WooHoo! Welding class scheduled!

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
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Location
Coolidge, AZ
Yesssss!!!!

First welding class is scheduled for Sat. Feb. 7. Took a while to find an instructor.

FE sub frame parts.jpg

Just so you get an idea of where I am going with this. The above is the tower frame assembly for the front end loader for this below:

Big John 1.jpg

Stay tuned!
 
You are nothing short of an amazing person.
Just as a side are these "towers" available for the 400 series or does everyone that would like a loader need to make it themselves. Thats one mighty tractor. You just had me looking to see if one is available around me second hand for a decent price.


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Rob, I bought plans for both the front end loader and the micro backhoe from p f engineering. Paul has been very helpful getting me to understand what I was getting into. His plans are blueprints. What I did was 'build' them in SketchUp. (Thanks to Dave Richards for his help.)

There is one more iteration and that is to customize them for the JD 400. It is wider by about 8 inches than the Cadet Cub he sized the plans for. Then I will have printable templates for the plasma cutting, and the welding can begin.

This project has been nearly a year in the making. I got the tractor last April after searching for sometime to find one. As garden tractors go, it is a hoss. I wanted it because of it's cast iron axles, real steel frame (as opposed to folded sheet metal), and on board hydraulics. The hoe will still need its own hydraulic pump and tank. The on board hydraulics will handle the front end loader fine. They sure don't make them like the JD400 anymore. Owning one is almost like joining a cult I am finding.

'Decent' price can't be compared to other garden tractors, nor can be 'nearby'. I drove from CA to MO for mine.

BTW, Darren gave me the first can of JD green paint while I was there last year. :thumb:

So far, found the tractor, (got a few family visits in along the way and back as well!), got the plans, reworked the plans, got the welder and plasma cutter, cool helmet and gloves, and found Tim the Welder for lessons. Still need the sexy beanie and jacket.

Look out world!
 
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The front PTO shaft is a through drive shaft. It was used to run the mower deck. The pump will mount between the frame rails under the seat, where the mower deck once hung. It will connect via a spline shaft, pump to PTO. The tank will be within the mounting frame of the hoe and the hose run will be short. Good thing. Those things are spendy.
 
The front PTO shaft is a through drive shaft. It was used to run the mower deck. The pump will mount between the frame rails under the seat, where the mower deck once hung. It will connect via a spline shaft, pump to PTO. The tank will be within the mounting frame of the hoe and the hose run will be short. Good thing. Those things are spendy.

Neat, that makes it nice and tidy to. Looking forward to seeing this build for sure!

I'm guessing you could even hook up a small PTO generator on that little fellow as well .. Hmmm :D
 
Weight is a good question. I looked it up and 325#'s for the loader and 350#'s for the hoe. Tractor is about 500#'s wet. Add liquid in the tires and totally probably around 1300#'s. Weight of an older VW, IIRC. :rofl: And more fun! Now you know why I wanted the JD400 though these have been built for lessor tractors without issue.

I have a 75K gas generator that I picked up 2 years ago. Won't need the tractor for that one! That will be needed until I can get power service.

Can you tell I have been planning for this house build for longer than I have owned the property?

Dare to dream. Prepare to fulfill the dream. Then do it.

Wait until you see the totally passive energy house I have planned before I am done.
 
Very good Carol!

Please add good shoes that are suitable for welding to your PPE. Basically nothing with laces or if they do have laces you need to have a cover over the laces so any slag cannot fall down and stop between your laces, and burn through your boot top..... trust me it hurts!

Best of luck, I'm sure you will do fine and enjoy it.

Cheers!
 
Wow. Carol when you refer to the JD400 does that include models i see like JD411 etc or strictly the 400.
I presume this conversion also means you dont get to use the tractor as a mower anymore?

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Strictly the 400, Rob. The others are newer, more money, and not necessarily built as well.

The 400 was a market aberration. JD brought it out to be the biggest, strongest, garden tractor out there. One problem. They made it wider than most garden gates! Think of it as one of the first compact tractors - ahead of its time. Its features extended beyond its price point and that could not be sustained in what turned out to be a restricted market at the time.

Bigger, stronger, wider makes a great platform for the loader and hoe, though. Finding cast iron axles is tough in the newer market. Price escalates rapidly on that point alone. With the weight a loader and hoe added to the tractor plus the stress of lifting and digging, you need all the strength you can get. Cast iron front axles especially are harder to find in the smaller tractors. So I will happily take my odd-ball tractor and rehab it into a wonderful toy, errr, tool. Tool, I said, TOOL! :eek:

See what happens when you let me alone in a room with a connected computer and some time on my hands? :rofl:
 
Weight is a good question. I looked it up and 325#'s for the loader and 350#'s for the hoe. Tractor is about 500#'s wet. Add liquid in the tires and totally probably around 1300#'s. Weight of an older VW, IIRC. :rofl: And more fun! Now you know why I wanted the JD400 though these have been built for lessor tractors without issue.

I have a 75K gas generator that I picked up 2 years ago. Won't need the tractor for that one! That will be needed until I can get power service.

Can you tell I have been planning for this house build for longer than I have owned the property?

Dare to dream. Prepare to fulfill the dream. Then do it.

Wait until you see the totally passive energy house I have planned before I am done.



So how much weight will this pick up when all is said & done?

What are it's limits of lifting will the loader lift 500lbs or 1000lbs. The weight of the tires filled & the front loader & backhoe all counts toward what it weight lifting limits are.
What are the limits of the front cast iron axle how much weight on it is to much I think you need to know this it's important. Like I know my limit for a lift with my Bobcat is 1000lbs I can stretch it almost to 1300lbs but thats it. At what point do you over stress that front axle or can you go to the limit of where your rear end starts getting light with out over stressing the front axle. What indicators under actual working conditions are you going to use to say thats far enough. Without breaking down?
 
Here is what I can tell you from the plans:

Front End Loader Specifications

est. cost to build $ 1200 (12-3-13)
weight: 325 pounds
lift capacity: well over 500 pounds
lift height to level bucket: 73 inches
bucket width: 42 to 54 inches
bucket capacity: .21 to .27 cubic yards
bucket roll down: 50 degrees at maximum lift
built in oil reservoir
spin on oil strainer element
joystick control option

Micro Hoe Specifications

est. cost to build $ 1700 (12-3-13)
weight: 350 pounds
digging depth: 5-1/2 feet
reach: 8 feet
hydraulic stabilizer spread: 7-1/2 feet
boom swing: 170 degrees
bucket width: 10 inches
built in oil reservoir
spin on oil strainer element
proportioned hydraulics for simultaneous cylinder movements without a pressure drop

Here is what I can tell you from experience. Years ago I had tractor outfitted this way. Bigger tractor but still... When lifting with the bucket, the seat of my pants told me when the rear end was getting too light and so dump some of the load. I had the rear wheels off the ground a couple of times. Doesn't taken long to learn!

Now applying these limits to MY tractor is your question. I don't know, except that my tractor is more robust than the tractor these were first built for. And that bunches of the them have been successfully built over the last 13 years. Will I break it? Possibly, but I doubt it. But if I do, I am the one who will have built it and so no one else is better prepared to fix it. Will I break the tractor? Also possible, but I think the devises would give first. We shall what we shall see.

For the more curious, see http://www.loaderplans.com/


And to Rob, didn't get a mower deck. Didn't want one. Don't need one. No lawn on my lot! If I need a mower (or a snow blower), I have clearly missed the mark!
 
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