rattle_snake's random shop projects v0.1

[rattle_snake]

I was able to get a tractor purchased today.
There are two dealers in the area I got quotes from. Far away dealer was $1700 less, so started the transaction and then they said we don't have any in stock, be a few weeks, send money. So I drove over to the other dealer who had one to at least take a look at the machine. I was able to negotiate in the middle and drove away with it. It's a 2026 Kioti CX2510H

 

[ntsqd]

Cool! How much does something like that weigh?

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Cool! How much does something like that weigh?

That one is probably around 3000lbs with the loader.

 

[M.Brane]

That's a nice little tractor. I need to rent one like that to do my front yard.

Life is a learning experience. It took me a while to learn to not dwell in my own head.

 

[bugnut]

Nice tractor! Enjoy it!

 

[zmotorsports]

Congrats on the tractor farmer Justin. Pretty cool. That will come in handy to push snow.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks guys! Very happy and grateful to be able to have my own machine.

The tractor with loader is 2900, which is a bit beyond the practical limit of my utility trailer. But not planning to move it much. If I was I'd get heavier duty tires.

Ya the roof should keep the snow off...

 

[PugetDude]

I was able to get a tractor purchased today.
There are two dealers in the area I got quotes from. Far away dealer was $1700 less, so started the transaction and then they said we don't have any in stock, be a few weeks, send money. So I drove over to the other dealer who had one to at least take a look at the machine. I was able to negotiate in the middle and drove away with it. It's a 2026 Kioti CX2510H

You were out in my neck of the woods today, Justin.
Did you have breakfast at the diner next door? It's one of my favorites!

 

[PhantomEB]

I hear of your story lots the more I talk to people, they the kind that look down on me because of my overbuilt bronco on 42s which they deem useless. Yet they the ones with huge vehicle payments because they need to look better than their neighbor….or they got this and that NEW toy (motorcycles, whether it’s HD or crotch rocket, boats, sleds) with related payments, more like multiple payments because they gotta have it all.

Michelle is right beside me saying at least your bronco will take you places they can only dream of.

plans are to hit Ruby Falls again for beers in the pools above This year.

 

[rattle_snake]

You were out in my neck of the woods today, Justin.
Did you have breakfast at the diner next door? It's one of my favorites!

No did a 'lunch break' tractor buy.

 

[rattle_snake]

One of the side projects to get boat out of shop is re-homing my old school truck camper. Avoided the ceiling deal back then because I didn't want to look at it. Now I guess I don't care and like the idea of quick and easy on/off. Just push a button.
I went as simple as possible, just 4 pulleys rope and winch. Have to make the front/back triangles the same size to lift evenly because math, so just tied a knot in the longer run. Otherwise need more pulleys to get a matching or straight pull. Welded some tabs to the winch mount.


Not sure I like trusting the winch to hold the potential anti-gravity energy. Need to get a color matching electrical cord and route the wires better.

 

[ntsqd]

Maybe something like a climbing belay device to back-stop the winch once up? Flip the lever before lowering it down.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/Wildken-Clim...VJNC/140-6227519-8580129?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[zmotorsports]

Justin, I did something similar at our last home for my Jeep top. I didn't care for the looks of seeing the to hanging from the ceiling either, but it sure worked well and kept it up out of the way.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I'm not sure which way your rafters run, but could you put an eye bolt to the outside of each pulley mount (4 total) and drop a cam strap from each one. Once the top is in place, you could pull the cam straps under the canopy, hook and pull tight, then relax the winch into the straps for the redundant backup.

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks for the ideas. Have to think on it for a bit.
For the speakers over my head I made 2 lift points, one for the lifting and another direct to unistrut so no tension on cable. But you have to climb up there and do it. Probably should have used cable, the nylon rope stretches quite a bit.

 

[rattle_snake]

Knocked out the gear swap on F100 from 3.89 to used 3.25. The pattern on the 3.89 gear set looked very good. First job is the pinion. Move the bearing over to the new pinion. Found a right sized piece of DOM from the last time.


I had already installed a crush sleeve eliminator. Found the rest of the shims and nut with the lock cut off for setup. Started with the same spacer size and it was close. Went down to only the thinnest shim plus the big pieces and still too loose, so machined a few thou off one big piece. Breakaway torque good so put some RTV on the end of yolk and some locktite on the nut.


Cleaned up the housing enough to work on it. Cleaned out the threaded holes. Cleaned the muck out of the side adjuster threads.


Cleaned up the ring gear bolts and installed them with locktite.


Started with the existing pinion shim of 0.015.


Set backlash with homemade spanner tool. Minimal bearing preload and did a pattern.


Drive on heal and coast on toe, so pinion out too far.


