1987 Deutz-Allis, AKA: Mean Green

tell me this, CornShuck4CE, how do you know where to put your four link bars in your setup? Is there some geometry that has to be maintained as I would presume, or what? It looks to me, like the two mount locations on the tractor frame need to be within certain parameters to maintain proper travel downward without arcing. But as well, they have to be spaced right so as not to bind on one another when the suspension travels up too, right?

Its actualy simple to understand. The bars must be parrallel to one another and and spacing needs to be enough to over come the torqeing of the axel. My top link is 70% of the lower link. Just a traditional lookin for link. The bars could have been the same linth but the links would have tied on the same point on frame and i figured it would be better to do it like i did. The only big thing is the spacing the wider it is the more rotational 4ce from the axel it will handel. Thanks for your intrest and watching my vids.

I would leave the 12.5 but replace the intake and carb with the 18hp oppy's to give it more hp, I just like the magnetrons....
But I personally have never had luck with oppys, they dont like me, if they dont run good already I'd use the vtwin

I dont know bout using an oppy carb you see the kind of stuff i ride in. And it seams they dont take rough to good cuts out and stalls alot. I wonted to put an 18 hp single carb on a 18 hp oppy see if it would fix it.

use the 18 hp opposed. my favorite engine. i would trade 4 ohv singles for an opposed!

Iv got 4 oppys lookin forward to my 16 OHV motors.  

I could trade you for a 12.5 ohv kohler

Okay, folks. I went crazy today and stripped all my parts mowers down and filled up the scrap trailer. In the process I got all my motors off and sitting on tires in the garage. The good news: the 18HP Oppy came off slick and the pulley came off with my hands after removing the bolt.   
The bad news: The 21HP V-Twin didn't come off until two bolts broke off in the engine of the four that hold it to the frame. Oh yeah, then I tried to weld a nut to a washer that I also welded to the pulley. I drove to town paid a dollar for a new bolt. Got back and stripped the threads off of it trying to yank the pulley. I then cut off a piece of tool steel and inserted it in the hole and took a shorter grade 8 bolt and threaded it in until... IT BROKE OFF!   
So I cut the whole mess off including the lower pulley. I am afraid I am gonna have to slit the thing open with the grinder to get it off. I just don't want to ruin the crankshaft.
Ya win some, ya lose some, I guess.

[/img]I was gonna grind that pulley off today and do my best to not scar up the crankshaft too bad on my 21hp V-Twin. Before I got started I had an idea...
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guess what happened?
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Thats What I'm Talkin' About! I cranked the heat up on the 220V Lincoln welder and blasted the old flux core wire into it, so it got plenty hot. I'm guessing that helped nearly as much as the balancer puller.

Decided to try to build a pulley Murray Mayhem style. Since I was set up with the flux core rig I just ran it. I probably should have TiG welded it, but nobody will probably notice.
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Next order of business is to figure out how to build a factory looking forward transaxle mount kind of like this orange one off of my Allis. It is the wrong width for the transaxle since it was designed to hold onto a Peerless 801.
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Then I have to tackle this mess. I don't plan to mow or plow snow so I am thinkin' it is all gonna go. It is designed in such a way that the deck or plow would follow the front axle over bumps and stuff. I may just shorten it up some. We'll see.
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If anyone has dealt with this front end before and has any ideas about how to change it to better facilitate routing the belts and idlers, feel free to educate me on it. It had a hydro that was horizontal input before, so the belt was twisted and ran on the side.

