Narrow frame hydro foot control
 

Finally got somewhere one my project tractor this weekend and took it out for a test run, it's a 102 frame with a 1650 ported transaxle, 680 front axle with 1" spindles, 73 hood and grille, rebuilt 12 H.P. bored .010 over and foot controlled hydro, I was unsure when I started this project if I wanted to control the hydraulics or the hydro with a foot pedal I think I made the right choice, It's a blast to run, a few minor things to go over yet then it's tear it all down for paint, I think this one will be IH red since I still have some left from painting my Blazer.

Another pic

Way to go Sawman :ThumbsUp:
Thats going to look good all painted up.

Nice mods and tractor, Sawman! :beerchug:

Sawman,

That's a pretty tough looking tractor you have there. Looks like you have done some nice work.

Do you have any pictures of how you hooked up your foot pedal to the hydro?

Coooool ! That is definitely unique! :bigeyes:

Hey Thanks Guys, here's a few more pics, I hope you can make heads or tails out of it, hard place to get good pics. I put the hydro control shaft right in front of the brake cross shaft. The shaft for the hydro is out of the 680 just cut the handle off it, and grind a notch in it and added an inch or so where the linkage bolts on, used channel iron for the brake pedal to clear the tension nut and shaft for the hydro, all the linkage rods are from the 1650, brake linkage I used a turnbuckle (I cheated :HeeHee: ) The linkage that pulls it into neutral when the brake is pushed is about all I have to fine tune yet. If I get this finished before the snow lands here my 149 and 126 won't get to play it.

Ok, here's a dumb question....how are you bringing the hydro foot pedal back to neutral? I don't see any springs in there at all...

No springs to return back to neutral, just roll the pedal back with your heel, or front if going in reverse, just like it is on the dash.

I would add some springs so that it can return to neutral by itself as a bit of a safety feature. Every tractor I've seen built with a foot control hydro has pedals that return to neutral by themselves.

Why ??? That's what the brake pedal does, returns it to neutral, I don't want to have to keep my foot on it to keep it moving, set it and go just like a hand control, if plowing and hit something how would that work if your foot was on the pedal ? I see what you're getting at but this is just a project of mine, I don't have any plans to build or sell them to the public or even mow with it, (I used the pto lever for the hydraulic control) I just thought I'd share since reading the last post about this topic and to say yes it can be done in your backyard shop, I know how it is with a loader on a hydro, a foot pedal makes it so much more user friendly.

Sawman,

Thanks for the pictures, I know they were a pain to take.

foot control
 

I can see advantages both ways,
It kinda goes without saying if designing for production in today’s sue crazy society, that a return to neutral would be a must. I too have used foot controls and have hit a bump and been lurched off the seat a bit, with the return to net. set up.
Maybe a "soft return" would be the best of both worlds.
I have pondered the idea of a foot control shuttle shift,-- thinking of incorporating a spring over shock, or a gas strut arrangement. I just haven’t
Got it right in my mind yet. :bigthink:
I'm still trying to dial in the power steering on the 782.
I would like it to be 1 finger operation instead of 2 fingers.
Don't get me wrong, it is loads better than "Armstrong" but I'm picky.
I'm thinking I got to work on the springs in the control plates, but I haven’t got that far yet, too many irons in the fire.
ol'Geo.

Sawman-

I agree with Matt about the spring and returning to neutral. The spring also acts as the brake because we all know neutral to a hydro means stop. You said that was what the brake pedal was for, returning it to neutral. With a spring you should never or almost never need to touch the brake pedal. I have a green tractor that has foot hydro. It has the two pedals, forward and reverse, not the rocker pedal. It also has the separate brake pedal but the only time I use it is cranking because of the safety switch involved. All other times I just take my foot off and I'm stopped. The lack of a spring does sound a little dangerous as well.

Just my thoughts....Wayne

If you're plowing with a foot control, you won't be able to take your foot off and stay at a constant speed...you'll constantly have to change speed to match changing ground conditions. If you're at a plow day, you'll be changing speed a lot...trust me. The purpose of the brake pedal isn't to return it to neutral all the time....it's more of an Oh-s***-gotta-stop-RIGHT-NOW pedal.

With no spring, you'll have to bump the reverse part a bit to slow it down...bump the forward part a bit to speed it up...to me it'd just make a lot more sense to just keep your foot on it.