Put in the thinnest pinion shim of 0.012, backlash at 0.009, and another pattern. Now the opposite, drive on toe and coast on heal. But no shims in between so open up backlash to 0.014 and got an acceptable pattern. Measured breakaway torque, not enough so added carrier preload until I got about +6 in/lbs from the carrier and a total of about 19.


Put the 3rd back in the housing reusing the lube locker gasket and not having to clean up or use any RTV. The whole deal was a mess, but I think it was engine oil leak that I have resolved and not necessarily the axle itself. Popped axles in, just need to get some fresh 80/90 as the stuff that came out was nasty even though it has only 1200 miles or so. Also need to swap the speedo gear back to the 18 that it came with, if I can find it.

 

[larry4406]

Even though I went to college as a mechanical engineer, I still struggle with the concept of setting up the gears on a rear axle and reading the patterns. Kudo's to you. I would need to farm that out.

 

[fouckhest]

BTW - back to a topic from a while ago about making spacers, I found this place which offers both 8" sections of tube and cut to length spacers, figured I'd drop here for refernce: https://metalspacersonline.com/

 

[rattle_snake]

Even though I went to college as a mechanical engineer, I still struggle with the concept of setting up the gears on a rear axle and reading the patterns. Kudo's to you. I would need to farm that out.

Thanks Larry. It has taken doing a few in shorter time span for me to become comfortable. Each axle can be slightly different where the shims go so understanding at a higher level is helpful as opposed to following instructions that just say add or subtract. Reading the patterns can be difficult, as there are different type of manufacturing processes that yield different patterns and also new vs used. If I'm not confident I post pattern pics over at irate4x4.com and can get some feedback on what to do.

I have paid to have gears done in the past. The first one I did was a 9", easiest, best one to start on.

BTW - back to a topic from a while ago about making spacers, I found this place which offers both 8" sections of tube and cut to length spacers, figured I'd drop here for refernce: https://metalspacersonline.com/

Thanks for posting. They have some interesting variations, anodized, kits.

 

[fouckhest]

Thanks for posting. They have some interesting variations, anodized, kits.

No worries, I thought the same, I like that they have the 0.40"ID which is perfect for a snug fit with M10 bolt. I know several folks in here commented on your spacers.

I picked up some 1/2" and 3.4" long precut and some bar stock for custom length in the future.

 

[ntsqd]

I'm confused (easily done). The 3.89's came out and the 3.25's went in? Didn't you recently just go the other direction?

 

[rattle_snake]

Yes going in circles.
Truck started with 2.75 gears and maybe 140 hp. Cheapest way to go faster was $150 gears, so went with the 3.89s and the minispool.
Built the motor to 320hp and installed a higher stall torque converter.
Then wheels and smaller tires that lowered effective gearing another 10% (50% total), to the point of annoying even on the surfaces streets. For some reason 3.25 gears are 2-3x the price of the more popular ratios, so got a used set from my dad for free. So that's 20% the other way. Now I'm running 2500 RPM at 55 MPH and can drive on the freeway below 3k.
Not as sporty but a nice compromise. Still spins the tires in 1st.

 

[bugnut]

Still spins the tires in 1st.

 

[PhantomEB]

Added an overflow discharge tube to the coolant tank.


Extended with a hardline down to bottom of frame.


Drilled and tapped the cap for a plug.

I like the rigid line Justin. I did the same thing on my coach, rigid line all the way except about 12" connecting the surge tank to the rigid line. No one will ever see it, but I think it looks cleaner.

my version of @rattle_snake’s idea on my bronco, SS fittings and 450* clear silicone comin today. Will capture it all at framerail then cut for a fitting there.

 

[rattle_snake]

One of the side projects to getting boat out of shop was to be able to park my junk more compactly. Cab over camper is 16' but only half touches the ground. Utility trailer ramp is too tall to fit underneath the camper, so I devised a method to fold it down. 1/2 pipe and a 5/8 bolt to make a 2nd hinge point when the ramp is folded up. Then pull the lower hinge pins. Springs have no tension in this position.


One man job and don't have to lift anything.

 

[Mark_17]

Simple and effective, nice

 

[rattle_snake]

Thanks. Decided to think and wait for a decent plan before cutting stuff up.

 

[rattle_snake]

Bought a cheap 3-pt trailer mover for tractor and quickly found a need for rear facing lights at night. The tractor has some provisions for electrical accessories. Manufacturer sells a kit. I could not find a schematic so I probed all the pig tails I could find on the rear of the machine and under the dash. I found a key powered relay marked 'beacon', but not the pigtail. I want the light to work when key is off, so I bought some cheap amber/white LED lights, switches and a fuse/relay box to build a complete isolated system.