All in all, it's been a good day so far. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Not much has changed in the last couple of days. My goal is to have the tractor be as stock appearing as possible when done, with the exception of the tires and wheels. There will be some obvious alterations to the savvy Allis Chalmers/Deutz-Allis guys (I have a few within a couple of doors away), but to the casual observer the tractor should look like a factory unit still.
Today I fabricated a linkage setup for my 820 peerless. It is actuated by the original Hydro transaxle controller. It is still mounted in the stock position even. I have had the tractor sitting upright for the past couple of days on the back tires and a couple of red bricks with the front end pointing to the sky. I spent most of the last two days sitting on a stool just looking at the undercarriage trying to lock down a "doable" strategy. The shifter came out looking and working good. This being my first Lawn Tractor build, I must admit, I was quite happy with the results.
If I think of it tomorrow, I will take some pics and get them posted.
I really want to get the front end and the steering set up but I gotta drop some cash first on some parts, so it might be a minute before I can get 'er done.
Oh yeah, the Motor! After reading through the opinions and suggestions given by ya'all I decided voter turnout didn't meet the minimum requirements for a conclusive victor. However, CornShuck4CE said something that caught my attention. He said that he had never ran a V-Twin so he couldn't speak on them, but that he didn't have good luck with Opposed engines, off road. Being that most of my experience is with Opposed motors I have decided to put them under the bench and pull them one at a time and rebuild them later. Which leaves us with the 28CID OHV and the 40CID V-Twin. And the winner is...
Both of them.
I am gonna put the V-Twin on and run it through the paces and then switch out to the model 28 and see what differences there are to be noted as far as mudding and rock crawling are concerned. Chances are in the end Mean Green will be powered by a V-Twin or an Opposed engine since I need to build the model 28 for an USLMRA C/P class AYP race mower.
More to come...

Okay, so I been busy lately and couldn't do much on Mean Green. However, today I was working on my AYP LT1000 Craftsman trying to get it back on the lawn. I took out the Spicer some time ago when I started the the rebuild and put in what I believed was a working 930 Peerless. I had swapped a smaller pulley onto the trans from a 700 I got from a little John Deere R70. Today I finally got a new belt purchased and installed it. Everything was going fine but I couldn't get the transaxle to shift smoothly. It was hanging bad and I had to force it pretty hard to get it to move. I couldn't get it to land in neutral for nothin'. Eventually it got stuck in 5th or 6th and wouldn't move. I attempted to pull it apart and 6 bolts broke off in the case. I decided it was a lost cause and pried it apart with a chisel, further destroying the case.
While I was doing my exploratory work on the pieces I found that the shift shaft was badly rusted and that there was a teaspoon or more of water running around on top of the grease. I was about to chuck it all in the scrap container when I decided I might pull the shift keys to see if they would match the ones I need for my 820. Somehow I doubt they are the same, but we will see. Then I found a bronze bushing laying in the grease that made me smile.
I had tore the steering group out of Mean Green when I started the disassembly. Upon inspection I noticed that like most mowers it was built with plastic flanged bushings/bearings. The steering shaft had two, and so did the pitman arm. Between them were two cast iron gears. Being that it was manufactured in 1987 and used as a commercial mowing machine while I had it, the plastic was ruined and allowed for a ton of slop in the steering. I know everyone (nearly) prides themselves on building their own direct steer systems to totally replace the stock set up. I on the other hand liked the idea of not having to re-engineer the whole thing. It seemed to me that if those bushings were metal it would be much improved.
Two weeks ago I went to the hardware store and raided their small parts cabinets and found three of the four bushing/bearings I needed. I bought them all at $3.50 a piece and asked them to order some more so I could get the fourth. Today I checked again and they had resupplied the cabinet, only they had mistakenly put in the wrong ones in the place of the 3/4"id X 7/8"od belonged. They informed me about their vendor this and their vendor that, until I gave up. Can you guess what was inside the broken 930?
I had to grind that notch off of it so it would drop in but it fit like a glove.
In closing, the damn thing was so tight when I bolted it back together I couldn't turn it hardly. I pulled it apart and wire wheeled the teeth on the gear faces, oiled all the bushings/bearings and the gear faces and it is smoother and more solid than I could have imagined.
I am going to use chromoly aircraft grade heim ends on a custom built drag link if I can. We'll see.
Check it out:
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Tomorrow I will tear it all apart and remove the rust and dirt from it all and paint it up nice, if I can.
Let me know what you think.

Excellent!

I love it when I find parts that I can re-purpose. It's almost as good as sex. Ok, maybe you all will understand that, when you get to be my age...

Well, it's been awhile since I have worked on Green Machine, or posted on the forum. I have a new job working for a fencing company as the lead fabricator and laborer. I have been really busy and really tired. When I am not at work I am mowing for my clients. Sad to say, when I get done with it all I am in no mood to tinker in the garage.
I will have the money to do some cool stuff in the next couple of weeks on Green Machine, so if all goes as planned I'll get some rest and get back to it soon.
I hope everyone is doing well and you guys are having great success with your Build-Off machines.