Farmall build idea

[Craiggo]

Sorry if the title exited you but this build may not be active for a while. I want to make a bike for my dad, he loves farmall tractors. My grandpa collected and restored tractors for years before he passed away. My dad still has few of his enormous collection. Currently my dad rides back and forth down the road on his modern schwinn cruiseliner. I thought that maybe I could build a bike that he could even take to the badger stam and gas show. Here are my thoughts so far...
-straight bar frame
-apholster the seat like an older farmall
-cut the gas tank and hood section off of a pedal tractor for a tank
-use appropriate decals and emblems in tractor-bike ratio
-paint rims and spoke nipples in chrome-in-a-can color and spokes red
-get old tires that look like the vintage front tires on tractors
-maybe have the chainguard resemble a farmall fender
-use an authentic farmall headlight (those are easy to come by from where im from :lol: )
thats all i got right now, but i am open to some more ideas

 

[Craiggo]

^Good ideas
I went out back and took some pics of things i could incorporate (I think that is spelled correctly?) well, tell me what you think..
Maybe try and base it off of this tractor because I beleive it is his favorite

Headbadge anyone??

Get this theme on the bars,

We have some springs similar to this in the metal pile from an old box spring.

Get one of these, maybe broken for cheap, otherwise they are REALLY expensive
http://www.proxibid.com/AuctionImages/3 ... ail/57.jpg

 

[tvc15]

I can help with the decals.... PM me if your interested

 

[yoothgeye]

Tractor Supply sells replacement decal sets pretty cheap. My grandad had a Farmall Cub, how hillarious it would be to build a bike with offset seat, bars, and crank, would be horrible to balance!

For tires, those Jerald Slick tires would be cool, I don't know how much rubber is in them, buy if you could groove out 2 to 3 grooves all the way around the tire, it would look front tractor tireish.

 

[Craiggo]

I will be at the badger steam and gass show in a few weeks and will look for parts. I might try and see if there are even some straight bar frames the right size. thanks for the offer of stickers, but i have someone local that could make them. :mrgreen: thanks for the responses but if you have any more ideas, keep em coming by the way on a pedal tractor, the new kind, from the back of the tank to the start of the grill section is 14.5 inches, the full length of the tank is approx 19.5 it was hard to get measurements because they are on a shelf way up high and I was standing on a tire. if you have any model of frame that would fit a tank like this, could you tell me? thanks, Craig

 

[ratcycle]

Why not use a trike with a tanker frame, use the same seat setup as on the tractor and use the shifter setup as on the tractor. Use some mt. bike knobby tires. Paint it farmall red, and use white for farmall lettering. Just something I thought might work.

 

[Craiggo]

Why not use a trike with a tanker frame, use the same seat setup as on the tractor and use the shifter setup as on the tractor. Use some mt. bike knobby tires. Paint it farmall red, and use white for farmall lettering. Just something I thought might work.

I thought the trike thing as well but I want it to be closer to a "tribute bike" rather than a replica. although I still may consider it. I like the shifter idea though. I looked around in our shed at the tractors, and some of the shifters would be EXTREMELY cool, but VEEERY heavy.
but knowing me, I think I wouldnt be able to stop at using a stock trike and just add on. I would try to make the rake at the correct angle, try to get the rear dropouts higher, and likely alot of fother things, I am not good at any of those . we shall see what type of frame I find first I guess. This farmers flea market coming up a week from now should supply me with some essentials for this build.
Cheers!-Craig

 

[Craiggo]

Unless the rules change for the next build off, I cannot use this frame, thats right, this may end up being my build off bike.
that isnt the seat im goint to use, it is just similar color design.
Oh and question, If I were to paint those rims silver like the ones on the tractors, would rim brakes make quick hash out of them?
I will also try to build a similar seat springer setup like on the tractors as well, thats where that box spring spring comes in, it isnt very strong at all, but it looks the part.

