Don Campbell's Workshop

[Don Campbell]

We have jd tractors still on the farm in central michigan but I also farmed for my brother in law many years ago with Case Tractors. I very much like Case-ih and would like to build a mini case ih tractor.
My first ever garden tractor was a Sears 18 hp twin and it was a great little tractor .
No complaints at all , for the cheap prices these box store throw away tractors are great. Every couple years you get to buy a brand new one.
I see the old bolens , simplicity , the monkey wards , etc. I buy are are well built for light duty use. I have had good luck with the 12 brand new jd's I have bought over the years. Otherwise I would probably go with Kabota because they have a large dealership near our town.

 

[Don Campbell]

Another project I have wanted to do too is buy a 6 foot snowblower and mount a 30 hp v-twin engine on it and hook it to the front of my mini loader.
Kinda like this set up but mine would be much lighter than this one.
Low range in my loader is very slow and it would work great
Just another possible fun project for the future.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

Is this guy a relative of yours?

http://www.snowplownews.com/video/v8-snowblower

 

[Don Campbell]

ha,ha,ha.
Time to see if I can pedal the old tractor. With only 208 hours on it and a brand new snowblower it still looks pretty good.
Got to make room for that brand new JD 758 4x4 with the larger 54in. snowblower .

 

[Don Campbell]

Put the tractor out by the road yesterday and got a lot of lookers. We'll see today if anyone comes up with the money.
Todays picture shows the JD 425 Z-trak I bought a few weeks ago . The fellow did not know if it ran or if the hydraulics worked but I bought it anyway for the parts for a mini dozer. Got it home , puttered a half a day cleaning it up and checking it over and it fired right up and drove perfect.
I have mowed my lawn now twice with it and done the fall leaf cleanup with it . I love it !! $600.00 was a gamble but it payed off
This is my best buy in many years

 

[Don Campbell]

We went out for supper last night and stopped at the local Kabota Dealer. Surprised to see they had a used jd 700 series 4x4 tractor. It just made me more excited to get my brand new one in three more weeks.
Very Exciting !!

 

[Don Campbell]

I ordered a new linear Actuator last night for my new JD 538 4x4 tractor . It is such a nice way to move the spout up and down.

 

[Don Campbell]

Todays project was to repaint the snowbucket for my mini loader. I had some komatsu paint left over so I slapped that on the bucket and it looks much better. I know I just have a mini loader but I wanted the bucket to be huge, ha,ha.
Ever since I scooped rocks with a real Cat 994D Loader with a 22 yard bucket I wanted one of my own .
This is me raising the bucket , what a HOOT

 

[Don Campbell]

It has been a couple years since I put the blade and box scraper on my mini 4020 . I am thinking of building a cab for it .

 

[Don Campbell]

I did sell my jd 455 with the cab and snowblower yesterday . So now I am back to only 15 tractors,
But the good news in two more weeks my brand new John Deere and snowblower should arrive
I am still thinking about building a cab for the mini jd 4020 . This tractor started out as a JD 430 . The three cylinder Diesel runs perfect and starts even on the coldest winter mornings. The cab is what was the biggest selling point on my 455 tractor. Everyone wanted it because of the cab. So maybe I will have to start building cabs on all 16 tractors
This picture shows the style of the cabs back in the 70's so I would try to build it similar to that style.

 

[Don Campbell]

Today the other jd 455 was driven out of the shop and the mini jd 4020 was pulled in.
It looks like the cab project is going to happen. Usually if I think of doing a project three days in a row , I go for it
Tomorrow I will cut out the first metal and bend up the rear main fender channels and rear channel and get it attached to the fenders. By next weekend it should start to look pretty good.

 

[Don Campbell]

Step one , todays picture shows the two side channels that will bolt onto the rear fenders and the one channel that will be the rear frame piece. I crunched some numbers and the cab built to scale will not work. So I am going to go ahead and build the cab for me to fit inside after all.

 

[Don Campbell]

Cab project Cancelled
Todays picture shows how tall the cab would be and only half as long as the finished cab would be when done. It would cover up so much of the front of the tractor I decided to keep it like it was. The 4020 looked so nice without a cab so today I will remove the bolts and take the early frame parts off.
Maybe I will pull the Ranch King Cat in the shop and
build a cab for it
Were getting snow and the roads are white and slippery. Hope my new tractor is getting built this week

 

[Boosted1]

I'm guessing you don't own a couch.
Nice idea on the linear actuator for the blower outlet.

 

[Don Campbell]

First time plowing my driveway today and more snow on the way .
I been using the F word all morning
FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN FUN

 

[Don Campbell]

I plowed a second time and did a test plow of the new ranchking cat . The snow was very wet and the v-plow and wing did a excellent job
So I know it will do just fine in powdery snow.

 

[Don Campbell]

Early progress on cab project

 

[sublime68charger]

Si is the cab project back on now?

Great work love your stuff

Seen it over at my tractorforum as well

Due you have other websites/forums that you use?

