SUSPENSION RACING MOWER - SUPER B - PART 1; A NEW B4STARD

Well people, its been a while, but we have been hard at work scheming and tinkering at our newest project; 'the Super-Bastard'
This is designed to be the successor to the little bastard and will have some pretty interesting features in order to live up to its older brother ;)
We did an intro video to this project back in February this year, (2016), and back then we had hoped to enter it in as part of this years annual ATLTF forum build off, realistically i can't see it finishing in time to compete, however the build thread will continue to be updated as the build progresses.
I will also be posting build pictures on instagram - @stuntmanjon
ATLTF super b thread - www.atltf.com/t...
ATLTF little bastard thread - www.atltf.com/t...
WRENCHLIFE - super b intro video, (feb) - • WRENCHLIFE - 2016 ATLT...

[@moerichard3110]

I have a racing background, carts, motorcycles, and sprint cars. I like the space frame design you have came up with light strong. I have watched hours of race mower vids and no one has designed a front axel assy that will give you caster, camber and weight jacking options. We have developed this type of axel for karts and the same concept would be very beneficial to mower racing. Keep up the great work looking forward to more posts. Moe

[@moerichard3110]

I have watched dozens of these builds and you so far are the only one who can weld. Most of the other builds the welds are nasty. I am a bit fussy as I weld stainless steel for an international company and quality is foremost.

[@WrenchLife]

Maurice Richard lol thanks man, I do get a lot of satisfaction from a nice weld, in fact the littlebastard was primarily a project for me to sharpen my welding skills on, (then it got a bit wild and I ended up with a whole herd of the things), my welder has been in the shop now for the last 2 weeks getting fixed, hope to get it back tomorrow because I am itching to get back at it lol, (new video is being edited as I type btw), thanks, Jon

[@sgribb02]

I am hooked! Excellent videos. Cant wait to build my own Lil B. Please keep them coming.

[@WrenchLife]

Thanks! I've a lot more to turn into videos soon i just gotta get the time, the builds are progressing tho ;) happy building, Jon

[@jamespitts4595]

part 2!!!!!!!!! can't wait

[@WrenchLife]

Thanks, i'm working on it James ;) the box of bulkhead pieces is pretty full at the moment ready for the jig lol, welding it together in the next few days!

[@Jaribm]

so glad i got back into mowers and glad i stumbled across your channel!!

[@WrenchLife]

Jarib McCann thanks man, well I hope you are having fun at them and glad you like the videos, Jon

[@Jaribm]

Yea no problem man! I will have fun as soon as the new head comes. The mower dropped a damn valve seat and bent a push rod. It's a 17HP ohv I'm sure I'll be making some videos of the project. Cheers!

[@vladimirmedzyak9149]

Jon. Just a suggestion, why not use a drive shaft for your drive train and utilize two 90 degree 1:1 gear boxes with a torque converter behind the driver seat driving the rear axle sprocket. That way you don't have to worry about a clutch all you'd have is gas and break and not need to worry about belts and tensioners for your clutch.

[@WrenchLife]

Hi Vladimir, i had looked into Comet torque converter type transmissions ahead of this build, however a couple of things stopped me from using one in the final design; firstly i would have to mount the torque converter to the engine output shaft to get the required rpm to engage its clutch, so then the torque converter would hang too low beneath the engine, the bulky secondary unit would then need to be situated behind the engine and in front of me, with the 90 degree box mounted below it- so it would be very hard to maintain a low centre of gravity as the engine would have to be mounted quite high. Also i do insist on getting as much weight rearwards on these tractors as possible as it helps the handling balance greatly, so there really just wasn't enough space along the chassis either, (whilst still fulfilling my other design criteria). Probably chiefly among all my reasons though was my own personal preference for a manual clutch, the way i drive the little bastard and the thunder bastard is heavily reliant on a manual clutch ;) i would have loved the power delivery of a torque converter though and will have a go at using one in a future project as i am impressed with what they can do ;) thanks for your comment and thanks for watching man :) jon

[@WrenchLife]

Hi Vladimir, thanks man! well as a rule of thumb the engine output shaft should be the fastest rotating shaft in the transmission, (then every component after, gearbox shafts, layshafts, final drive etc should be geared down). When you gear down you reduce the speed of the components but increase the torque going thru them, so to preserve the belt in the torque converter i would mount it on the engine. Also the engine idle speed is about 1000rpm and the stock max engine speed is about 3600rpm, the clutches on these things tend to engage, (they can be adjusted though), at just over 1~1.5k rpm so this matches up well with the engine output shaft, it allows for fairly early engagement and more control of the vehicle speed with the throttle. As a rule i would also design a drivetrain with as few moving parts as possible, so mounting on the engine allows for one less layshaft. i really want to put a v twin in one of my racers actually, just to see how scary that is, so will build the 'thunder bastard 2.0' to take one, (whenever this inevitably happens ;)), i really like the idea of a shaft drive twin motorbike engine like what 'ukwheelhorsebloke' uses in some of his machines also, if i ever get a horizontal shaft twin i would consider building a 'baja kart' type deal - those things are nuts! :) jon

[@haulinass1990]

I feel the same phuk’n way about using my hammer.. you do very nice, clean work and in a perfect world it would be nice if it were easy to find guys like you to work with in a shop.

[@WrenchLife]

Thanks lad lol, it's always a nice day when I get another hammer 😎🔨

[@Kc6spd]

just finished the 2 week build series, love your vids bro!

