Indian Tadpole

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harry76

harry76

Well-Known Member
Apr 16, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia
I know what you are saying, it occurred to me the other night that next year will be my 20 year high school reunion, it feels like yesterday that I attended my 10 year reunion.

If your going to lift your welder for weights I suggest you get your brother to spot for you :)

I'm going to do a little research about welders before I replace my current 200 welder. Because I can get stainless quite easily from work i may consider buying a mig/tig welder but I've never tig welded in my life. I'll start a thread here for advice when im ready. I might also ask the tig welder we have at work, he certainly knows how to lay a nice weld. We have thousands of stainless pipes at work that need welding.
 
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curtisfox

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Dec 29, 2008
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fasteddy said:
Was going to say if my brother was spotting me with the welder lifting he'd only be standing there with 911 on speed dial.

Steve.
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Don't forget the harness for your budy Roid first name Hem.
I think you are confuseing how to weld with the 100 You must leve a gap the same thicknes as the metal you are welding,and anything that is heavy can be welled with several passes if you V-grind them first. I have a friend the welded a 2" square recever hitch bar with a SP 100 he just ground it to a 4/5 angle and made several pases until it was all done worked good But that is kind of extream
Our curent comes in to the hous as 220 and is split in the fuse pannel to 110 on each side. must be just like your?
Sounds like a good buy on the welder...........Curt
 
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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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Curt,
My weight lifting days ended when the kid ran me down with his dads car. Then my brother hit me. Lot of things stopped that night.

I did as you said when I used the small welder. The training from trade school as a kid did pay off. Just wanted to have a nicer welder to tell you the truth. There is a lot of welding coming up as I said and I'd like to have it all done before I leave for the summer.

My brother does the electrical work. I am very content with limiting my electrical knowledge to on and off.

Welder was a good buy. The heavy duty model has a stronger motor to drive the wire and some of the internals are stronger. More of a commercial model rather than the home/light commercial model that the tool store wanted $200 more for. Trouble is the same old hack welder will be on the end of it.

Steve.
 
silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
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northeastern Minnesota
Steve, good to hear that you're closing in on completion of the seat construction phase of the build.

Yes, I imagine you're itching to fire up your spiffy new Lincoln welder, make some sparks and progress on the metal parts of the build. I'm anxious to see your Camel back come to life.

Speaking of coming to life, I'm getting pretty close to firing up the Sachs engine on the Indian Hiawatha. I still have a few things to do through the week in between garden work here where I care-take. Curtis is close to done on the leaf spring fork, so it is coming together. I probably won't put the sidecar on it until I get back to Minnesota. The mountain roads here in Maryland are too narrow and the drivers go too fast around blind curves. Back home Bear Head Road leading to the state park is the perfect place for me to ride it safely as I get used to how it handles with a sidecar. I'm sure it will be different.

And once you arrive in Minnesota we will fit up the the tri-car front end and another new adventure will begin. Can't wait for summer fun!
SB
 
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fasteddy

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Feb 13, 2009
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Other than upholstery and paint the seats are done. Weather here has been poor so little else I could do to move this along. Few good days coming up or so they claim.

After all the fan fare about the welder I took it back. As I dug into it even deeper the chatter on the welding threads was to buy a Miller or a Lincoln from a welders supply. Lots of knowledge and better prices.

That was true enough. The welding supply we get our gas from suggested a Miller 140A
Auto Set welder since I won't be welding over 1/4" steel. It's 120V so I can move it around. I got it for $753 including tax. The tool store wanted $799 + 12% tax so I was happy I went with the welders advice.

This welder is pretty much Steve proof. The auto set is simple. One dial is set at the wire size that you are using and the other dial is set at the metal thickness your welding up to 3/16. It will go up to a 1/4 and more if you double up the weld.

I'll have photo's up tomorrow after I get back from the metal shop. I'm going to change the steering spindles around.

Steve.
 
silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Good to hear that the seats are done... quite the accomplishment. And now you will shift into welding mode. I'm glad you ended up with a welder you will be most happy with. I believe that's the same welder model that Tinsmith showed me where he works in a machine shop. It's the welder he uses and did beautiful welds with gas. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. I know you're anxious to get going on the front end assemblies. Very much looking forward to photos of your progress.
SB
 
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fasteddy

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Feb 13, 2009
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British Columbia Canada
Quick update on the tri-car. i was looking for hubs for the front of the tri-car and the one company that I found was out of them when I went to order them with no restocking date.

