Craftsman Off road

Hey guys. Im working on building a craftsman mower for off roading. i have only been working on this for a week, so its not great yet. I got this lawnmower from my parents when they bought a new one. This is my first time modding a lawnmower so please feel free to give me some advice.

well it is a 1997? (i think) craftsman mower. It had a 42" deck on it which stopped working (which is why i got it). The motor is a B&S 19HP twin. it had a 3 inch pulley up front and an 8 inch in the rear stock, i left the front pulley alone and i am waiting on a steel 3 inch rear pulley in the mail right now. I have removed all handles that were used to operate the deck and blades so its pretty light. First i installed a gas pedal (which i totally love). then I installed a front and rear bumper, both are made out of steel re-bar. Next I used some parts from an old grille and made an undercarriage protector. This thing is pretty sick and i cant wait to get the new rear pulley and try it out!

I will take some more pics later and post them up here.

Looking forward to hearing about your build.

Caboose wrote:

. First i installed a gas pedal (which i totally love). then I installed a front and rear bumper, both are made out of steel re-bar. Next I used some parts from an old grille and made an undercarriage protector. This thing is pretty sick and i cant wait to get the new rear pulley and try it out!

I will take some more pics later and post them up here.

Pics please on the gas pedal and bumpers!

Love the colour, looks almost ford-like.

That twin should be all the power you'll ever need, and then some. First thing you should do, now you;ve got all the mowing crap out the way, is make sure everything is as strong as it can be. Those c'man chassis's are pretty strong anyway. The thing I would say, it brakes will be needed if it's running a higher speed!

Gear oil in the rear end is a must if you want it to last. Possibly lock the differntial too. And aggressive tyres! Lights are always good too. that shuld be more than enough to get you started! Cant wait to see more of this, with that engine, it'll be awesome!

I will take more detailed pics of the bumper tomorrow for you. I need them welded on because they are held in place by bolts and zip ties lol. But they are on really strong. Here is a pic of the gas pedal. I basically took the existing throttle and flipped it upside down and mounted it onto the foot area and added a piese or wood on a hinge.


i love the color too, im a chevy guy but im a sucker for blue =)

Glad you mentioned lights. I have an old pair of two inch (HID i think) that need new bulbs. I plan on getting them on there tomorrow. I also just made a trip to the hardware store and bought pipes to make straight pipe side exit exhaust with. Thats going on tomrrow too. I will be sure to post up pictures of it when they are installed.

And for aggressive tires, i want these. I plan to get 18" in the back and 15" in the front. Should be epic!

Those are nice tyres. Should definatly get you going! What are you plans for the exhaust? I do like straight pipes, but I alwyas feel those small 'sausage' mufflers give you a deeper sound, and they help with back pressure. I have one on each side of my mudder, not sure if I have pics of it.
Like the foot throttle idea though! Its a nice clean set up.

Nice machine so far- Arlid used a set of ATV wheels on his craftsman - look sharp. Gas pedal is a slick design as well.

Great job on the gas pedal. Clean and professional looking.

Thanks for all of the comments and support guys =)

ncredleg: here are the pics of the front and rear bumpers for ya,



I also managed to get the dual straight pipes hooked up. It sounds like a harley and is soo loud that my parents wont let me run it for more than like a minute lol.
This is the right side. The left looks the same too.

That exhaust is really clean looking! Bet it screams though! Did you build that with a pipe bender?

Did that tractor have a back plate around the transmission? It looks like it should have soemthing there lol, its got a huge gap. Easy access though

Thanks, i love it too =)
Yea it screams obnoxiously. I did use a pipe bender.
And yes it does have a back plate but im still waiting for the rear pulley in the mail so im not putting it on yet. Once i get the pulley i will put it back on for strength and frame support.

nice tractor and welcome to the site. i love craftsmans, twins, straight pipes, custom bumpers and fresh paint jobs. and your tractor has all that!!

haha thanks =) I know i have way too much time on my hands.

Caboose wrote:

haha thanks =) I know i have way too much time on my hands.

hey that may be so but atleast you've put that time to good use.

Yeah i had shorty headers on my 94 mod murray with a 18HP twin- sounded awsome , but way too fast for a nearly stock tractor - someday ill rebuild it.

Im thinking when i build my wheelhorse i might have to take it to a muffler shop , i dont have a torch or bender- i dont want it all cobbled together either - id like for it to go just underneath the footrests tward the outside edge and come out just before the rear wheel- like yours- that hot rod look, but a larger pipe size.

I would have liked to have done larger piping too, but 1" was all i could fit in the bender..... =(
But im still very satisfied with it =)

My friend got a good video of it running for me and put it on his youtube.

Looks great ! I like the color.

Sounds similar to my mod murray -



I took it apart about a year after this video was taken - planned on making it more stable and changing a few things - at the moment its sitting under a tarp waiting its turn....

I like the fact yours doesnt backfire when you let off the throttle- i was thinking it was because of the shorty headers ( actually stock pipes to the muffler originally) - i had planned on putting longer pipes on it , then i got the idea for the wheelhorse mod.

Thats awesome! Sounds sick!

Thanks =)
Oh, and fearless, I did the front lift to the mower sorta like what you did to your craftsman, except i just dropped the axle mount down a hole and drilled new lower holes.
Also, i got my 3" rear pulley in the mail yesterday! This thing is sooo much fun. I'm gunna try to find its top speed later on today.
I will be sure to put some pics up after i get out of work.

Caboose wrote:

Thanks =)
Also, i got my 3" rear pulley in the mail yesterday! This thing is sooo much fun. I'm gunna try to find its top speed later on today.
I will be sure to put some pics up after i get out of work.

Be careful not to kill yourself! lol This is probably just the beginning of you tractor modding endeavors! It's easy to have too much fun on these things...

Speed and stock hieght/raised hieght dont work together- i found that out on the 2 modded tractors i built . Mine wanted to tip over too many times when i was flying down the road - hence the helmit.... that video of the murray was the last time i actually drove it before i took it apart.

The mild mod MTD ( profile pic ) is wicked fast - all i did to lower it was shorter profile tires on the back, mounted the front axle as high up as it would go and bolted the seat to the chassis - handles like a slot car now - also have a 97 MTD mastercut that mows but is super fast for a stock machine .

Nice project you have going there.