Project Trisickle, maybe...

Framework is done, the rear mount is straight, welded on the rear end side with deep penetration and smoothed up, reinforced at the bottom, and the frame is square to it. I have some cold finished flat stock here and cut a piece to help reinforce the very bottom since the bottom is being used for the sickle mount. I don't think it's going anywhere.

I guess the next step is to temporarily get the tricycle kit and front wheels sitting on it then put the shaft support and belt pulley assy on the tractor and see if it fits. Hopefully it does without a lot of modification, we'll see...

The answer to this question is yes and no... The answer to if this can be done is yes, but but the answer to doing it on this one is no lol.

If the frame and lower steering rod were lengthened 6" right behind the tricycle kit it would give over 1" of total clearance at it's closest point while turning even with the guard on the sickle pulleys, and everything would bolt right back up as normal, not a big problem there. What I'm not willing to do right now with everything else going on is to lengthen the hood 6" and make it look factory...

I've always had a plan B though. If you look at the last pics (some of them from earlier in this topic) you'll see from the beginning I got out a lift setup and everything else to make it lift from the middle and rear that were initially not on it when I started this little project. Those parts are already blasted and ready to be painted. I'm going to experiment with maybe a cultivator set, plow, disc or something else on it to up it's coolness factor lol.

For now it's time to concentrate on finishing the tractor itself with the tricycle kit on it.

Here's where things were by lunchtime.

I had never sealed up and put a rearend in the blaster but thought well, it's already sealed up from the steam cleaning so I thought I would give it a try. In 10 minutes it was done so that will be the new norm around here. It sure is a lot faster than using the wire brushes on air tools and grinders and getting in all those tight spaces. Everything was separated into what color it was gonna be and I thought I would figure out what was next after lunch...

After I got back from lunch there really wasn't anything to do but some of the sheet metal so I thought I would get out the paint + drying racks, some plastic and cover things up, and get ready for paint soon...

I figured I might as well do the black and it could dry overnight, that didn't take long... Then I thought since the black rearend parts were all done I could do the rearend and red on the parts that will be red on it so it could get new seals and put together tomorrow,,, then one thing led to another and I ran out of red hard parts to paint. :surprised I guess I forgot how fast things go doing things on the paint rack then just taking it by the hook and putting it on the drying rack.

The racks will hang out near the wood stove tonight and will be dry by morning. As far as prep and paint I think all that's left are the silver parts that are already blasted, cleaning up and putting a new gasket on the gas tank, and some sheet metal to blast and check so it can be painted.

Spent this morning disassembling the gas tank and blasting it, getting the motor prepped for paint, and cleaning up the tools and messes from all the other work. The only parts left to do in red are on the table, not much there. After lunch the rear wheels are getting the tires off and wheels blasted, then the racks are getting wheeled over to the table to start doing some assembly, my fav part.

Wheels are blasted, the rear end has new seals and is put together, main steering shaft is back in, and the tricycle parts are out and ready to install.

Happy Monday all. Just a pic of the rear wheels. I'm interested to see what one of these looks like with Ivory wheels, I'm used to looking at Bethie's with the silver wheels.

Front end and rear ends are done and on the frame, motor is painted up, fuel tank is ready to go together, looking better every day.

For some reason I'm not doing very good at cutting back my 12+ hour days, I just get involved and loose track of time...

Crazy day again... Started on the motor today. I thought I would change the plug wire connector and found this little thing that just pierced the wire, pretty sad but it was original... At least it was a copper core inside. After that was fixed the muffler got blasted and painted, then the motor parts started going on. It still amazes me how long it takes to do all the little things, especially checking bolt holes and seeing if a longer bolt can be used to make a better hold, especially on aluminum. Not sure why Tecumseh used such short bolts most everywhere, the mount bolts could be twice as long without any problem and almost every other bolt is a little longer along with some extra flat and lock washers where there were none.

This was a new engine but now it is officially better than new. I like the color combination used on it so far, never did a Tecumseh before but I couldn't bring myself to ditch a new engine, I guess there's a first time for everything lol. I think once it gets some decals on it from Terry it will look pretty good.

Motor has a few more parts on it and is on the frame. Almost forgot to make a drain pipe so the motor oil didn't run all over everything when changing it but I took the bottom plate back off and got it started so I don't forget about it later. Silver parts are all painted, blasting is done but the hood, fenders, and belt guard still need a little work. The tower, fuel tank, and rear tool box are all painted but it's suppertime so I'll get pics of those in the morn.