This would be a unique swap

[army]

This unfinished 3 wheel 'zero turn' was my dad's project. He started on it back in 1972 so maybe it's time to call it quits and use the parts for something else. I have a bunch off other projects of his that need to be finished so it's not like I'd be committing sacrilege. It has hydraulic drive and a golf cart FWD-REV transaxle. Speed is controlled with a 6 speed spinner control from a highway dept sander truck. Engine is a sweet running 14 HP Kohler. It has power steering which the cart wouldn't actually need ..but my 1997 Club Car does need an engine and a drive clutch. No time for it now but I'm putting it on my bucket list.

The transaxle hubs have a smaller bolt circle than most golf carts. Didn't know that till I went to put a pair of tires/wheels from my Club Car on it. Anybody know what it might be from? A Cushman maybe?



Another possibility for the 3 wheeler. I have a Yerfdog box that I was thinking I could mount on the front, or maybe the back. Would have to re-locate some stuff to do that (hydraulic tank, gas tank)

[JRL]

The axle is likely a mower style unit from a hydrostatic mower. They were common from the '60s foward. John Deere and Wheelhorse had the. Wheelhorse had a larger 5 lug bolt pattern, but the small bolt pattern is probably a Peerless drive. Possibly anyway.
If the slave motor is actually mounted on the rear axle, it's a mower axle. Get a pic of the axle center and it might be identifiable.
Most hydrostats did reverse by changing the swash plate orientation.
Get mental image of the axle assembly and search for hydrostat axles in the 10-20 hp range.
Also, measure the bolt pattern and compare to both mower and go cart wheels.
Wheels with blank centers can be bought easily. Whatever offset and size you want.
One thing to keep in mind is you might want to verify that the pump and rear drive operate correctly. Early hydrostats were not dependable. They are now.
It'll be slow. Similar to a small riding mower.

https://blog.machinefinder.com/25685...ere-f525-mower


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[army]

Best pics I have right now of the under side. The drive assembly on the front of the transaxle kinda looks like the add on FWD-REV type gearbox on some golf carts. It runs great and drives around no problem. Speed is about what you said. Maybe 5 or 6 mph. It appears to already have a sprocket size/combo to maximize the ground speed, and it's fast enough for around the yard as it is anyway. The power steering works good but it's slow and takes quite a bit of steering wheel turning to change direction. You can't tell where it's pointed either. Pretty sure it's off a (EZGO?) 3 wheeled cart.





Easy fingertip speed control. Needs to be in a handier location though (works fine I'm just nitpicking). I used to work for the road dept and have used sander spinner controls like this. Pretty nifty on a machine like this. The lever with the red knob is for shifting FWD-REV on the transaxle.

[JRL]

Interesting. The little shifty knob looks like a standard riding mower item. Those 3 wheeled units were vendored to JD, Cushman, ExMark, and others. The Cushmans had all sorts of curious engines. Some diesel, OMC twin gas, Teledyne gas, Kawasaki (Kaw was 14 or 17 hp with a matching rear drive), and Kohler.
No idea who built the chassis. Yours might be assembled from various sources. ExMark used a separate drive axle with hydraulic slave motor chained to it. Think Cushman did the same. JD used KHI (Kawasaki) powertrain with integral drive axle motor. No chain. Reverse was internal pump control. If your unit has an engine with an internal hydraulic pump, take good care of it! Rare beast. Those units are typically 1980 to about 1990.


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[army]

It isn't a factory made machine. Dad actually built the chassis and almost everything else himself from scratch using parts he scavenged here and there. He started on it in the 70's, then didn't do anything more on it till about 10 years ago, so it's a mix of old and newer parts. He did all of the hydraulics himself. The footrest section that the steering column is bolted to was a junkyard find but he made the rest of the machine himself. It was 50 years ago, but I remember a Cushman 3 wheel golf cart lying on it's back to more easily remove parts from it. The rear wheel assembly definitely came from it and I'm pretty sure the transaxle did too. The original engine dad used was an ancient rope start Wisconsin that was really hard to start, but that was all he had to use back then. It has a 14 HP Kohler out of a Toro groundskeeper mower now. The seat is out of an old Louisville truck we once used to haul grain. The drive wheels and tires are from an antique 3 wheeled 'ATV' that was used for hunting. I still have the chrome fenders from that machine. Dad traded the rest of it for something a long time ago. This is an old pic of the zero turn when it was 'mothballed' for a couple decades.


