T20 Mods that work for me

[onlyonce]

The pictured T20 hold down bracket has held up extremely well for quite a few years with no issues at all. It is designed to take up slop and sinch things down real tight while being a breeze to remove.

The shifters on a T20 leave a lot to be desired especially on an older machine as the want to tilt while being rotated. If bad enough they will start to score the shifter bore in the case making things worse. What I did was drill out the top of the shifter and thread the hole. Then installed a shoulder bolt vertically which goes through a small horizontal tab welded on to my hold down bracket. Works wonderful, very smooth acting especially with spring loaded assists.

I made up some small crud plates from alum flashing that wrap around the shifter posts above the holes in the T20 case. These do a wonderful job of keeping crud out of the case hole to keep things working smoothly. Even if you don't get crud from riding you probably blow it up there cleaning it up afterwards.

[john swenson]

beautiful job keith !! i love seeing everyones improvements . johnboy va

[mfenmor]

That trans hold down is perfect. I was going to do something similar, but I like your idea better.

[dirtdobber]

Great work. Is that an old craftsman commercial lathe?

[xbunsenx]

WOW, very nice!

[tbone9]

Some great mods you’ve got there. Does the spring assist eliminate rocking the machine to shift?

[onlyonce]

Great work. Is that an old craftsman commercial lathe?

Rockwell 11"

[onlyonce]

Some great mods you’ve got there. Does the spring assist eliminate rocking the machine to shift?

Do to the nature of the beast (t20) the teeth do need to line up. That being said with the mods I have done including split shift I can't remember the last time I had to rock the machine. I just move shift levers up or down depending on forward or reverse and if the teeth are not lined up I just give the laterals a quick push or pull and everything falls into place. The spring assist will certainly help with your issue. I just copied what the you see in the Hustlers.

[onlyonce]

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Always found adjusting the plungers on the t20 either in the machine or in the field a pain do to those little clips behind the plunger bolts that keep them from rotating. What I did was to open up the hole on those clips by cutting a slot in the bottom and then welded extra material to act as a tab to hold. So all you have to do to adjust is to pull the quick pin and lift up and the clip will lift out allowing adjustment with a screw driver then re insert.

[mfenmor]

Very nice job. Great thinking outside the box.