Good usefull modifications?

The most usefull mod I made was intalling a ball hitch thru the std. hitch hole and using the ball hitch nut to clamp a piece of steel flat bar with 2 holes in it. The first hole was for the shaft of the ball, the second hole was 4" further back to still allow me to use the hitch pin hook-up on most of my attachments. That allows me to use the 6' x 10' flatbed trailer I have for the tractor, plus my other attachments with no time lost as both options are always there.

I rebuilt my axle support assembly for my 1976 Dayton (MTD 990) I wanted to replace the cast iron one and increase the spindle bracket to 1". I bored out the cast iron one but I thought it might be two weak so I designed a new one.









Here is a picture of the cast iron support being machined for a 1" diameter.



I have replaced my tie rod assembly from a 3/8 to a 1/2 because I made a front end loader and wanted more strength in the tie rods.



I also made a new spindle housing so I could increase the bearing size. Sorry no pictures.

I haven't done it yet, but I just came up with an idea for my siren. See this thread; http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=221281. I'm thinking I can hook that siren up through a mercury switch so that the siren will sound if the tractor tips over. It could save my life if I'm trapped under it.

blacksmithman said:

I rebuilt my axle support assembly for my 1976 Dayton (MTD 990) I wanted to replace the cast iron one and increase the spindle bracket to 1". I bored out the cast iron one but I thought it might be two weak so I designed a new one.

Here is a picture of the cast iron support being machined for a 1" diameter.

I have replaced my tie rod assembly from a 3/8 to a 1/2 because I made a front end loader and wanted more strength in the tie rods.

I also made a new spindle housing so I could increase the bearing size. Sorry no pictures.

Click to expand...

Beautiful workmanship – you must be a professional machinist (of course the professional blueprint & milling machine is pretty good tip off). I also like the upgraded steering linkage, as it appears that these are marginal on some tractors, especially those that get hard usage. Please post pictures of the finished project.

I have installed at least one switched 12V outlet on each of my tractors. Usually one under the hood with a switch wired directly to the battery. I can use that one for small tire inflator, pumping up the kids beach balls and swim toys etc that needs longer run time without the tractor running.
Then I usually have a switched outlet near the rear of the tractor that I can use for rear work light or for a bilge pump for pumping out the kiddie pool. Since this is switched with the ignition I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn it off when parking the tractor.

I have also installed the relay for the click-start issue on two of the tractors that needed it.

I have a 2" ball on the tractors as well - at least in one form or another.
On one tractor it is mounted to a suitcase weight that hooks on the rear rack easily. One has it mounted near the hitch hole and the 3rd one has a 3 point draw bar with a 2" ball on it. I can use that for pulling out the trailer without having to drive the truck on the lawn.

Mine is the same as Alan's

connected to the headlight circuit, the trailer plug turns off with the key switch.

I power my sprayer with the plug.

bontai Joe said:

The most usefull mod I made was intalling a ball hitch thru the std. hitch hole and using the ball hitch nut to clamp a piece of steel flat bar with 2 holes in it. The first hole was for the shaft of the ball, the second hole was 4" further back to still allow me to use the hitch pin hook-up on most of my attachments. That allows me to use the 6' x 10' flatbed trailer I have for the tractor, plus my other attachments with no time lost as both options are always there.

Click to expand...

Like so (sort of)?

Also have a 12V accessory socket and the winch I started a thread on (obviously).

Next is to figure out a ditty bag/box for small hand tools like a pruner or fence pliers. I have a metal tool box on the trailer, but nothing on the YT itself.

pfreiburger said:

Beautiful workmanship – you must be a professional machinist (of course the professional blueprint & milling machine is pretty good tip off). I also like the upgraded steering linkage, as it appears that these are marginal on some tractors, especially those that get hard usage. Please post pictures of the finished project.

Click to expand...

:ditto:

I'm a retired machinist and mechanical designer. I have been making improvements for my tractor for a long time. I also aded a 12v socket for my flashing yellow light which is needed when I drive on the road at night mostly when I use my homemade loader in the winter. I added two switches one for my backup light and the other for the 12v socket. The switch lights up when in use. I also changed my old seat for a boat seat with a high back support. Here is a picture of my homemade loader. I designed it so I could still use the mower since it is shaft driven from the center PTO. I bought this tractor new in 1976.

blacksmithman said:

I'm a retired machinist and mechanical designer. I have been making improvements for my tractor for a long time.

Click to expand...

We are not worthy. GREAT stuff.

Regards,

Dan

That reminded me, I also put a winch on my ballast box.


Here are a few pictures of the 12V outlets I put in.
Here on the Legacy in the little tray. The switch and wires on top are for the winch


Here is the outlet on the Legacy (Agco Allis) that has the extra hydraulics.
This means that it doesn't have the tray like the one above so I put the outlet in the backside of the side pod. I switch it using an old PTO switch mounted up front just because it had the cutout of it. At some point in it's life it must have had a rear PTO mounted.

Anyone ever make a "glove box" type of storage out of the wasted space behind the dash / kick panel? On the two Craftsmans I've owned (2003 models), it seems like there is a bunch of space that I think you could probably use for storage, with a cutout in the kick panel for an access door.

I don't understand why they build these things with cup holders, but no place to carry small tools...

Mike

mikeinri said:

Anyone ever make a "glove box" type of storage out of the wasted space behind the dash / kick panel? On the two Craftsmans I've owned (2003 models), it seems like there is a bunch of space that I think you could probably use for storage, with a cutout in the kick panel for an access door.

I don't understand why they build these things with cup holders, but no place to carry small tools...

Mike

Click to expand...

becuase they dont want u to work on them. :sidelaugh

huffy said:

Because the vast majority of people that buy them nowadays don't work on them.

Click to expand...

Right... any real work gets done in the garage, where all my real tools are anyway. What I am thinking of is small stuff like pliers, screwdrivers, etc. to remove the deck and whatnot.

For my DLT3000, I had a dedicated 9/16 ratchet combination wrench to use on the bolts that held the rear attachments in place (brackets for rear weight tray and leaf bagger). Always kept it in a special place in the garage, because no other tool would do the job as well, or at all (clearance inside the tires, especially with chains on them, was always an issue); and there was no place on the tractor to store it!

Pruners, etc. are another good example.

Mike

I got one of these things to keep my crap in when I travel the property.