Had some free time this week to get back to this project ( hunting season so we're slow at work ) put a hydraulic pump on and started my johnny bucket, put return springs on the hydro, it's a lot more user friendly to someone who wouldn't be used to running it, I'm not quite dialed in yet with them, forward spring is a little to short, I hooked it a hole in the frame for forward return and zip tied reverse return spring off the old clutch yolk wants to creep in reverse at neutral, when I pull the motor back out I will weld a sleeve on the cross support where the steering box mounts to and run an eye bolt though it and hook the spring to it to dial the springs to neutral.
As far as this brake pedal being a panic pedal, that's not what I ment, I find myself bumping it quite a bit just to SLOW down on my 149 while plowing snow when coming to a snow bank (or if there is roots in your yard like mine) one hand on the hydraulics the other on the steering, bump the brake pedal just to slow down not slam it to a stop, but any way yes I think this does work better with return springs.

Great job, Sawman! I really like your hydro pedals. :ThumbsUp:

Sawman,
Nice fab work on the monster bucket :biggrin2.gif:

Sawman, that is such great work. I had posted about doing this awhile back, adding a ported pump on my 105. Most said there would not be enough room and all the hydro lines would look terrible. That is awesome. You did all the mods that I want to make my 105 what I want. The 1 inch spindles, the hydro lift and of course the treadle peddle. I have a Bolens hydro that has the foot pedal and it so much more enjoyable than the dash control. I actually have tried selling the Cub because the hydro control is such a PITA. I will have to rethink it.

Hey I live about an hour and 15 minutes from you in Jim Thorpe. Maybe I can stop and see you in the spring and pick your brain.

Do you go to any of the plow days near you? I think there is one in Bloomsburg area.

I wish I'd have seen this when you posted it...I have a suggestion: If you get two identical extension springs and come up with brackets to mount them an equal distance away from their attachment point on the linkage in either direction, you shouldn't have the creep problem. You've got the right idea with the eye bolt, but it will work the best with 2 identical springs. Otherwise, the two directions will have a different feel, although I supposed that could be desirable in a sense. Just make sure everything is attached really well because you could be in for a wild ride if one spring comes off and the other pulls the linkage to the stop in one direction:NailBite:

Sawman;
Nice bucket. If U R going to dig anything with it you need some teeth on the front, or a replaceable front cutting lip.
I have 2 buckets for my FE loader.
One for digging and one for lite stuff like unloading mulch, and hauling BS. :biggrin2.gif:
I like your foot control.
If I had the smarts I'd try making one for my 147, or grow another arm.
I don't know what would be easier though.

ole 147

return springs
 

someone mentioned it in another post to this thread, the idea of using gas struts (like used in late model cars to hold the hoods/ trunks open). They come in many different lengths. Just looking at your pics, I assume when you move the pedals, the shaft they are attached to rotates forward and back. If that is the case, two identical structs/ shocks could be used by placing a pivot on the shaft (ie: one eyelet above and one below the shaft, set at equal lengths for the hydro shafts center point) then the shocks could be mounted one on each side of the shaft or both ahead or behind the shaft making work against one another to move your hydro control back to center when your foot comes off the pedal. If I had a pen and paper it would be easier to draw this out, I think the shocks would be alot smoother operating than springs, just thought I'd toss in my 2 cents for what it's worth.

I have a 149 and pushing snow is a pita because running the lift and hydro leaves no hand left over for steering (kind of important too!), nice work on your foot controls!

I wish I had a way to get pics of my spring return on here easily , but I'll try to desribe it. It's alot like what Matt was talking about. I took a peice of 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 angle approx. 8" long , welded tabs across the ends, took 2 4 1/2 x 3/8 bolts cut the heads off welded them together. Then I found a bushing that slipped over bolt and welded a 5/16 x 1 bolt to it to attach linkage I made to trunion on trans. I purchased 2 springs from hardware that slide over the bolt, about 3'' long. I slipped bolt, 1 spring then bushing, then other spring, locknuts on both ends, bolted the whole assembly to left frame rail, hooked linkages up , and it works awesome, the nuts on each end allow me to fine tune it easily. Wow a pic really is worth a thousand words but I hope this helps somebody out, I tried several different setups but I love this.

Great idea.
 

I have been wondering about installing a foot pedal as well. I sold a JD with it and it really makes mowing much easier than the dash mounted lever. Plus I have a wheel spinner on mine and the nuts on the bottom of it hit the top of my right hand when I am acting like a one armed monkey slowing down and spinning the wheel at the same time. It would be great if you could publish the pictures of your spring set up. The bolt on each end sounds good to me for the adjustment of the thing.