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620 project Updated 1/21/08


D-17_Dave

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Now that I have my PU back up and running it's time to get back on a few tractor projects. Here are a few pics of the progress I made before the other interruptions came along. This tractor will have a hard cab, a Honda 24HP engine and power steering when I'm done. If I were on my house computer I could give you some before pictures. This is the tractor Ron Hribar bought from NJ last year that I picked up. This first pic is the Honda now neatly tucked in place. I got this engine from a donor 620 that has seen better days. The PO and the PO before him had done a wonderful hack job on the tractor and nothing worked. The engine has less than 50 hrs on it.


The next pic is the Power Steering added in to the dash. This is a power assist system in line with the gearbox like is used on the newer Prestige model Simplicity's and others. This will maintain the "Hard" connection between the steering wheel and the front end so there won't be any "Floating" occurring and the steering wheel will always come back to the same neutral position. The problem is this valve is pretty large and there isn't much room for the lift valve and wiring plus all the metal it takes to support this setup. The OEM design uses the steering column to support the steering wheel and the dash is just sheet metal bolted around the column without an external skeleton. I had to make the brackets out of 1/4 inch plate to support the dash and take the stress of the valve working the steering. I have a lower bracket for the valve not in the picture that will bolt on to the bottom of the valve and tie in the upper and lower sections of the dash. I also have an external bracket for a little more support to add in. All this with the factory valve and plumbing to go back in.


More pics as soon as I get some more progress.
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I like it !!. My son in law from Texas is visiting. So he shoveled my driveway 3 times today. Was a nice gesture, but would rather had him use tractor and blower. Now I have snowbanks. Will be interesting to see what that Honda will will do with the snow blower. Thanks for the pictures Dave.
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Looking good Dave. ^ What is the steering valve/box from/originally for? Isn't it nice to be home for a while and be able to start catching up on projects?
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Tom, I'm so aware of the time frame it hurts. My problem is the mess in the shop from so many work related projects before I was involved with the race stuff. It's taken me this long to get a handle on things. I still have a list outside big enough to choke a mule but it is getting better. I still have a diesel project I just got some stuff for and a Twin Twenty begging to get running. Roy, I have to go back to Iowa to get my old truck sometime and stock it back up before Daytona. This leaves me with a good 2 weeks to work in the shop and house and we start a remodeling project tomorrow. The valve came out of a Simplicity but I don't know which model. My neighbor has a similar setup on his Prestige and it does a good job. I'm hoping that this setup will work as well with the weight of the Powermax tractor. This is still a big experiment but I think it will work well. There's more than just a few hrs of mental research and engineering into a project like this and almost no limit to the various types of modifications that can be made. But after so many years of tinkering there just comes a time to fix it move forward. This tractor needs to be used!!
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Man I sure can relate on things going to the dogs being gone all the time Dave. Just starting to get a little motivation going myself, and I gotta leave for Ne in two weeks. Your project is looking good. Will be interesting to see how the power steering works out. What you don't get done before you go again you can finish planning out while driving, just turn off the tunes and think.^
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quote:
Originally posted by D-17_Dave
Marty, my problem is if I turn off the tunes I get sleepy.:O
Gee my problem is if I try to think I go to sleep.:D
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Looks like a great start Dave!!! Keep the pics coming on this project. I would like to put power steering and a 25hp Kohler Command transplant in my second Powermax and can always use some insight to possible fixes to the problems found during these projects. I have seen several Honda transplants but never a Kohler Command transplant. Is there a problem with the Kohlers that make the Honda's a better transplant option? Dan
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Dan, the basic problems as I understand it are that the old Onan's have a horizontal cyl. arrangement with a very deep oil pan. No one else makes such an animal. The engine manufacturers have all gone to the V-Twin model engines, this isn't a problem until you factor in that to raise the center line of the crankshaft into the proper location for the factory belts on the clutch and the rear pto to be used you have to have a riser plate. This also makes changing the footprint bolt pattern fairly easy to configure with all the extra room. Problem is now you have the OHV cylinders banging into the hood so some sheet metal work is required. With the added center height of the V-Twin carb. and air filter you loose the air flow control under the hood so directing the heat away from the engine is also a big issue. One other thing is that whatever replacement engine is selected it must not be any longer front to rear or there simply won't be room between the clutch assembly adjustments and room on the crank for a clutch. The Honda 24 engines push the clutch adjustment almost all the way to the rear to keep the factory pto clutch in alignment of the mule drive pulleys. I would suggest you used a heavy rated Mag-Stop clutch from Borg-Warner. This will update the clutch coil and prevent most issues like a partially shorted clutch coil that could take out the crankshaft. It will also give you some room for using a clutch that has the pulley on the inside next to the engine and the coil towards the outside. This will give you and extra maybe 2" to play with if the depth comes up too tight. You MUST use the correct direction clutch for said applications as the clutch springs are only made for one direction. Borg-Warner normally has whatever style clutch you need with the correct engine shaft size in stock. The new clutchs are really nice and will help eliminate a lot of mounting issues. Just a few of the things I've learned while studying up on the diesel engine swap and this project. But I can say I've learned a lot and these tractors should WORK for several years and give good service when complete.
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Thanks for the pointers about the differences in the engines & clutches. i HAVE A 25HP Command just sitting in my barn waiting for a project to use it on. I thought it might be good in a powermax. Dan
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I had some shop time this afternoon, this is what I got done. I finished the valve mounting by adding the lower bracket and welding the assembly into place. The lower mount is welded into place. With the riser plate the top mount will bolt to the lower plate so the assembly can be taken apart for any service issues. There is just room for the electrical, and the lift valve and linkage. I'll cut the steering shaft down tomorrow.










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OK, several hrs in the shop tonight. Doesn't look like a lot more done, but I have all the steeing linkage hooked up and I know it will fit and work with everything else in place like the lift valve and rear pto without binding up. Now, since Roy won't loan me his lathe I had to make a run to my local machinist and have a coupling turned. 3/4" steering shaft x 7/8" steering valve.




Here is the assembly in place. Technicly it won't be any harder to dissasemble the steering column now than with the manual steering.


Here's the whole dash assembled with a single valve in for the mock up. I have an addapter being made for the top of the steering valve with a 3/4" shaft so the factory steering wheel will bolt up the same as before. May be an inch higher, but this parts done. YIPPY:drldOd


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D-17 Dave, Is that trick photography or my imagination, it looks like the steering shaft is going out over the motor???? You can't be sitting on the motor! OUCH!
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Rick, the early pictures I have the dash turned around for access. I had a second dash sitting beside this dash so I could compare where there might be something that would interfere with the valve. Or I might be making a fork lift.;):o)
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quote:
Originally posted by comet66
Looking good! Why was power steering not an option on a tractor that size in the first place?
This may go back to my thoughts on who made the tractor to start with. I feel like there was a large collaboration between Simplicity and AC. I think AC made a lot of the rear end cast parts and transmission/brake setup. But I feel like Simplicity did the bulk of the engineering and assembly. No other Simplicity had Power Steering at the time so I don't think anyone really thought it mattered. This being the first sub-compact tractor on the market at the time there wasn't anything to compare it to. It basically set the standard. Now Lawn and Garden Magazine had an article on the Deere's 420 in the last issue and said that the 420 was the first sub-compact and nobody else had anything to compare to it. I think they didn't do much research.
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