[@WrenchLife]

kyle crowe, thanks man - hope they help with your own ideas/projects, the 2 week mower is now called the thunderbastard and is hopefully back at some racing this weekend!

[@Kc6spd]

WrenchLife awesome! getting some racing vids for us then?

[@WrenchLife]

Kyle Crowe hope to get more footage from the upcoming season, I've so much footage ruined by flying mud sticking to the camera lol so mudguards are high on the list!

[@Thorbrook]

looking good. just wish it was as easy to build frames a you make it. can't wait to c more!!

[@WrenchLife]

Thanks! i guess thats the magic of film editing lol, i'm looking forward to building the rest of it, its like a big jigsaw ;) jon

[@jonnygraham]

Hammer time.

[@WrenchLife]

every time lol

[@stompnlocktheaucrew9544]

"You can use a vice if you want.... but I like to use my hammer" I died 😂😂😂

[@cbzone9]

Been looking for a set of the rear wheels that you have on here for ages can you tell me where to get a set of the rims and tyres ? Great videos pal keep it up!

[@WrenchLife]

Thanks man, the wheels are douglas (DWT) blue label 8x8 quad rims with a 4x4 bolt pattern, i got them, (and the red label rims on the little bastard), in the UK thru a quad bike parts dealer called 'ATVs only' who were proper helpful, the bolt pattern is a bit of an oddball size in the UK so its a special order, but they are worth it :) really good wheels! jon

[@johnnym1320]

Looks like this is going to be interesting, Me thinks you need a TIG welder

[@WrenchLife]

dude you are so right lol! the heart of the chassis has been welded, (mig) and it was indeed a fiddly process, i know ill need to step up to the TIG soon, but thought for this project it would be the better of the 2 evils to use the method i am far more familiar with for now, even though it is a bit less suited. my current welder will do TIG, (if i buy the torch, bottle, reg etc), but i have my eye on a separate machine so i can keep my mig ready for action at all times lol. i feel the super bastard will be a trial and improvement sorta deal, so i would expect to see more TIGged components towards the end of the build as we 'build, wreck, repeat', as it were ;), thanks for watching and commenting, Jon

[@tomwright3957]

are u gonna use this yoke for racing?

[@WrenchLife]

not really TW, i mean theres a couple of events I've been given a heads up about next year, including a lawnmower race, where ill look to be running it as a demo thing, maybe we could use it to help promote the mower racing over here? who knows? At the moment its being built to exploit the knowledge we gained when building the little bastard and to have a bit of fun with. Ive gotta get more use out of my actual race mower before i replace it anyways ;) jon

[@tomwright3957]

WrenchLife ok

[@LifeAccordingToMatt]

awesome work. I'm just starting to build a tractor was going to race it but apparently the BLMRA don't allow fast MAN mowers so I'm going to do it for the craic. got some Douglas wheels on the arse end but I'm struggling to find some 6" wheels for the front so i can mount quad tyres, are the fronts on this just 5" kart wheels? any idea where i can find 6" quad or kart alloy wheel in the UK??

[@WrenchLife]

DrMurdoc666 lol thanks man, well actually if you need 6" wheels the BLMRA could probably helped you lol, (all the group 4 mowers run 6" wheels lol), a good match for the Douglas wheels I run on the rear of this and the little bastard would be a Douglas 6" alumilite wheel, altho beware the hole pattern is not the standard euro 3 bolt, the ones in this video are 5" dwt q-ovals, happy building man, Jon

[@ProGlitchersHD1]

We're do u buy your tires and rims for your mowers

[@WrenchLife]

The smaller wheels, i.e. all the front wheels, (and the rear wheels also on the thunder bastard), are all go kart wheels, so i get them from uk go kart suppliers, the rear 8" douglas wheels are specials from America, (special to Northern Ireland that is ;)), i get them from a place called 'ATVs only' if you are in the UK, the guys there were very helpful in getting me these. For tyres i use go kart tyres where i can, otherwise i get the tyres from a spot called 'Tyre Rite' in England, the tyres i use are mainly for golf karts and lawnmowers. Jon

[@jamespitts9402]

when's the next update?

[@WrenchLife]

James Pitts hi man, I have a load of the work done for what will be in the next video, (but want to pass a particular milestone in the build because I want that in the next video), so I've a bit more work to do before I finish that, however the main reason why the superbastard is going slowly though....(WrenchLife exclusive lol), the thunderbastard group 4 race mower is getting a sister lol; the absolute-bastard! it's not as big a project as the superbastard, but I felt that it was important to build it asap, and in the videos for that, I'll explain why! Jon

[@jamespitts9402]

Sweet. I can't wait I've been working on a race mower as well 13briggs perrless700. Straight axle . Just got a welder( never done it before). All that is left is front end and clutch.

[@WrenchLife]

James Pitts 2 of the most important bits! take your time and build them strong, the mower will be better for it ;-) jon

[@BodgeRidesGarage]

Ur a tasty welder, u'd never get anything that tidy from us :D

[@WrenchLife]

Thanks guys, youse are wild handy with a paintbrush tho ;) artwork on that beemer is premium :) jon

[@BodgeRidesGarage]

haha we had to get help with that too :P conor

[@jamesonstratton7687]

there is no video

[@WrenchLife]

Stratton Lawn Service it's working for me there, try again and see, Jon