The dash had three empty places for rocker switches. Might as well populate and wire them all. The switches have two lights, one that illuminates when load is active and another you can do whatever with. I chose to wire it to the dash lights. I made a harness for the switches. One is wired to keyed power and the other 2 are to fused battery for the two light circuits.


A six position fuse/relay box is more common and cheaper than three. Should have bought the version with just the bare terminals like last time, but somehow missed that and got the pre-wired one. Stripped out half of the wiring, relays and fuses. Can easily add them back in the future.


Mounted the box near the battery. Hood area is pretty packed not many choices. Made a mounting plate out of a scrap of aluminum and bent the ends to fit. For wiring I bought a roll of 18-3 copper with a loose PVC jacket. Built in wire loom.


Finished out the job but need to get some pics of the dash and lights. They provide enough light. What to do with the 3rd circuit? Dome light? Thought about a large audio system with subwoofer, but earbuds work well to block the engine noise.

 

[ntsqd]

Amber dust light. All the Overlanders say you have to have one off pavement, so they must be right.
LOL.....

Are the rear facing work lights coupled with some front facing work lights? I think that I'd want all of them on one switch.

Muted wide area dome light (red?) could be really handy. Wobbler on which way to wire it. Can make arguments for separately switched, key off, and for works with IGN on all the time.

 

[ptt49er]

Amber dust light. All the Overlanders say you have to have one off pavement, so they must be right.
LOL.....

Are the rear facing work lights coupled with some front facing work lights? I think that I'd want all of them on one switch.

Muted wide area dome light (red?) could be really handy. Wobbler on which way to wire it. Can make arguments for separately switched, key off, and for works with IGN on all the time.

Momentary switch for an air horn to keep the local critters and observers on their toes?

 

[rattle_snake]

Amber dust light. All the Overlanders say you have to have one off pavement, so they must be right.
LOL.....

Are the rear facing work lights coupled with some front facing work lights? I think that I'd want all of them on one switch.

Muted wide area dome light (red?) could be really handy. Wobbler on which way to wire it. Can make arguments for separately switched, key off, and for works with IGN on all the time.

Yes every 4-runner on the pavement has multiple amber lights.
The lights I installed are dual white / amber so I have that covered. But for less bug attraction than the bright white.
For the front it has headlights that do the job (as long as the bucket isn't blocking them).

Momentary switch for an air horn to keep the local critters and observers on their toes?

It has the typical beep-beep horn. Guessing to check all the boxes to drive on the road. I removed the turn signals and reflectors.

 

[rattle_snake]

Maybe use the extra switch for HVAC, aka school bus fan

 

[ntsqd]

I was thinking work lights mounted up high on the ROPS cover/shade thingy. But the dome light idea is more appealing.

I don't understand why their "Ditch Lights" are pointed at me, I'm not in the ditch and I only very rarely have been.

The HVAC idea has serious merit!

 

[rattle_snake]

Rear facing amber/white work lights mounted on the roof structure.


poor pic of the wrong size switches.

 

[rattle_snake]

Current parking situation at the barn. 30' TT only gets used once a year by my parents. They are getting old and soon enough that won't be possible. Eventually it and the boat will be gone, may do a metal shade structure for tractor and other junk.

 

[rattle_snake]

Shop with boat gone. Haven't really put much thought or time into how to arrange things. Will need more power outlets and maybe air drops along the north wall. I made the systems expandable, but still a fair effort.


Quad and my dad's bike accessible through the overhead door. Wanting to add a door opener on this door.


So much room for activities....

 

[ntsqd]

I moved my blast cabinet to a 8X15 Tuff Shed. Just too much abrasive dust finely distributed on everything else, even with a dust collector attached to it. Moved the belt sanders, bench grinders, surface grinder and band-saw out there too.

 

[rattle_snake]

So my tractor bucket doesn't touch the ground when curled. Other machines I've used it does, and you can push and pull material smooth that way.


Ram appears to be fully compressed and there are no adjustable stops.


Seems like I could make another hole with overlays to move the forward pin forward.


Plan B is just accept, and buy a 3-pt box blade/gannon/scraper thing for the rear.
Thoughts?

 

[fouckhest]

That is strange, I've always seen buckets lay flat also.

I like your additional hole idea, good reason to buy a mag drill!

 

[LXCam]

Even though my skidsteer will lay flat, if I’m back dragging I fill the bucket and tip forward a bit lifting the from slightly and go to town. That way I’m dragging on my blade and not the back of the bucket. I don’t see that being an issue for you Justin. Just a thought.

Also getting an RV style cover for the boat and tractor would be my suggestion. You’re going to be bummed out when that beautiful orange paint job starts fading this summer. My skidsteer is orange / gray and it only took a couple season out in the open to wear off the newness.