Thanks again

Ps looking forward to the tracks on the cat as well

 

[lucky.expert]

Are you still planning on putting tracks on the CAT?

 

[Don Campbell]

The track project is on the back burner now.
The cab project is on the front burner now.
I did have a webpage for 8 years but shut it down
If you google doncampbellmodels and click on images you can see a few dozen of my past projects. The webpage just got tricky to keep going.

 

[sublime68charger]

Most of the cabs I see on the old John deere say
year round or hinkler
I think those are what they have.
Are you doing fold out side windows?
Any way great work like many have said

For your cat track does that one have hydro drive and left/right brakes?
I would think the John Deere 140 would be a nice launching point to convert to tracks

But I'm just a hack in such things

Once again great work and thanks for sharing

 

[Don Campbell]

thanks,
no , not fold out windows. Not doing the half track now, going to buy a zero turn mower and make a full track mini dozer next summer. But I could change my mind about that before lunch
Todays cab progress shows the front cab overhang roughed in and the first curved braces for the front of the cab.
We got 5 inches of new snow last night so i will be playing in the snow today

 

[Don Campbell]

The JD Dealer said my new 758 4x4 tractor is now built and on it's way to Michigan
We got three more inches of snow again today and nine inches predicted for tonight
Handbuilt Cab progress today shows me starting to build the curved doors.
I have the left top door portion now attached to hinges.

 

[Crown]

Looks good Don. Must be nice to have a cab in the bitter cold

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
It is still hard to tell how the finished cab will look but I am pleased so far. It should be done by next weekend . Two week project
I will order the Lexan Monday for the windows.
Todays pic shows me moving snow with my Waldon mini loader for the first time this winter. This is one of my favorite toys

 

[Don Campbell]

Hand Built Garden Tractor Cab progress todays progress pic shows the first door frame completed. I also modified the footrest and started boxing in the lower left floor section. I am very glad now
I did not cancel this project.

 

[Don Campbell]

Two more inches of snow last night and 15 inches in the forecast tonight and tomorrow , oh yea !! Too Bad my new John Deere hasn't arrived and I already sold my jd 455 with the snowblower
Today I will order the Lexan , here is a picture of a scrap piece of Lexan that I put in my metal bender the other day when the temps were 17 degrees . I was sure it would break but it bend perfect
several times.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

You must heat it somehow before bending?

 

[Don Campbell]

Ten inches of snow !! Ten more inches today !!
Wished I had my new JD and snowblower
My mini loader will get me plowed out
No I did not warm up the Lexan , I just bent it cold at 17 degrees
I'll post some snow pics after while

 

[jeffmoss26]

Love the updates Don!!

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks !
We had 15 inches on the ground this morning and 8 more inches now in the forecast for this afternoon and tonight
Called the JD Dealer and he said not sure about getting my new tractor this week , probably next week.
The Steiner/jd and the Waldon handled it just fine
Deb posted a new You-Tube video today
me plowing at doncampbellmodels

 

[Don Campbell]

3 more inches of snow to play in this morning and 6 more inches to fall Wed. night
Tractor Cab Progress today shows the right side door starting to take shape and working on boxing in the floor area. Still have to fabricate around the brake pedals and the top overhand and top of doors
need some tweaking.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

How many hours do you think you will have in that cab?

 

[Don Campbell]

maybe 100 hours ?
Thurs. Morning and TEN more inches of snow and not stopping
SIX more inches in the forecast for today and tonight .
Getting close to 60 inches so far this winter
Todays pic is my driveway this morning with 10 new inches to plow.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

To the unsuspecting they would think you really had a monster snowfall.

 

[Don Campbell]

ha,ha,, yes.
I got the 27 inches of snow off the 20x24 back shed roof yesterday after plowing 10 more inches of snow. Looks like just three inches of new snow this
Friday morning.
I will shovel the workshop roof today .
Not working on the cab this week with all the snow .
The little Steiner 4x4 is getting a workout , fun
Hoping the JD Dealer will call today saying my new tractor will be delivered.

 

[sublime68charger]

great Pics as alway's Don

 

[rmalkow2]

Always interesting to follow your progress. I hope you are having some fun using your various creations in all that snow. And I'm thankful it's up there in your area and not down here in mine yet.

 

[914forme]

Oh, **** how did I miss your big 4x4 was a Steiner....... Makes perfect sense now, Oh I wish I had a Steiner, I keep looking for one, but my price point right now makes it a no go....

I have a lot of uses for that little tractor, it could replace a few of my bigger tractors for field cutting and brush clearing. A Snow plow or blower would just put icing on the cake.

 

[Don Campbell]

Thanks ,
I love that little Steiner !!! My Best buy !! only 800 one owner hours, came with a scoop bucket, mower and blade for $2,800.00 I love the bigger tires.
My new JD 758 4x4 with the 54" snowblower arrived this morning
The 40 inches of snow this week turned to rain today and I no longer need it