Making a Linchpin

August 25, 2008

A couple of months back, we got an Ariens lawn tractor off freecycle. It has a 15 hp Briggs and Stratton engine, and 42 inch mowing deck. Tyres and everything are good, but it moved forward a little, then stopped. Finally I figured out the problem. The engine bolts had rattled loose or off, which meant that the whole engine moved and took the tension off the drive belt.

A couple of days ago we picked up a trailer/cart for the tractor, also from a person on freecycle. We were planning to make a trailer anyway because the kids had decided to use it for hayrides during harvest season. So now we have a ready made trailer, also with good tyres and in working order. The only thing missing was the pin to connect the two. A nail worked for a while (actually D came up with a 1938 date nail from a railway sleeper), then I made a pin on the forge.

The stock was an old bicycle pedal arm (one piece with pedals attaching directly - no cotter pins). I had already started to make this into a ring so I opened it out, drew it down, cut excess off, bent a loop for a handle (and stop), and punched a hole. The punching went really well considering I haven't done much. I used a hot punch I made from the coil spring. Since I don't have an anvil, I punched it over a piece of steel that someone had blown a hole in with a gas torch.

The pin is only a small piece, but that bit of ironmongery is the linchpin of the whole system!