Advice on building a small utv w/ my son.

   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #1  

dmk

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Aug 22, 2006
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I love this site, and am so impressed with the skill everyone has.
I posted a while back on a problem w/ my sabre mower, but it's on hold, I picked up 2 new projects.

I want to build a UTV (type thing) for my six year old and I, figure the big boy project would let him see that he can do things our baby can't. Maybe kill a bit of jealousy.

I am not wanting something super fast, just something that we can take to my in-laws farm and take fishing, or just mess around.

I picked up a Cub 1330 the other day, Kohler 12 HP, ($75) runs great but the deck is shot. I an thinking about lengthening it and putting on a small bed.
I hate to cut/modify it, it is neat looking, but w/ no deck, I did buy it for this purpose.


My question is: Will the Hydro rear end hold up to this? I know it won't be fast (w/ Hydro, I don't think I can really do any pully swapping?).

Would I be better off just trying to repair the deck, and see if I can find a cheap geared candidate. Haven't really pulled the deck, I know that where one of the spindles mounts the metal is pretty much gone, don't know if I can just do some patching.

I have something like this in mind:

Adirondack Metal Designs: Homemade Utility Vehicle

Don't know if the link worked or not.

Thanks for all of the help and guidance.
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #2  
That sounds like a great project. I say go for it! If the hydro rear end doesn't work out I suppose you could pick up a geared rear end and just swap it. I believe they are both belt driven. U'd just have to come up with a clutch to loosen the belt to stop/change gears. Post some pics if you decide to go for it! -JJ
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks for the info. I hope to get started on it soon, will do a very basic first stage, make it easily returnable to regular form, then if it works, may really get down to it.
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #4  
I have taken a few of these tractors apart for scrap metal giving me some insight of how its put together. I saw the link you posted and I understand your feelings of cutting up the tractor like that.

Its a idea, but is there anyway you can obtain another one for parts ? On the second one, you could cut and pull the rear off completely and add on the first for a 6 wheeled vehicle. cut out a access in the first unit to connect the pulley to second one. be sure to use same size pulley as second one to connect first one. This will give you the space to add seat or dump area in back and add more traction. If you need to make it a bit faster, save the old pulley to connect to second and make the first tranny pully smaller for more ground covering speed, you will have to experiment with the sizes, you don't want to end up with something thats too fast for a young kid- usually the top gear on lawn tractors is already too fast.
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #5  
I've been helping a friend with building several racing lawnmowers in the past year. At one point the collection of used mowers for parts was up over 15. It just takes a lot of research and asking around for people wanting to get rid of an old riding mower - often for free. Sometimes you can get non-running mowers going again by simply cleaning the carb. Do some internet searching for lawn mower racing and you'll find more than enough info to do exactly what you're looking at doing. Once you get a basic understanding of how simple the drivetrain design is, you'll find it easy to create your cart. Pulley swaps are easy for more speed, but has already been mentioned you may want to stick with the stock setup for your purpose. Also remember that most riding mower transaxles aren't rated for much more than a few hundred pounds including the weight of the machine and rider if you add a small bed or carrier on the back.
Good luck and have fun with your son... it can be a great learning and bonding experience for both of you!
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son.
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks again for the input. I am not worried about the weight issue, won't be carrying much more than my 6 yr. old and I w/ a tackle box or two.

It's hard here to find a good deal on used mower. I ran a couple of ads on Craigslist for weeks with no bites. The Cub just happened to come from my neighbors in-laws (run the Cub dealership) and it had been sitting a while.

When I can get started, I'll try to get pics up.
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #7  
Very few people troll Craig's list looking to sell their used mowers. I have about 7 on my place in various states of repair. I get some from want ads, some from friends, and some I see on the side of the road and knock on the door to ask the owner if they're interested in selling.

If you're doing the want ads thing looking for a mower, be quick. I've seen Craig's List ads come and go in 30 minutes. Be patient. Junk mowers are out there and available.

The old MTD mowers (Ranch King, Cenex, White, etc.) are easy to find, cheap, and simple. They make great parts donors for fun projects like you're talking about.
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #8  
Farmshow had a ton of Cubs made into a utvs and other mowers as well
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #9  
If the Cub doesn't work out, keep your eye out for a used golf cart. I have atv's a Utv and an old Yamaha gas golf cart. Now that's fun, practical, easy for kids to drive and old peeps, too. They will fight over who gets to go. Even my biggest dog wants a ride all the time while the others run along side. Just get on it and hit the gas pedal. I added a trailer hitch to pull carts and a wood chipper with a cart behind the chipper. There are 4 on my road with kids under 6 driving them along. These are less likely to roll over on side hills than a lawn mower conversion. The deck actually helps with this problem.

Just a suggestion... Same price as a good used lawn tractor. Holds it value better, too in my opinion.
 
   / Advice on building a small utv w/ my son. #10  
A few years ago, someone posted a thread on the forum about a "miniature" 8N he built for his son. It was designed around an electric wheelchair drive train with some lawn mower and Wheel Horse parts, I believe. Beautiful work!
You might be able to adapt the wheelchair gear (low speed, high torque) or an electric golf cart as mentioned above.
 
 
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