23941 Strange Creek Dr. Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Two years ago I purchased this homemade garden tractor from a
man in Santa Fe Springs, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He
bought it at a yard sale in Huntington Beach, 14 years ago.
Meanwhile, it sat behind his house exposed to the elements.
My tractor is powered by a Briggs 8 HP with reducer gear. The
piston was broken and rod twisted. I finally found another engine
for the necessary parts to get it running. From the reducer, a
chain goes to a shaft while operating a planetary gear up front. A
master cylinder or clutch operates a slave cylinder to release the
band on the planetary gear when the pedal is pushed down. This was
all rusted to one piece, including the sun gears.
An eight inch V pulley also comes off the reducer to a power
steering pump, which operates the front blade cylinder from a
two-way valve by the seat. The blade and cylinder were missing, so
I found the necessary parts to get it operating.
The rear-end is a Model T high-low speed cut down on the
width.
A six inch disc brake was welded and mounted on the drive shaft
behind the transmission.
Next in line is a three-speed transmission which was full of
water and oil.
The drive shaft continues to the planetary gear.
The disc brake is operated by a master cylinder on the right
side.
These master cylinders were basket cases, pitted heavily. I
honed each cylinder, but couldn’t get any of the pits out. I
found one new master cylinder like the original. They wanted
$50.00, so I tried new cups and they worked great! So I don’t
worry about a pitted master cylinder.
After the traction starts to move, you can shift low to second
and high without pushing in on the clutch master cylinder.
The steering wheel and gear came off an old car. I don’t
know where all other parts came from or from what vehicle.
The only thing welded is the tractor frame and the seat frame.
Everything else is drilled and bolted. They were rotted where it
sat on the ground
At first I only found regular tread tires 600-16-10 ply, as in
the ‘before’
picture (above). I finally found two knobby tires to replace the
rear tires, as in the ‘painted’ picture (below).
It’s crude but operates great! I plan on running it in the
parade at Vista in October. I also plan on entering the slow
race.
I call it the ‘NO NAME TRACTOR.’
Note our pet chicken at the rear of the tractor, looking for a
handout!