Project Clydesdale

The cardboard patterns were done yesterday so I'm gonna head down to the welding shop and play around for awhile.

Fenders are all plated in 12 gauge steel, a hair under 1/8" so they a plenty strong, and plenty heavy. I was gonna use 14 ga but the welding shop guys told me to use 12 for stepping up on them. That made the cuts and finishing take a lot longer than I planned but it is strong for sure. I have a little cleanup to do tomorrow but most of it is really good minus the brake pedal rod ear and collars are a little closer than I want.

They were really busy today so while the welders and plasma cutter, grinders, etc were tied up I helped them but did manage to make a panel for the shifter out of the same steel. I marked it and got ready to cut it and thought, hey I don't need the safety there or that stupid jig to the left for reverse so they are gone. It's just a straight forward and back like the older ones.

Borrow away Kurt lol, that's why it's on here.

The new shifter panel is close to done, all of the fenders are ready for a little spot putty and paint minus the left front needs a half hour or so spent on a little trimming. The extra holes in the front fenders are filled. We got the left side panel cut and close, it's a little too tight, it just needs a little more cut at the bottom and the original hole filled in and moved a little. The right side cover is all figured out, we just need to cut an original one and put a front side corner 90 degree bend in it so it will match the one on the left. We even have some other belt guards out and have been working on how it will be made from an original Wheel Horse belt guard.

The rock shaft lever jig also got done today and they will be ready next week, there are pics in the New Parts Topic. A good day for sure.

Here's what happens when you go to trim a little off in the iron worker shear without enough support in the center, it bent up in the middle and made a mess. * Note to self, early Monday mornings are not good for precise trimming in the iron worker...

Moving right along lol. I am not making panels fit so tight the rest of this project, they are getting edging on them to stop squeaks anyway... I've been telling myself that for years, there are times for perfect fits and times to leave some room.

Anyway, there is a new center panel made, the left side panel is fitted, the shifter panel is fitted, the center fender pan is fitted, and the belt guard has been modified and turned into a right side panel which is done as well. The only thing left is to weld a bracket to the left + right fenders for a bolt on the left + right side panels. Going a little slower, Clint is off today.

The hood has been double coated, it should be smooth as glass after it's buffed.

New trick. I made some brackets and got them welded on the steps, welded nuts on the backside and was getting ready to make a mark for the lower side panel when Clint said put some grease or paint or something in the bolt hole to make a mark. He gave me an idea so I gave him a short 1/4 20 bolt and asked him to take it to the grinder and put a point on it. I call them blind hole punches lol.

Just screw it in from the rear, put the panel on, and give it 1 good whack where the point is with a hammer and you have a center.

The front fenders are bolted on and the side panels are done.

Working on something special for the rear fenders so they will have to wait a bit before they get mounted.

Tractor is tore apart again to do the front shift rods and reversing arm. Everything is bolt on and it only takes a few minutes, especially when everything is just finger tight, if it has a nut at all lol. The main shift arm piece just got spun around and put toward the bottom. She may even move around tomorrow.

The entire shifting system for the front is pretty simple. Just flipped the main shift arm, used a small piece of 1 1/2" scrap flat rod and cut a piece of 1 1/2" angle iron. We did decide to upgrade the rod ends to a nicer solid end that had self lubricating balls.

I had to cut the rods to get the right length, I think the rods are harder than mild steel because they wouldn't thread... We had it moving today, it's a lot faster than I thought with the slightly smaller pulley on the bottom and the bigger one at the top. It is faster in reverse at idle than my other 520's are wide open, didn't try a lot of speed going forward, yet lol.