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Model 70 make over

11033 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  65jd110
7
I did not have anything planned this past week so I decided to redo this little 70. The paint, blasting reassembly was done in four days.That's what happens when you get bored,

First pic. as it was with 18,950 super lugs on rear


the second pics. were after I set it up with the 23x10.5 tires and raised the fenders approx. 2"



these last pics. were after four days of dissasembly sand blasting, painting. Notice the rear fenders, as I molded them on the back under the seat.



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Joe,
Do you know what those hubs came off of? What engine did you put in it? How much did you have to alter the rear fenders? I'd like to do this with my $40 70.
Joe
A true work of art, Joe. Shoot, it would take me at least 4 days to get the molding done and it still wouldn't look good enough!
Next time you get bored, come on down to Brown Co. We could use some pointers.
That IS a nice piece of work.

tommyhawk
Joe and Joe, thanks again for the compliments. The rear hubs are off a wheel horse, such as a 854, and later models all with a 1" axle. The engine is a Tecumseh TVXL 220 and was rebuilt and tricked up a bit by a guy that builds go carts. I did a repower thread on it a couple years ago and was pretty much a straight forward swap. Tom Ingels, thanks for your quick response a few weeks back when you answered my axle size question. Raising the fenders was a bit of work. I drilled out all the spot welds to remove one side and used a cutoff wheel on the other. I cannot say one was easier than the other. I then welded in new sheet metal from the tire side to plate in any existing weld holes.I raised the fenders approx. 2" to clear the tires, rewelded the fenders at proper height, not much clearance from tires, and duraglassed /molded in the fenders. I could of done it without molding the fenders but I liked the way it looked.I used the little 70 to pull some large tree logs around before I painted it ,to see how the bigger tires worked and it did quite well ,but still can spin the 23x10.50 tires with no problem. A set of wheel weights may be in order.I actually use this tractor quite a bit due to it's power and very tight turning radius to rake leaves, roll the lawn, trailer duties, ect. I even pull started a four cylinder jeep with it out in the street and it had the power to pull the front end up but did get the jeep running after pulling it in high gear around 200 feet.Tom Ingels made a comment awhile ago that he had a friend that pulled a model 70 with the stock transmission and it did well per Tom.That is why I persued this project. I feel that the trans. will take alot of abuse. One more thing I would like to add is the hitch being 21/2" higher does wonders for attachments and the tractor is not nearly as prone as it was to doing wheel stands when pulling heavy loads or loads with alot of tongue weight.
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Joe, that little guy looks pretty rough !!!! what is the weight he pulls it at???
Thanks Tom for your compliments.
I have the 18x9.50 super lugs like on that puller with the wheels that I am going to sell if anyone is interested.They have very little use and rims are nice.
Joe
Yep, that's the little "Mighty Moose" 60 that I was referring to. It has a 14HP Briggs twin in it. Where the battery should be is a "V" belt driven supercharger. The thick slab of steel on top of the engine is a safety shield. If I remember correctly, he held it to about 3 lbs. boost and figured 21HP on paper.
Class weight? Joe will have to answer, but seems like it was 1050Lbs for tractor/operator.

Oh yeah, back on the subject, we got a surprize when we took the hubs off a Wheel Horse tranny to temporarily mount some 23's on Joe's high crop. Those hubs had 1 1/8" bores. Good thing the drop boxes are still on the drawing board.

tommyhawk
Tom, you must find a set of hubs from a earlier wheel horse. They all had a 1" axle.
Joe
Joe, do you have the link to your 70 repower thread? I tried a search but did not find it.

Leonard
Leonard, it was about three years ago .I cannot find it either.It appears that posts from october 2005 to 2008 are missing from the lawn tractors
Sorry
Joe the 70 looks great! I wish I had your ability.

Steve
Would 4x8" rims/tires fit one of these tractors? Would probably level it out with the 23" on the rear.
I just picked up a model 70 complete with a very good running original VH70. The tractor needs paint and some restoring but it should be a fun project. I will be putting on some 23 x 10.5 x 12 tru-powers on the back that I have and also converting the front axle to use the 16 x 8 rims and tires. The front will have the tapered bearing setup like the early round fenders. I will make the spindles one inch taller to level out the chassis which will compensate for the taller rear tires.

Joe Loch, maybe someday it will look as good as yours ..... smile. You did a great job, super work, they are a neat little machine. Don
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