On 10/3/2010 8:27 AM, David Plamondon wrote:
Before you scrap anything, why not take the frame to a welding shop and see what they can do? I have a local guy who i have seen do wondrous things with metal for little money.
Too big to fit in the minivan, even without wheels. This is kind of a tough spot to be in; those two mounts carry the weight of the pack plus rider in the vertical axis, but more importantly they carry the force of the tractor's transmission in the forward-aft axis.
So they really need to be a solid part of the frame. I was concerned about this when I looked at the metal; there's a big difference between holding up the rear of the pack (simple) and providing 50% of the tractor's power.
This is probably why the rear tiller bar mounts right to the axles; it keeps the force of the tiller off the frame which is probably a good idea in the long run. But still it needs to provide compressive forces to the front for the snowblower.
Still thinking. One thought would be to do 1.5 inch angle iron, weld along the *outside* of the frame, and tie the bottom into the inside iron with something. Then weld the old mount to the top of the iron as the mother of all washers, and hook up that way. Could work, except there is still what's left of the frame between the two parts and I'm not sure what I could use as filler. Hm.
At this point it's becoming a "weld for the sheer sake of welding" sort of project. I can draw a good enough bead for govt work.
Chris Chris