Been lurking awhile, first post with new project. Lifted Craftsman!

My shaft couplers showed up today while I was at work. Got home at 7:30pm, had some dinner, then went down to the shop to see what I can get done. I welded three of the shaft couplers together and slid them onto the existing axle shaft with keystock and set screws. Slid on the adapter plates and tube and bolted on the rim and tire. All the work of measuring worked out great. The tires are inline with the fronts. Now I just need to finish welding the first hub together and then weld the second one together. That will be tomorrow afternoon. I hope to go for a ride right after that!

Lookin good  

Was out all day so didn't get started to till 7:00pm. Got one hub assembled and welded together. Going to finish the other tomorrow and take it out for a ride. Stay tuned for pictures and video once I get her out of the shop!

Lookin forward to it!

I ate breakfast this morning then went down to the shop and went gang busters at it. Got the rear hubs all welded up and mounted to the existing axles. Mounted the rear tires and rolled it off the lift. I had to grease the front bearings as they were new and I had put them on during fabrication for fit. Got those done and remounted then outside she went. The battery was weak from sitting all winter so I had to start it with the jump pack. She fired right up and runs great. It drives perfect and the shifter works good. The steering is surprisingly very easy. I am thrilled at the way it came out. Now to paint the metal I added, the rear-end and touch up anything else that needs it. Can't wait to bring it to the next tractor show!!!

Nice looks great got any vids?

Now bring it out to Haspin so we can REALLY test it!  Just kidding, nice work.

That thing looks great! Where you gonna paint it Fire red also or was that someone else?

Not me that was going to paint it red. I wanted to keep this on a low budget with minimum amount of painting or body work.

Awesome indeed.

No one around here that I know of lifts tractors. Many customize them and lower them. I'm from the old school of lifted trucks. In my teen years I built an 1982 Chevy Blazer with 2.5" of suspension and 2" body lift running 35" tires. Nothing crazy but made it look real good. This was like a trip down memory lane for me. Now lets see if I can leave well enough alone.

me likes

fireman wrote:

No one around here that I know of lifts tractors. Many customize them and lower them. I'm from the old school of lifted trucks. In my teen years I built an 1982 Chevy Blazer with 2.5" of suspension and 2" body lift running 35" tires. Nothing crazy but made it look real good. This was like a trip down memory lane for me. Now lets see if I can leave well enough alone.

Nice vid and same here, GO LIFTED OR GO HOME!

Went over to my friends house to paint the undercarriage. I ended up painting the transmission silver. I don't really like it and plan on changing it to something else. Everything else ended up black. Here's a picture after I finished.

Seeing as I have that extra pulley hanging down there I thought about running a 12 volt alternator or something off of it. Maybe fab up an old school roll bar with big lights on it! Who knows!

that would be awesome. what size is your engine tho because you dont want to bog it down and lose to much power running an alternator

It's 14hp. The tractor is really for show/parades only so don't need crazy power for mud bogging etc.

Just and update. I didn't want to just trust the single set screw against the keystock to hold the hubs and tires onto the axle. So I drilled out one on the set screw holes in the hub that was located closer to the inner end of the axle. Then used a transfer punch to make a mark on the axle shaft. Removed the hub and drilled and tapped it for a 1/4-20 bolt. Now the hub is firmly bolted to the axle along with the original set screw and key stock.

Here are two more pictures of the finished project. The second one has me in it so you can see a size comparison. Don't know if this is a far as I am going to take it. I may opt for a paint job and maybe some type of roll bar so I can put some lights on top!

You dont need paint. Just say thats.how you got it from the factory lol.

Looks great fireman.

I like the build keep us posted

Not really an update but I took the tractor to it's first show at the end of September and it was a huge hit. Most people around here had never seen anything like it before. I barely had time to sneak away and roam around the show because of all the interest and questions. I actually turned down an offer to buy it for a $700 from a guy who's kid really wanted it. I decided not to paint it and leave a stock theme to it.

That is indeed a nice clean build. Been meaning to ask- what's the rubber bungee in the rearend for? In pic below-

i belive its holding the brake where it wont always be braking doc, he might have lost the spring

That's a beautiful build right there

Yeah the rubber bungee is holding the brake lever back. I haven't found the right spring yet or should I say I ran out of time before other projects called! I have to weld a nut on to the square tubing for the lift so I can attach the spring when I get it. I guess I got all winter to get that done!

Just a quick update and say hi. Haven't done much at all with my tractors this winter. I did manage to get rid of the bungee cord and replace it with a spring. Have a few ideas on some changes but I may just leave well enough alone. Still have to make a support for the upper part of my shifter extension so it won't flex as much. I may work on that this week.