Frankly my Deere, I don't give a John! (Tractor Trike. MBBO Class 2)

[LukeTheJoker]

Finally some progress today!

Started by welding the diff brace to the axle tubes:

Then moved on to the headtube, extended it with some tubing from the frame of a MADD bmx:

Then on to the forks, extended the headtube with some 21mm thick wall pipe and then got ready to weld them to the mini bike legs:

Filled the gaps under the fork crown with bits of steel washers cut to size:

Used the rest of the washers on the top:

So now I have the front and rear ends done, I can work on joining them somehow... I have a few ideas...

 

[tjwilson]

Great to see you're in the mix. Hope you plan to leave the differential engineering magic out in the daylight this time around! Front fork looks awesome.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Great to see you're in the mix. Hope you plan to leave the differential engineering magic out in the daylight this time around! Front fork looks awesome.

Yes indeed! The "differential" will be on full display!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Took a while to work out what the next step was, I almost started by building forward from the diff to the bottom bracket, but figured I needed something else worked out first to get the scale right.

So, on the the grill!

First sectioned two of the grill bays out of each side:

Welded back together:

Then trimmed the top and bottom to thin the whole assembly out:

That was all I had in me for the day, but it will allow me to work on sizing next time as I can get some idea of how the whole build will look when done:

 

[Chad T]

Wow that grill looks cool!

Will be interesting to see what you come up with for handlebars/steering. Steering with a wheel like a tractor might be cool but a fiddley job to make.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Wow that grill looks cool!

Will be interesting to see what you come up with for handlebars/steering. Steering with a wheel like a tractor might be cool but a fiddley job to make.

Already working on a wheel!
Brakes will be the interesting bit, hard to fit handles to a wheel and make them look right, but I will come up with something, probably a gear lever looking thing mounted off the frame.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Could use a tractor beam...
ba-dump bump...

Merle.

 

[furyus]

Always wanted one of those pedal tractors as a kid. Even promised my dad I’d use it to help around the yard, but he wasn’t buying, literally or figuratively. One of my earliest and most profound disappointments. Watching closely and vicariously.

furyus

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Always wanted one of those pedal tractors as a kid. Even promised my dad I’d use it to help around the yard, but he wasn’t buying, literally or figuratively. One of my earliest and most profound disappointments. Watching closely and vicariously.

furyus

They are so cool!

Some inspiration I am using:

 

[The Renaissance Man]

^I hope this is an indication of your steering set-up!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

^I hope this is an indication of your steering set-up!

It wasn't.
Looks good, might have to try...
Wishing I had not made the fork so long now, going to be hard to fit with some sort of gearing on top...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

It wasn't.
Looks good, might have to try...
Wishing I had not made the fork so long now, going to be hard to fit with some sort of gearing on top...

U joint

 

[LukeTheJoker]

U joint

Might need two, that might be too much angle for one.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Might need two, that might be too much angle for one.

Thinking about it, I might just run a bell crank set up, much easier and more suited to the build.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Use a bell crank with a turnbuckle on the rod and it's very adjustable. I've been going back and forth in my head about a bell crank vs the Colson style chain drive steering like I used on Harlequin. I wonder how much play there would be in a bell crank?

Carl.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I wonder how much play there would be in a bell crank?

Carl.

All depends on how good your hinge points are, oversize holes with loose bolts would have bucket loads of play, nice rose joints or similar would be the best option?

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Come on Luke, you have at least as much to do as I do on Muscle Spasm. We're running out of time to finish. Are you planning a fancy paint job too?

Carl.

Sent from the backseat of a crowded clown car

 

[kelvin hahnel]

Come on Luke, you have at least as much to do as I do on Muscle Spasm. We're running out of time to finish. Are you planning a fancy paint job too?

Carl.

Sent from the backseat of a crowded clown car

I live i the same neck of the woods as Luke and we are having a bit of a heat wave at the moment so I think he will be taking it easy like I am

 

[Glen]

I live i the same neck of the woods as Luke and we are having a bit of a heat wave at the moment so I think he will be taking it easy like I am

I saw 49ºC reported somewhere in Aussie yesterday... was that near you guys? That's pretty hot!

At least you have cool bikes

Glen.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Come on Luke, you have at least as much to do as I do on Muscle Spasm. We're running out of time to finish. Are you planning a fancy paint job too?

Carl.

Sent from the backseat of a crowded clown car

Yeah, toasty hot here at the moment.
No paint on this one, rusty and crusty!