Friday, December 11, 2009

A Cheap Garden Tractor

A couple of months ago, I bought a 1966 Suburban 12 on ebay for $85, then drove to Kentucky and picked it up, camping in one of the primitive camping areas of Land Between the Lakes on the way back. I should have taken a bunch of pictures and video to document the whole adventure; actually I thought about it, and was planning to give it a theme of camping in the same campground as the famed 1966 slaughter of a family, allegedly by the mythic LBL Monster (which is supposed to be like a werewolf or something) but it rained almost incessantly during the trip, so I slacked. I did camp in that campground, but the only monsters I saw were a few monstrous feral cats that showed up in camp demanding food.

Anyhoo, the point is that I did at least make some video of the condition of the tractor when I got it home, and what it took to get it running (the engine was locked up, hence the low price tag). Originally, I had planned to put a 10 hp diesel engine in it, but I couldn't resist trying to get the old cast-iron Tecumseh running. I'm glad I did. So far, I have made three videos of it, and here they are: 




So far I am just having fun with it, but I do plan to use it for plowing my garden, towing a cart for gathering firewood, and stuff like that. I may even convert an alternator to a welder/bulk battery charger, and mount that on it.

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