lawn mower tank starting out

Frogger4thga · 08-24-2010, 06:51 PM

ok my i might be geting an old crafsman riding mower, it runs its just not good for mowing, the deck is shot.
looks about like this

first im thinking take off the deck and use pvc to make a frame to be netted all the way around.
i understand most fields require tanks to be fully enclosed.

im thinking for the gunner to be pulled behind in a small trailer. have a swivil chare with a double trouble and a havoc.

thats my general idea any sugestions on what may be more effective and make it look more intimadating

DuckTape Dude · 08-24-2010, 09:19 PM

Lawn mowers seem like great bases because of all the torque their small engines have. Also they are already the perfect speed for paintball tank, a brisk walk that is. Good luck with it! My suggestions would be finding a way to quiet it down and doing something cool with its headlights. Im thinking like glowing red eyes to scare the crap out of your enemies!!

kingofbeer62 · 08-24-2010, 11:45 PM

I tried this before and used the mower to tow a trailer full of shooters. I really underestimated the weight of the trailer and people in it. The mower had plenty of pulling power but the braking is done by the engine. Going down steep hills I was doing wheelies and getting pushed downhill with no front wheels to steer. The body on my mower is sheet metal and not very strong to support people other than the driver. I was thinking of attaching a front gunner seat to the frame on the front and maybe making a small 2 seat trailer to pull behind. Good luck.

fbkboe · 08-25-2010, 01:20 PM

Our (F.B.K.) tank started out as 2 lawnmowers. They do make good platforms, just a little on the small side. We thought about the trailer theme as well, never considered how going down steep hills until now. We expanded our tank until people are shocked to find out there's a lawnmower underneath the shell. Keep us up to date on the build, tankers always want to see the projects others are working on.

Dkuehner · 08-09-2012, 07:27 PM

You said you used two mowers, how are they connected?

fbkboe · 08-10-2012, 04:12 PM

It's a hydraulic drive system. We were lucky enough to have a friend who had two identical mowers that he gave to us. Our team captain and several members are great mechanics. They cut the rear half off the one and connected it to the PTO of the complete mower. The result is both rear axles are powered. Here's a link to the build so you can get a better idea.
http://forums.warpig.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=120

fbkboe · 08-10-2012, 04:17 PM

Oh, the noise issue is definitely a problem that we have yet to resolve. We also did not take into account the undersized front wheels, but putting bigger ones on now would lift one of the rear axles off the ground. It was our first build so I like to think it turned out pretty good for a bunch of rookie tankers. Keep us updated on the build!

Capt Camo · 08-14-2012, 06:32 PM

It looks a little tail heavy. Have you thought about putting wheelie bar on the back to keep the front down?

Boom Master · 08-15-2012, 07:15 PM

Consider playing in REVERSE. Driver straddles the engine facing backwards. Reverse the seat and the Gunner sits backwards and below. Make it a TWO man with the bulk of the weight over the "front wheel" drive. Just one of my quirky thoughts...

hardboy · 09-20-2012, 10:12 PM

This tank was made from one of our personel. It is based of a sears 74 lawn tractor. It was used at one engagement. This was the battle of the Hurtgen forrest at west point last year. It was sold today on EBAY for $ 75 today.

Oonlo · 09-20-2012, 10:17 PM

I would have bought that for 75 bucks

Cromagnum Tankerman · 09-21-2012, 08:35 AM

Frogger4thga, Our first tank was a riding lawnmower. May I suggest that you use at least a 18-22 HP mower. This gives you the power to go up certain grades and can carry the weight of the materials and 1-2 riders. If you make this into a 2 man tank I suggest mounting and putting counter weights of about 100 pounds in the front of the tank. If you dont the tank will raise up when you start out or going up a small grade and you could flip it backwards. I know that from personal experience of flipping it backwards twice. I would caution making the tank to high especially with a turret because the mower tank can be come unstable or top heavy. Riding lawnmowers do not have the overall weight to support upward weight. If you play on flat fields you shouldnt have to many problems with upward weight. We put a lawnmower muffler on a extension pipe on our tank to cut down on noise and keep the fumes from coming into the tank. Also riding lawn mowers do not have shocks or a moveable suspension. So you will need to make sure you have plenty of cross bracing and all shell mainframes must be anchored to the metal frame of the mower. If not the tank can rock and cause supports to break. I also suggest replacing the the current tires and putting some kind of rough cut ATV tires. You will get alot better traction especially pulling a trailer. I also suggest putting a suicide knob on the steering wheel. When you under alot fire you get kinda slimmed in the tank. Sometimes when this happens its hard to steer a tank when every thing is slimmy. The knob gives you complete control of the steering. Our lawnmower tank has been retired and is now used at a local field. Using a trailer with a second gunner will severely cut down on your power and range of motion. Going with PVC and netting may be a good way to get things started. But as you find the pros and cons of tanking later on you may want to go to harder materials. I suggest using the grey PVC. Its more sturdier and wont break as easy as the white PVC.

Our second tank is made from a JD Gator 6 x 4 which has proven it can go over just about any terrain. Well these are just some of my experiences using a riding lawn mower as a tank. Good luck on your build. I do have some old pics of my riding lawnmower tank if you want to see them. Send me a PM with your email addy.

Treaddz