 

[Meeba]

Why not use a trike with a tanker frame, use the same seat setup as on the tractor and use the shifter setup as on the tractor. Use some mt. bike knobby tires. Paint it farmall red, and use white for farmall lettering. Just something I thought might work.

I thought the trike thing as well but I want it to be closer to a "tribute bike" rather than a replica. although I still may consider it. I like the shifter idea though. I looked around in our shed at the tractors, and some of the shifters would be EXTREMELY cool, but VEEERY heavy.
but knowing me, I think I wouldnt be able to stop at using a stock trike and just add on. I would try to make the rake at the correct angle, try to get the rear dropouts higher, and likely alot of fother things, I am not good at any of those . we shall see what type of frame I find first I guess. This farmers flea market coming up a week from now should supply me with some essentials for this build.
Cheers!-Craig

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38717
try this out. worked great for me

 

[yoothgeye]

I have avoided putting any rim brakes on my painted wheels, because I've seen what rim brakes do to factory baked on paints and can imagine the quick mess they'd make out of my thick spray paint. Coasters are good, disks are good, drums are good. I've considered masking off the braking surface and just painting the inside of the rim.

 

[thebearded1]

rear reflector clearly needs to be one of these to fit

 

[Carbon]

That is one clean Tractor, hope to have some land one day and get me a couple of old tractors to restore, gonna be a really cool build. Keep us posted.

 

[aka_locojoe]

Anxious to see this bike get built.

rear reflector clearly needs to be one of these to fit

I assume that one is pretty big?

I made my own but it's not reflective.

 

[Carbon]

Anxious to see this bike get built.

rear reflector clearly needs to be one of these to fit

I assume that one is pretty big?

I made my own but it's not reflective.

That looks sharp, would love to see a side pic of your bike.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

Great thread! I've had the same idea for a build for my dad. He too is all about Farmall & Case IH tractors and I think he would like a bike that represents that.

Loco Joe -- I like the SMV idea for the rear....what did you use for the backing and it yours painted or vinyl?

 

[aka_locojoe]

Loco Joe -- I like the SMV idea for the rear....what did you use for the backing and it yours painted or vinyl?

Thanks. It's just printed from the computer on plain paper. I then used clear packing tape and put it onto a piece of aluminum I cut out.

 

[Elmer]

Reflective tape would make a functional triangle. streetglo.net You could cut down a real triangle & just add red tape. That would give you a stout backing as well. I didn't think I'd like this project (too many green bikes with yellow wheels), but I'm starting to get into it. Please keep us posted.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

Loco Joe -- I like the SMV idea for the rear....what did you use for the backing and it yours painted or vinyl?

Thanks. It's just printed from the computer on plain paper. I then used clear packing tape and put it onto a piece of aluminum I cut out.

So the sign is also built, not bought........I like it! I've got some reflective tape so I'll see what I can do.

 

[Craiggo]

here is a needed update. I am happy and ashamed to announce that I have found a trike at the dump today. happy because I strongly intend to use it for this build. ashamed, because i told ratcycle that I wasnt planning on using a trike :roll: :lol: .
Things that I like/ plan
-I plan to get a similar looking tank as to a tractor
-The seat it has on it is Perfect! I just need to reapholster it.
-Paint everything red, according to what it corresponds to on the tractors.
-I have an elite that i can take rims and temporary tires off of.
-I have a different stem i am going to try out, otherwise, I am going to try and make the bars out of correct diameter bar and therefore make a correct stem to fit it.
-clean up that rear axle setup, and replace the metal covering
some more thing that dont come to mind right now but, theres alot possible on this bike.
Here are some pictures of the trike. P.S. what is that rear setup anyway? Ive never noticed trikes like that.

I got a crank on it and a chain 8)

Here are some pictures of my dads insanity :roll: :lol:

 

[yoothgeye]

Cool trike, most of them I see have the same rear end setup, the first hub is 3 speed with coaster brake and it runs the solid rear axle, much better setup than the trike parts I have which the crank runs a freewheel on the axle that is only attached to one rear wheel and my only brake is a front rim brake. Ugh.