Take an old mower ...
with heaps of potential....
and think carefully how we can re purpose it !!???????????
So here is the plan so far.....
the motor goes fine - very little rust etc ..... lets make a tractor that pulls a trailer with a spray tank on it with a boom spray unit .....
take off the mower unit - sell it on trade me and use the $$ to re coup cost of materials for the re vamp - up sizing - re purposing project...
we can make it all happen then when we are finished we can use it to spray the feilds with liquid fertiliser to help male the grass grow ...
we can even do some field trials with different types of liquid fert' - cow poo tea - sheep pellets tea -
its a start anyway
tractor will need mudguards and a re paint - probably yellow or black !
we need a discussion about this tomorrow - then post the results - see you then !
We have 20+ engineers in our group now - far too many for just one tractor so we have split in 3
group one is tractor
group 2 is trailer and spray unit
group 3 is a pedal car - to tie in with blast from the past !
Thanks to hayden and his day who has given us his pedal car to keep - we will see how it works and duplicate the pedal mechanism and make a year 7-8 sized pedal car !
the designs so far look really good - we shall have to decide next week....
more next week
Week 3
We have got some great designs and it was easy to draw too - we took photos of the tractor with the mower piece off and then drew what we thought would be a good design.
the tractor looks so different now with the bonnet off and the seat off - but it gives us an idea of what we need to do. This Tuesday we will make wooden templates for the mudguard designs and then we can make it out of steel
23 May 2017
So what started off as a group of 10 engineers we have grown to 25..... now we have got lots of engineers who want to design and make stuff we needed some extra projects to all have something meaningful to do so we have 3 projects on the go.....
So....
project One is the tractor and here's where we are at now....
Project Two is the spray trailer and its going like a "house on fire"
The group of 4 have already come up with a plan so I will get the steel and we can cut and weld this week... we just need the tyres and axle diameter to sort that too - will bring it to school tomorrow
The 3rd Project is the pedal Car - an old fashioned toy thats time old and still round today - but knowing our engineers we have here they will certainly "upsize it !
You need some pictures to give you ideas or to springboard ideas from and this one worked -
ONLY OURS IS BETTER !!!!!!!
Designs so far
Insert pix here
Week 5 - What to do next !!!!
Lots happening at the moment so its full on !!!!!
Tractor
we have made a start on the roll bar - its partially welded and ready to fit - we need to fit the pipe to the top part - measure - maker and then cut before welding...
Pull start mechanism needs to come off so it can go away to get fixed - makes a terrible noise !
Steering is fixed - the children did a great job of cleaning it all so we could see what the problem was
Now the mudguards can be made - make drawings then cardboard cut outs to see what it looks like
Girls - lights design and front grill etc
get plans of lights - draw your design - find lights to fit LED !! design on 3D printer headlamp holders to suit the lights you find
grill - cut out ??
sand down the bonnet etc ready to paint
Spray Unit
Frame is measured and cut - needs assembling - clamp to the board ready to do a temporary weld after school
put in the tow bar and clamp ready to weld
clean up wheels - use cloth etc to clean up
wheels are here - one tyre is flat - need to get it fixed this week
measure the axle diameter - buy some rod - how long
measure drum and get curve of drum - make a card model and see f it fits
cut in steel ready to weld on
Pedal Car
Look at pictures we found on the web
look at steering etc and draw a plan
Bike is here so take it apart - keep wheels for front assembly - keep pedal mechanism
keep brake assembly - take pictures of how it is put together
can we do 2 sets of pedals or just one
decide length of pedal car - sit down and measure backside to feet..
draw a plan with measurements
who has a bike - need 2 more wheels
other jobs to do
welder needs new handle - take off the old one - fit new one - you will need special keys to fit it
hint - allen keys ?? unsure of spelling for them - hexagonal keys ???
Mr Thopre -caretaker may have them
We need pictures - video taken of all this again - can you take both and give them to Mr Gover...
he will post them to this page later.....
Week 6
First thing to do is READ WEEK 5 to see what we didn't do last week !!!!
Tractor
We have the roll bar installed ! that needs sanding and coating with RIPPO
Take off all the stickers - check with Mr G first
Sand down the whole tractor with 80 and then 120 sandpaper
Lights need to be organised this week -
Paint is ordered
You have the choice of orange - orange or orange - take your pick !
MUDGUARDS - need a final design this week - how will we attach these - plan it out !!!!
Spray Unit
We have a frame ! - sand down and RIPPO it !!!!!
Get the drum - measure diameter and circumference
make a template of the half circle plus the plate on top.....
Whhels will be taken in today to get pumped up - they leak at the moment !!!
Also work out which pump ad the research spray booms - need pipe and nozzles - use Trademe to find bits and pieces - print it out so we can go on and look again later
Pedal Car
FULL SIZE plans required - use paper - join together - lay out on floor - draw it out.. also need front wheel assembly plans - look at the old one - look at the pictures - figure it out..
need plans and measurements this week - we have the steel - welder etc - we need to put it together
Week 7
Pedal Car
Still going strong - we finally have a plan for the pedal car after telling the kids "they were dragging the chain" They drew some plans with measurements last week - we adapted them and came up with a design - we had the frame sorted and cut out by lunchtime today - then showed them how to cut angles in a straight piece and bent the lot round our original drawing which we did full size - easier that way to calculate angles. We also looked at some youtube clips to get ideas for the steering - found some good ones and have got a solution. Seva is working on some drawings for the steering too. They sanded the steel ready for welding tomorrow
Trailer
The deign for the supports for the drum were done last week so we got the paper plan sorted - I cut out the frames and they were filed and sanded today ready for welding during the week. They sanded the steel ready for welding tomorrow then once they have been cleaned up we can RIPPO them Friday before school. This means next Tuesday they can be undercoated. That will also rely on the axle being welded on too. Liam and his crew did a fantastic job today with cleaning the steel and getting the other pieces ready for tomorrow.
Tractor
The whole tractor got a water blasting at lunchtime and it looks a lot cleaner. They sanded the main body ready for undercoat. Some of the boys sanded the bonnet ready for painting. The girls unpacked the lights and assembled them. We worked out where they were to go - marked it and then they drilled the holes. Now we need switches to put on the dash for lights and for the spray unit - all run off the battery.
REMEMBER THIS FOR NEXT WEEK
Bring a COMPLETE set of OLD CLOTHES so you can start painting your machines. No old clothes - NO PAINTING !!!!
Week 9
We are fast running out of time but we are still trucking on....
No options group this week as we were all at the Mud run....
Photos of where the tractor etc is up to ...
