And so it begins! Craftsman LT1000 ---> ATV (we are hoping!)

First to thank you guys for the welcoming messages!  I will be picking your brains (probably mainly from what youve posted on here already) soon, and hope to have a good outcome, and my son can enjoy his tractor/ATV this winter...

So finally made the decision with my son....  ATV it is... since it is our first project, we will keep it "easy", and not go through the whole extreme customizing (lowering ride height, body work, etc) a Hot Rod project may demand...

Brought the tractor off its resting place... pumped the tires up... blew off all the crap on the deck, and took it off...   removed the deck complete, including the links between the lever and the deck, and the cable as well..   found out I will need a new fuel tank, since this one was cracked, and I had epoxied it a while back.... still leaking a bit...

reinstalled the battery that i had sitting on a floater, checked the oil and it pretty much turned right up... did not fire, and I am sure I will need to have a good carb cleaning real soon....  but so far, so good!

found what I would consider a good deal on craigslist...  Kenda ATV tires... set of 4 with wheels (rears with spindles) for $60...  19x7-8 fronts and 18x9.5-8...  i will be picking them up tomorrow...

now to figure out how to mount them on the tractor...  would it be "simple" enough to cut the original wheels, drill holes, weld nuts or studs on them and attach the ATV wheels to them?   it may sound crazy, but figured id throw it out there...  dont have quick access to a welder right now, but can do it if needed to...

any input you may have is greatly appreciated! my son is very excited about this! thanks guys!

its really easy to make hubs,ill post a vid of mine

thanks Richie! that gives me a much better idea on the how-to... im picking up those tires/wheels this afternoon, and will check for size....

looking into taking the carb off the motor and spray it a little... see how it does..

Connected the battery late last night, and tried to fire it up... it cranked and turned pretty well...

amazingly it still had a little bit of gas in the tank, and obviously in the filter.. so i poured a little bit of seafoam and let it sit all day today until I got back home and my son was out of school...

we checked the oil again, extremely clean thankfully, but added some just for good measure... he cranked it up for a bit, and to our surprise, it fired up!  put some clean fresh gas on it and let him ride it around the backyard for a while, kinda to clean the old fuel and let the seafoam run through the fuel lines and carb... he rode for about half an hour!

also picked up the wheels/tires I found on craigslist.. look pretty decent, although I was hoping they would be a bit higher... but they will do for now... much better than the stock mower tires.. lol





now to figure out how to get those wheels cut out...  looking for welders as I type... hope I can get those done before the real cold gets here... hahaha

cheers all!

a angle grinder with a metal cut off disc works well lol, and if you want a cheap welder that works well go to tractor supply and get the 110 jobsmart fluxcore welder, it works really good, but make sure to run .030 wire in it

One thing I would like to add.  Those are directional tires, meaning that they go a certain way or they won't work as good.  In the pic you had the tires facing the wrong way...
 
Other than that I like the build so far.

Yea they just,don't self clean themselves in the mud

LAWN MOWER MUDDER wrote:

One thing I would like to add.  Those are directional tires, meaning that they go a certain way or they won't work as good.  In the pic you had the tires facing the wrong way...
 
Other than that I like the build so far.

Actually its a old trick to turn tires around like that to get them to sling mud out better. A lot of people do it on 4 wheelers.

They don't clean themselves out thoughy, they turn slicks quick and stay slicks lol

idk if its mine but my jobsmart fluxcore welder sucks it dosent even penetrate ive tried every setting it has the right wire and everything I will put down a nice hot weld then tap it with a hammer and it falls right off

LAWN MOWER MUDDER wrote:

One thing I would like to add.  Those are directional tires, meaning that they go a certain way or they won't work as good.  In the pic you had the tires facing the wrong way...
 
Other than that I like the build so far.

yep.. realized that after taking the picture... just put them "on" to see looks... not anywhere near mounting them for real! I WISH! lol

Nice start! Those tires should look and work really well. Keep us posted!

If you are good at changing tires you could put those back tires on the original rims for your tractor, they should fit.  Also if you can find a craftsman garden tractor that has the 16x6.50-8 tires on the front and use those rims for the front.

Thanks for the input, guys!

so... I havent had time to go search the local shops, but I found these on ebay, as an example....

would they fit, even if not being from a Craftsman? I didnt see the diameter of the bearing noted anywhere on the post...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jacobsen-GT12H-Tractor-Carlisle-16x6-50-8-Front-Tires-Rims-/190939256794?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c74ddd7da

Thank you again!!

