To mow to drag or to race "that is the question" lawnflite

[discostew38]

Well to my wife's disgust and disappointment about 4 years ago I bought an old ride on mower 
mainly becuse I wanted one but i did have a plausible reason 
and that was I thought I could use it as a shunter to move my trailer and dead cars up and down the driveway etc 

And here we are today and I've used it a handful of times as a shunter but it does have one big draw back 
whilst it has the torque to pull stuff it doesn't have the traction (gravel driveway)

so over the past year or so I've been thinking of doing something with it 
something "fun" we all like fun stuff 

it's one of them vehicles that doesn't have a useful purpose (except as a ride on mower) you can't really use it anywhere 
so this will be a just for fun experience 

here are some pics as it is 

[discostew38]

Hopefully il be starting on this soon

Watch this space!!!!

[comfortablynumb]

A number of years ago I was given a Howard bolens tractor with a robin single cylinder diesel engine and grass tyres.
This thing is amazingly powerful, and will easily pull my RRC 6 wheeler.
Only problems with it are (a) it loses traction before it loses power and (b) it's pull start and I'm getting old!

[grizz]

Dec 14, 2021 21:39:46 GMT discostew38 said:

Hopefully il be starting on this soon

Watch this space!!!!

Watching


Watching



Watching




Watching.





This could be fun…..

[93fxdl]

How about tracks and a dozer blade?
And/or get it road registered to cause confusion driving around the town centre
Ttfn Glenn

[igor]

Where's stigian? This'd be a bit of him wouldn't it?

[grizz]

Dec 16, 2021 8:34:15 GMT igor said:

Where's stigian? This'd be a bit of him wouldn't it?

Stigian has been quiet for some time.

Not sure about his and his wife's health.

Last Online: Aug 23, 2020 at 12:43pm

[rodharris83]

Some inspiration: www.instructables.com/How-to-make-a-racing-lawn-mower/

[discostew38]

Dec 15, 2021 22:43:09 GMT 93fxdl said:

How about tracks and a dozer blade?
And/or get it road registered to cause confusion driving around the town centre
Ttfn Glenn

Funny enough I was thinking and I'm looking into registering it for the road as what I believe is classed as a light tractor 

it would be more useful if I could drive it to the local village shops or the petrol station 
and this is currently the main reason I've not touched it just in case it needs to be inspected or something 

[discostew38]

Dec 16, 2021 12:00:46 GMT rodharris83 said:

Some inspiration: www.instructables.com/How-to-make-a-racing-lawn-mower/

Cool
ive not had a chance to read though it all probably yet just browsed it but i will do soon 
where do you get hold of the engine parts I'm trying source all the bits to rebuild mine and it's harder than I thought it would be 

[discostew38]

So as I mentioned the current plan is to first see if I can get it road registered
Regardless if that works out or not the main plan (the master plan) is hot rod it

I'm thinking much much lower
I want to keep the Briggs and Stratton motor but it will be worked on (big plans)
I want to make a new front axle in keeping with the hot rod look
I'm not sure yet on whether il go uprated rear disc brake or front and rear discs
I'm probably going to keep the rear axle because I need the reverse gear
I will be doing something with the steering but not sure what way to go yet box or rack

Here's a couple of pics of what I'm thinking
A garden tractor in a 30s hot rod style

[rodharris83]

ive not had a chance to read though it all probably yet just browsed it but i will do soon 
where do you get hold of the engine parts I'm trying source all the bits to rebuild mine and it's harder than I thought it would be

Unfortunately it's not mine, however the builder does give a little help:

The next step is probably one of the more difficult parts of the build: configuration and finding parts. Building one of these is sort of like building a small car with all its various systems. Since all of these racing mowers are one-off type builds, finding the parts that will work can be a pain. I've had a lot of questions about where the tires, clutch, and right angle gear box ( transmission) comes from. the gear box can be found on ebay. The tires are go cart tires and can be found online on any site that sells go cart parts. The same is true for the brakes and rear axle components. The front axle is a custom unit built by a company called Acme Mowersports.

A list of parts needed for this build are:

A: Engine
B: Transmission ( right angle gearbox)
C: Centrifugal clutch
D: sprockets
E: Front axle and spindles
F: Rear axle and axle hangers
G: steering wheel
H: Brake system
I: chain
J: electrical components
K: Wheels, tires, and hubs
M: Gas lever
N: high endurance engine components

Many of the others need to be made by hand. One thing that's helpful is that many of these components such as the rear axle and hangers,wheels, hubs, spindles, and brakes are basically go-cart components. Some golf cart and motorbike components work as well. Sprockets and such can be had from sites such as Mcmaster -carr.

Once you get all the parts, the build actually goes pretty quickly.