Ricksrides to the rescue. He put me on to his supplier in England who has some really top end hubs for tadpole trikes. While I was puzzling out how to get the king pin, spring and spindle working to the best advantage, he came up with a supplier in the U.S. who has parts at a very reasonable price, While the hubs from England take an 11 gauge spoke and can be drilled out for 10 gauge, the hubs from the U.S. take 14 gauge only but as Rick pointed out the wheel laced into the hub is about the same money as the hub from Elgland by it's self.

Looking at the web site I found out that the U.S.company also sells spindles sets. I'm waiting for the answers to a couple of questions that I have and then I'll order everything from them I think. The Tri-car isn't going to be ridden every day so the lighter spokes shouldn't make a difference. If it does it's just a matter of changing the wheels and hubs to something heavier.

Steve.
 
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silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
fasteddy said:
Quick update on the tri-car. i was looking for hubs for the front of the tri-car and the one company that I found was out of them when I went to order them with no restocking date.

Ricksrides to the rescue. He put me on to his supplier in England who has some really top end hubs for tadpole trikes. While I was puzzling out how to get the king pin, spring and spindle working to the best advantage, he came up with a supplier in the U.S. who has parts at a very reasonable price, While the hubs from England take an 11 gauge spoke and can be drilled out for 10 gauge, the hubs from the U.S. take 14 gauge only but as Rick pointed out the wheel laced into the hub is about the same money as the hub from Elgland by it's self.

Looking at the web site I found out that the U.S.company also sells spindles sets. I'm waiting for the answers to a couple of questions that I have and then I'll order everything from them I think. The Tri-car isn't going to be ridden every day so the lighter spokes shouldn't make a difference. If it does it's just a matter of changing the wheels and hubs to something heavier.

Steve.
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Do you have links to these suppliers?
SB
 
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curtisfox

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2008
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Yes links?
What I did years ago was take a rear hub (coaster brake) and made a new insert to fit mini bike bearings in for a wheel to spindle. Need a lathe though to do it............Curt
 
RicksRides

RicksRides

Member
Feb 22, 2012
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osceola IN
Guys I wanted to let you know if you order spindles from terra trike they wont work with the DMR hubs, they are not long enough. To make my spindles I used grade 8 20mm bolts i ordered and drilled and tapped the end, not really happy with em when my lathe is up agian I will just turn down some round stock. these will work for now. rick
 
RicksRides

RicksRides

Member
Feb 22, 2012
864
6
18
osceola IN
Im also stuck using my terra trike wheels with em as i could not find 20mm bolts long enough. Beware of rims from terra trike my showed up warped needing straightened, trued and tightened. They are also only single walled
 
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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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British Columbia Canada
Thanks Rick. Think I'll go up and see an old friend who is a machinist and see what I can get him to make for spindles to match the DMR hubs. Do you put roller bearings in yours so they turn on the king pin easier?

For the tri-car I'd like to use Worksman rims with 11 gauge spokes. For the velo I'm thinking moped rims since there may well be a very large electric motor in it with a healthy battery supply. With moped rims there will be road rated tires to tie it all together.

Steve.
 
RicksRides

RicksRides

Member
Feb 22, 2012
864
6
18
osceola IN
fasteddy said:
Thanks Rick. Think I'll go up and see an old friend who is a machinist and see what I can get him to make for spindles to match the DMR hubs. Do you put roller bearings in yours so they turn on the king pin easier?

For the tri-car I'd like to use Worksman rims with 11 gauge spokes. For the velo I'm thinking moped rims since there may well be a very large electric motor in it with a healthy battery supply. With moped rims there will be road rated tires to tie it all together.

Steve.
Click to expand...
Steve, rims off early 70's kawasaki 100 are 17inch rims with a lot more brakes and only 3 maybe 4 more pounds per rim over the moped rim and a lot thicker spokes then youll ever get on a bike or ped rim. On my hubs I replaced the sealed bearings that came in it with sealed needle bearring set up used ones with same ID and OD theyre exspensive but alot more stable as the bearrings and races are flat so there is no problem with wobbling as they wear, they will eventually wear out but itll take a heck of a lot longer then the originals. When I put the rims on and gave em a free spin it took more than a minute for them to stop moving. I take it you got your hubs from DMR already? Beefy little things for a bicycle part.
 
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