So as those of you who saw his awesome crib build know, Sean has a lovely young daughter that recently turned one. He’s been out in the shop like a madman recently building her all sorts of cool stuff, mostly (as you’d expect from Sean) out of wood. Well, back before she was born, we discussed making her something a little more unusual — something she probably won’t be able to enjoy until she’s at least five, or maybe three if her mother is at work and we don’t tell her what we’re doing: a pink tank.
I had the idea a long time back when I was cleaning out my dad’s place. I tossed an old zero-turn lawnmower that’d been killing a small patch of grass behind his shop for years, but a few days later (read: too late) I realized that it wasn’t the mower that had caught his attention. It was the transmission. Mate a decently-powerful lawn mower engine to a zero-turn transmission, machine up some fittings to hook up some Bobcat treads, and weld the whole thing into a nice little frame and you’ve got a first-class kiddie tank.
When Sean’s dad pitched out a lawn mower (non zero-turn, sadly) a while back, I scored a 20 HP Briggs in decent running condition — perfect for the project. It’s been holding up floor in the TM shop for about a year now while I’ve been hunting around for a transmission. Then it struck me: why not ask you folks?
Do any of you happen to know where I can score a cheap free zero-turn transmission? And where I might be able to pick up a set of rubber tracks and wheels reasonably cheap? It’s for a good cause.