5x3'' solid steel should do right? ;)

Ah well, back to the drawing board, stand by for Mith's loader take 2, should be back up to the same place after next week (week off next week :D)

John, I dont have much patience, I just supress my rage or throw tools at things ;) Nah, really I just take it as it comes, lot less stressful that way :D Hey, if ya wanna come help its all yours for the doing, might even supply drinks but we wouldnt want wobbly welds would we ;)

Emerald, told you I would be a long time for the hydraulics ;), how's your project coming along? Your dead right, its too small for my liking too, its all about to change :)
The rear axle is just put together to show the position, there will be more struts from the front of the tranny up and I will weld a huge plate on the back to put the hitches from. Its all pretty tight back there, even worse up the front, they sure didnt make this tractor for welding new bits on :(

Greg, tractor will weigh around 300kg (660lb), plannin for a approx 220kg (500lb) lift, it will probably be able to lift up to 1000kg (2200lb) without worry but I think the tractor might die from that ;). Yes, it will have ROPS, and no, I'm not stupid, just optimistic :D
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Heres the new idea,
I moved the front axle to the right place. I drew on the plan for the arms and uprights. I also outlined the size of what the new rear wheels should be like.
Loader.jpg
 

emerald

New member
My own project is moving alowly along. Lack of funds aint helping much, but at least I am getting closer to some engines. You heard right, engine(s). I am gonna get charged for a ton. So may as well buy a ton's worth of metal :)

Will flog off the other engines then and use the bux to buy hydraulic bits.

I have spoken to an engineering shop about shortening the landie axle and its no problem for them. But they cant tell me what strength it will have after the mod. That is a cause of concern and I have to do more research on that before I throw money away.

Ok on going back to plan A on your machine, plans are good, cos we break them all the time :D

Only thing with your new layout, is the lack of a diagonal support for the uprights. You realy do need those. Prolly run that support towards the front end, as you havent got enough room towards the rear. It would only make getting into and outta the thing a wee bit tough.

The larger rear wheel will give you more ground speed, but at the expense of torque. Steering will feel a bit heavier too. Power steering? :eek:

Before long, you'll have a custom chassis, big diesel engine, bigger loader and a back hoe by the time we get done with you ;)


Emerald
 

Mith

The Eccentric Englishman
SUPER Site Supporter
Hey, why not have 2 engines? ;)
Have you asked on MBN about shortened axle strength, loadsa guys seem to have em?

There will be diagonal bracing to the front, I wanna have a cab on it so gotta have room for the doors to the rear, gotta be losing me some weight :D
I got a bigger pulley for the back tranny so will make up for the rear wheels size difference. Cant afford P/S, just get building them arm muscles :D
 

emerald

New member
Havent asked about shortened axles over there, there may be a way of mounting them so I can transfer the weight from a section of the axle on to the chassis rail. It would make me feel much better over cutting a tube then. Only the half shaft has a question mark over it. its easy to see how much 'meat' is left unattacted when you chop one, and then look at the surface area of weld that runs around the diameter.

I have 25 or 30HP to go through those, want to make sure it will take it.


Emerald
 
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