tractor,quad or lawn mower

[Wendelspanswick]

Nothing stopping you from putting slime in tubes, it's what is was originally designed for!

[Dexter's Shed]

your correct paws yup chinese or as I like to say, cheap as chips, another reason why I prefer cheap is that the tractor as you know, is left in the woods, ok you say most thieves only want the battery, but I bet if they saw a nice new set of chevrons, they would go missing too, secondhand ones still hold their money, but as you have seen and pointed out, quad tyres second hand can be got for as little as £10, better grip on the rear can be gained by running the tyres under inflated, but that can cause air to leak from around rims easier, so adding a tube combats that,
as with my widow maker (which is still running top notch) I'll go the quad tyre and tube route, at some point in time of course, I'll post up the pro's/con's in due time

[Dexter's Shed]

Spoke to a specialist, 7" treads won't fit well and won't give much grip, 9.5" will have the right fit and a third more grip.

The ones sold for the job by the likes of Westwood agents specifically for this job are 18 x 9.5 - 8, and they're about £47 a throw, (or £75 with the wheel). They always use tubeless and fill it with 'slime', that way punctures are sorted. You'll pay extra for a tube and cant put slime in it.
Seems a bit of a sting to fork out best part of 2/3rds what we paid for the tractors to get offroad tyres, but that seems to be the best kit for the job. I'll try without at first as my wood is dryish, but when pulling a full trailer I think we'll need that extra chevron grip.

of course your tractor man will tell you that, after all, he wants you to buy tyres from his establishment and not cheap via e bay, having spent a few hours watching our american cousins on their mud pluggin mowers with over sized quad tyres, and the punishment they put them through, I think for using around our woods they will do just fine

[Terry]

just for completeness re the tyre sizes - changing diameters will affect drive gear ratios (?)
not a significant issue on 2WD perhaps, but more so on 4WD

[Dexter's Shed]

just for completeness re the tyre sizes - changing diameters will affect drive gear ratios (?)
not a significant issue on 2WD perhaps, but more so on 4WD

on the next one, I'll be changing the size of the pulley on engine too, so no doubt that will too

[Dexter's Shed]

I just couldn't help myself, I bid on another one, and won it at £68
having just spoken to the seller about collecting, and it sounds like it just needs a new selaniod, I will keep this one at home for now, and do a few adjustments on it after watching the clips on you tube from our american friends
will be welding quad hubs onto the rear axle's, allowing us to use quad tyres and rims, the rear tyres may be used on the front, bigger pulley added to the engine for increased speed etc
I'll also be adding a pull start, a front weighted bumper to stop the "wheelies" and maybe a rack behind the seat, no bench seat on this one, and of course a coat of nato green

[oldclaypaws]

Do I envisage a race circuit ? I guess with Bernie Ecclestone facing a few problems, there's an opening for a new racing impresario. Ask the BBC for a Saturday afternoon slot, the only 'sports' they've got left are Snail Racing & Tiddlywinks- they should be good for £30 million.

Not entirely sure why you are determined to 'improve' on the design of these beasts, unless you just like 'tuning' and playing. I'd have thought the manufacturers tried their best to come up with sensible reliable engineering. If you increase drive pulley sizes, it'll jurk more and there's a danger the belts will rub on something else or come off; they take fairly convoluted routes round umpteen guides and wheels. The answer to avoiding wheelies is engage the power carefully (as per the instructions, that writing wot you've maybe not looked at? ). Round a wood, I'd have thought slower speeds are an advantage given the number of obstacles, or are we trying for the land speed record in Goose Wood? Increase speed combined with a smaller than suggested wheel rim size, all you're going to do is stall or spin the wheels. ....And won't a rack on the back worsen the wheelies?

Mind you, I'm also using one for a woodland tractor rather than cutting grass, and I am the man who turned a washing machine into a fire pit, so I'm not exactly innocent of a bit of mucking about myself !

[Dexter's Shed]

Do I envisage a race circuit ? yup

Not entirely sure why you are determined to 'improve' on the design of these beasts, unless you just like 'tuning' and playing. I'd have thought the manufacturers tried their best to come up with sensible reliable engineering.yes, your correct, but they also want you to buy thier components, at the much higher price


If you increase drive pulley sizes, it'll jurk more and there's a danger the belts will rub on something else or come off; they take fairly convoluted routes round umpteen guides and wheels.yup, a bigger belt is added as with any necessary guides, same as we do on motorbikes

The answer to avoiding wheelies is engage the power carefully (as per the instructions, that writing wot you've maybe not looked at? ).come on paws, we don't read instructions untill the very end

Round a wood, I'd have thought slower speeds are an advantage given the number of obstacles, or are we trying for the land speed record in Goose Wood? Increase speed combined with a smaller than suggested wheel rim size, who said smaller rims??

all you're going to do is stall or spin the wheels. ....And won't a rack on the back worsen the wheelies? may do, but then an added heavy front bumper will counteract that

Mind you, I'm also using one for a woodland tractor rather than cutting grass, and I am the man who turned a washing machine into a fire pit, so I'm not exactly innocent of a bit of mucking about myself !

here's a clip of today's purchase, this one has got to be the best deal yet

http://youtu.be/VgxWVWMCnGI

still to be seen running, but having lots of biker friends, ie petrol heads, I've had a message from a friend that it's fuel related, and he'll be around tomorrow to clean carbs and re set timing as I've always said, it's not what you know, but who you know

[Dexter's Shed]

just an update on the 2nd tractor
it's still not running, but its getting there, I've followed you tube clips and re wired it, removing all the safety switches that are no longer needed, a new solenoid is on order as well as fuel pipe etc, the previous owner had put around double the amount of oil into it that was needed, which didn't help any, but it's getting there, and gives me something to tinker with when not at the woods

[Terry]

Probably too late, but instead of a weighted front bumper and a rack on the back, how about getting two for the price of one (should chime with your overall philosophy DS ) and put the rack on the front - simples??