PHPaul
Well-known member
Equipment
B2650, Pronovost snow blower, Landpride rotary mower, Howard tiller, box blade
I seem to have fallen into the habit of finding dead tractors and fixing them up. I even made a couple of bucks on one, the Satoh S650G that I'm pretty sure I chronicled here.
Late last year, I spotted a Shibaura SD1400B on Craigslist. That's a Gray Market 2 cylinder diesel with an 8 speed (4x2) trans, two speed PTO and a 3 point hitch. I knew the rear wheels were locked up, but at the price I figured I'd take a chance. Long story short on that one, the ring and pinion were shelled out and parts were nowhere to be found. The engine was sweet and everything else was in good shape, but without a source for parts it was a dead end.
Considered various options and it really came down to finding a way to use that sweet little engine. Spent many a morning cruising Craigslist looking for a suitable candidate for an engine transplant. In the end, I wound up buying a John Deere 455 from an acquaintance. I'd been nursing that poor thing along with baling wire and bubble gum for years, but it finally succumbed to the abuse and barfed up the 3 cylinder Yanmar engine. We discussed rebuilding or replacing the engine some years back but there was no funding so it sat out in the weather for 4-5 years. I worked a deal with him and after selling off some stuff wound up paying $50 out of pocket for it:
As you can see, the plastic was completely trashed, but the tires held air and I had reason to believe the shaft-driven hydro trans was still functional.
Took me about a week of fooling around to get the Shibaura engine mounted in the JD frame but as the video below shows it actually went quite well.
Video
I'm working on the sheet metal now, dealing with some rust and preparing to touch up the paint. That, a seat, and some cleaning up of the wiring harness is about all that's left.
Late last year, I spotted a Shibaura SD1400B on Craigslist. That's a Gray Market 2 cylinder diesel with an 8 speed (4x2) trans, two speed PTO and a 3 point hitch. I knew the rear wheels were locked up, but at the price I figured I'd take a chance. Long story short on that one, the ring and pinion were shelled out and parts were nowhere to be found. The engine was sweet and everything else was in good shape, but without a source for parts it was a dead end.
Considered various options and it really came down to finding a way to use that sweet little engine. Spent many a morning cruising Craigslist looking for a suitable candidate for an engine transplant. In the end, I wound up buying a John Deere 455 from an acquaintance. I'd been nursing that poor thing along with baling wire and bubble gum for years, but it finally succumbed to the abuse and barfed up the 3 cylinder Yanmar engine. We discussed rebuilding or replacing the engine some years back but there was no funding so it sat out in the weather for 4-5 years. I worked a deal with him and after selling off some stuff wound up paying $50 out of pocket for it:
As you can see, the plastic was completely trashed, but the tires held air and I had reason to believe the shaft-driven hydro trans was still functional.
Took me about a week of fooling around to get the Shibaura engine mounted in the JD frame but as the video below shows it actually went quite well.
Video
I'm working on the sheet metal now, dealing with some rust and preparing to touch up the paint. That, a seat, and some cleaning up of the wiring harness is about all that's left.