They look like 3/4 (the size you need) but I'm not sure.  As long as it is a 3/4 you should be fine.  I just said craftsman so you can find ones that fit for sure.

If you are planning on painting them you could get these and clean 'em up really good and paint them...these should fit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FMC-BOLENS-850-FRONT-RIMS-AND-TIRES-16X6-50-8-/370582524544?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5648709280

yep.. and im sure even being craftsman, they have different sizes of bearings too... will look for 3/4... but will definitely hit the local repair shops.. im sure someone will have the rims just laying around...

this makes the tractor being much closer to being ready... just unmount and mount the other tires!

THANK YOU!!

Renzo24441 wrote:

yep.. and im sure even being craftsman, they have different sizes of bearings too...   will look for 3/4... but will definitely hit the local repair shops.. im sure someone will have the rims just laying around...

this makes the tractor being much closer to being ready... just unmount and mount the other tires!

THANK YOU!!

Yeah no problem, that's what forums are for LOL.

Passed by the shop nearest to me, and of course, they were closed today.. lol...

will try again tomorrow! see if I can find something local before paying $50 for shipping! lol

Renzo24441 wrote:

Passed by the shop nearest to me, and of course, they were closed today.. lol...

will try again tomorrow!  see if I can find something local before paying $50 for shipping! lol

 
 
I agree.

What size are those atv tires you got?

I just wanted to make sure that the front tires didn't take a 10in rim and the rear tires take a 9in rim (a lot of the sport quads run those rim sizes, and those look like all the sport quad rims I've owned over the years).

Me personally, I would stick with the atv rims and make my own hubs.  Aluminum atv rims are very strong (pound for pound) when compared to the thin steel ones that come on these mowers, they do not rust, they have a slightly taller bead rolled in the rim and that helps to keep the tire on the rim with the low air pressure of the atv tires, and aluminum just looks better (at least to me).

I'll be looking forward to more of this build so keep it coming.

I hear ya... I wanted to keep the ATV wheels on, but for "simplicity" of the project right now, I wouldnt mind going the other route...

At the time I do not have a welder, so I would need to secure that before being able to fabricate my own hubs..

The sizes, the fronts are 19x7.00-8 and rears are 18x9.50-8

The rears do have the spindles on them... could it be possible tho, that these are steel? they came off a 110cc ATV..



Thank you for your input!

im sorry - I was thinking of a pic from TMJ old build as yours. Im an idiot, after relooking at yours those are steel ones.

If you get a chance take a look at TMJ build His I close to yours in the first start of it .

muddstir wrote:

im sorry - I was thinking of a pic from TMJ old build as yours. Im an idiot, after relooking at yours those are steel ones.

If you get a chance take a look at TMJ build His I close to yours in the first start of it .

no no! not one bit! you made me thing about it for a minute... but I wasnt home until VERY late last night, so I had to take a look at the pics on my laptop..

TMJ's tractor was the build that inspired me to do ours... really like the way it looks with the ATV wheels/tires on it.. should ride a bit smoother than with the hard tractor tires too..

my tractor has a "stock" (I think) bumper on it, so we will mount lights on that, and also tail lights... full paint job should come next year once the weather permits.... too damn cold for painting, and we dont have a garage!

I hope I have better luck this afternoon with that "little" shop... that come to find out, is "big".. its own retail website and all... holy.... may have to look at someone not so sophisticated! LMAO

Thanks again!

have a good day guys!

[quote="Renzo24441"
The rears do have the spindles on them...   could it be possible tho, that these are steel?  they came off a 110cc ATV..

[/quote]
By "spindles", I believe you mean "hubs". Spindles are fixed stub axles that something such as your front wheel would freewheel upon. Looking at the pic, they're probably steel. Check with a magnet if you're unsure.

yep.. hubs.. more than likely the wheels are steel... i saw some surface rust on one of them.. the "orange" rust..

anyway... so I passed by the repair shop I went to yesterday, and they have a ton of tractors sitting out there, but they are from people that took them for repair, and never picked them up... and "they cannot sell anything" as theyre not "theirs"... so now to look at other possible places... im gonna bring the ATV wheel with me to make sure I find the right part...

keep the ideas coming!!