Dad was a pretty good fabricator. He built this farm drainage himself from various parts. It's completely custom. He did everything himself including designing and welding up the 'drop arch' 10" C channel frame. You won't find another one like it. Has a road grader tandem rear drive and a 6 wheel drive hydro truck front axle. The front drive is hydraulic and the rear tandems are gear drive but the hydraulic drive can also be used to power the tandems too by way of two big heavy duty truck transmissions. The gear drive transmission for the tandems is shifted into neutral and the transmission connected to the hydraulic drive is shifted into gear. The fluid drive allows very slow ground speeds for digging purposes. The rams to raise and lower the digging wheel are from a bulldozer. The digging wheel is from another machine that got hit in the front section by a train. Apparently it broke down just as it was crossing the tracks that went through a farmer's field, Dad's digger started out with the 390 engine out of a 67 Cougar I totalled, then the big Cummins diesel it has now was installed, and.. the rest of the story is too long for posting here. It's been sitting outside for 50 years and is pretty scruffy now.

[JRL]

Too cool! Your dad thought big.
He has a museum in that barn. Hit'n miss in the lower LH corner?
Cushman below from about 1980. These were primarily commercial. 72". Smaller units came out, but about that time the true Zero-turn hit the market. And took over.

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[army]

Originally Posted by JRL

Too cool! Your dad thought big. He has a museum in that barn. Hit'n miss in the lower LH corner?

That's just the tip of the iceberg. He had 3 big sheds (total of 6500 sq ft) full of antique hit an miss type engines, as many as 100 at one time. He was down to 60 when he had a stroke and eventually passed away. The sheds were also home to various antique tractors, two '30 Model A's, a '50 Ford F47 and a '50 Mercury m47 pickup, plus a variety of other treasures. He also had a huge Kohering backhoe, his drainage machine, an unstoppable 4WD Ford County 6 with an 8 ft dozer blade that sat outside. I kept some of it but I only have 1800 sq feet in my shop and another 400 sq ft in an old shed out back so I picked the stuff I liked the most. I went a bit too far though and have a way too much stuff now, or so my wife says. My response when she says that is always.. so what?

[army]

Is there a more appropriate forum here for a thread like this? I didn't see one but I have trouble finding my socks in the morning, so..

Still haven't decided what I'm gonna do with this antique 'ATV' machine (or whatever category it fits in). I temporarily mounted the Yerfdog box on the front and it was hilariously unbalanced. Or maybe too balanced is a better way to describe it. All I had to do was lean forward just a bit and the box would dip down and touch the floor. Ideal for doing tricks but not so good for hauling dirt. I could put enough weight on the back to make it work but it would be pretty clumsy to operate.





I also tried mounting the box on my 1st EZGO a few years ago just fer fun but as expected it was way too heavy. Needs a pretty stout frame and mounting location to be practical. I have a FWD-REV transaxle for an EZGO and a complete front axle and steering set up. Could make a frame from scratch and use that stuff I guess. I was saving it for the Club Car but I have a good K321 (12 HP Kohler) engine I could use for a custom Yerfdog machine. It's off my dad's old LT120 Ford mower.



I just put a new carb on it (not shown in pic) and it runs super nice now. It has an electric PTO/pulley on one end and a 1 1/8" stub shaft on the other. I was thinking I could use the PTO end to power a hyd pump to lift the box and do other stuff. The trick would be finding a drive clutch for a 1 1/8 shaft diameter. Could also make a jackshaft. The rotation on the stub shaft side is clockwise so it would work fine for the `97 Club Car transaxle.



The EZGO now. I shortened the frame up and it definitely won't work for the Yerfdog box now.

[army]

Zero danger of overcrowding in this thread..

[JRL]

That yerfdog box needs a tongue and an axle and set of wheels. Call it a trailer. Then use it behind any of your toys. The tongue could allow a tilt function. Hydraulic tilt. Yeah.

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