Rear steer 123?
 

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading: This may be a long one so fasten your seatbelts and get some popcorn!

Recently I have been working on a small business of my own, mobile welding and fabrication!

I have an almost complete cub cadet 123 that I have been thinking of building a rear steer loader from.

My biggest concern with rear steer is that the 123 is a "Hydrostatic" it's just a hydraulic pump driving a differential? is Reverse the same as Forward as far as groundspeed and torque? Or do I need to flip the ring gear inside the differential?

My next thought was making the drive linkages might be a pain in the behind, I had a CRAZY Idea to take a linear actuator of some kind and making that drive the rear end. I call it "Electro Select". I think this can be done at a reasonable cost with Arduino, but what do I know?

Imagine a 3 way switch on the dash. F N R, next to that would be a dial to determine how fast you wanted the tractor to move. for an added safety you would press a pedal on the left to do two things, disengage a very loose brake that just provides drag to slow you down and stop you over time, than a second stage to engage the actuator to move the tractor itself.

As an added safety I want to have a pedal to the left of the pedal on the left that is an actual hydraulic brake, with a secondary cable parking brake built into the rotor, like the newer cars and trucks have, not sure how that would attach yet, but I definitely want some kind of brakes!

The pedal on the right would be throttle.

Its likely that I will stretch the frame anywhere from 12-24 inches for multiple reasons. I think this will require a substantial HP increase, I am thinking 18HP minimum, I would love to find a 2 or 3 cylinder Kubota but that is unlikely as they are worth more than gold itself in my area. I will likely find a Kohler Command or the horrid Briggs and Straton V Twin of some kind.

I was thinking of adding suspension under the steer axle "rear axle" I almost said front axle, and am planning on attaching power steering of some kind.

I am planning on adding around 200lbs under the engine, and having suitcase weights for the backside as well since this is going to be a loader!

I was trying to decide when I build it if the loader mount should be as far back as possible? Would this increase lift capacity at all?

Another cool feature of a rear steer 123 is having a sleeve hitch, making it very versatile, with some reinforcing and different mounting so it's not stressing the rear end as much!

A road sweeper, a snow blower / plow. I can see it now, a 4 or 6 way tiny dozer blade! Or even a quick attach forklift mast for quick pallet drops! the opportunities could be endless if I feel up to it!



A second project that I can potentially build is an articulated 4x4, My friend is moving and gave me 2 cub cadet frames with the exact same Hydraulic driven differentials and have considered that as a project as well, maybe mid 80s very early 90s? not sure what models, the one has removable side covers and a complete body. the other is just a frame and axles, it was involved in a fire.

I like your thoughts, but just remember these things were GARDEN tractors.
the frames are stamped steel never designed for that kind of usage.
Also the drive axles are only 1"Dia. and some have bolt flanges welded,not forged
Same thing for guys that put loaders on them.
You are only limited by your imagination.
I've built stuff over the 65+ years I've been brain storming/welding and its rewarding.
As far as suspension on the steer axle, I would think the pivot would be suffice
its a slow speed toy with maybe #400 safe max capacity on a good day.
Just my thoughts.:bigthink:

Input shaft pokes out the other side of hydro pump. Perhaps you use that input shaft on the opposite end without making a mess of flipping in the internals.