'86 Craftsman II ["Cube"] Trail/Mud Mower Build

Acquired from the neighbor, a widow, getting rid of a bunch of her husbands stuff, things he never used, stuff she won't/can't use, etc. I've helped her clean out her garage [not taking everything, relax], fixed and sold her boat, another lawn tractor [a hydro - yuck], and two weed eaters.

So I bought this tractor from her for $50.00 CAD. It's complete, MINT 1986 Sears/Craftsman II 36" cut mower, with some accessories; rear bagger, and 4-blade cutting setup [instead of two blades, on separate spindles, it's got two blades per spindle]. It's got an 11hp Synchro-Balanced Briggs & Stratton flathead, and a 5-speed Foote transaxle that shifts between your knees. It's all original. Fuel lines, tires, everything. Tires are Turf Savers, Rear 18 x 9.50 - 8", Front 15 x 6.00 - 6". All of which were hard as rock and flat.

Nearly everything on this tractor is made of steel, save for the seat, steering wheel, etc. It is very clean and the deck has zero rot. Minor surface rusting on the panel where the shifter is [from sitting in a leaky shed for over 5 years], but everything else is intact and clean as new. Engine still has paint on it, hell the muffler isn't even rusty. Also there's no oily grass gunk caked all around the innards of the machine, like under the steering column, behind the motor? Nope. Clean as new. I'm almost tempted to put fresh gas and oil into it and sell it as a mint but tough grasscutter, but who'd buy it? Everyone wants new and shiny and full of features. The newest Husqvarna tractors we sell have a 12v accessory port for charging your cell phone. What a crock of sh!t. I think I'm gonna make this my trail/mud/all purpose mower. I'll sure as hell have a strong, intact chassis I know the history of.

Pictures are below. Please note that it did have four very flat tires on it, and the shed's kinda cramped and it was getting dark out. Better pictures to come. Tell me what you all think.




















As I said, it was crowded and dark. Roof is hardly 6' and I'm about 6'1.5". UPDATE - Got my trouble light in so the pics are better now, Can't wait to get this out of there, need tires

Great base to start with. I like the look of them square body craftsmans

Great tractor to start from. I'm actually on the hunt for one similar.

Thats a great find! Love those Craftman Squared one's.

Finally fixed the pictures, also added some in that I took today, nothing's changed in the tractor's progress, well I took off all four wheels, that's all. Oh, none of the rims were seized - I love working on old stuff that isn't stuck and rust welded

The picture issue was because I have to hold my phone at 90* to the left for photos to show upright. If I hold it straight upright, it turns them over.

After getting the extension cord and trouble light set up, I dragged my old beast of a battery charger over to see if [HA!] the electrical worked. Power on, Key to run, and light switch on, headlights came on nice and bright. Turned to start, engine cranked slow, since the charger isn't powerful enough to spin it fast. If I throw gas and oil in, it'll fire right up like new. The engine was fogged some 7 - 8 years ago.

Here are the photos I took of my lights on:





With the shed completely dark...



Not bad for regular 1156 bulbs on a 30A charger... Also, on this tractor, the lights work if the engine is off - they don't run directly off the alternator.

Thats a lot better condition than mine was when i got it, mine was kept outside and was completely rust covered and i kick the deck and it fell apart and off lol. So what tires are you thinking and other mods? I suggest bumpers, locked axle, pulley swap, and gas pedal.

that is nice that the headlights work even when the engine is off, My murray is like that now to, now that I have aftermarket lights.

I would fix up nice and resell to buy 2 tractors

Hoooly 1997 Murray, Think you broke the build page, your avatar pic for some reason is 800px wide - threw off the structure of the entire build page xD

And CraftsmanCole, All the mods you suggested were givens when I got it, as far as tires though, I'm thinking of going with a tire from my local Royal Distributing. They're called Duro HF277 Thrashers. I'm thinking of finding narrower rims and putting 20 x 7.00 - 8" size on the rear. Those will run me $58.99 CAD. Most likely going with some kind of snow blower tire on the front, at least 16" tall; I'm thinking 16 x 4.00 - 8. Snow Hogs look like decent non-powered front tires, like they'd bite more than a regular turf saver. Tell me what you think. I thought the Thrashers look a bit more aggressive than HF240 Knobbys, which I want, but they still don't look like transaxle killers.

Rear tires: Duro HF277 Thrasher 20 x 7.00 - 8"



Front tires: Carlisle Snow Hog 16 x 6.50 - 8"

BIG BIG NEWS - Might be getting a '72 Case 446 - Commercial hydro with industrial onan twin. ALL STEEL. Don't know too much about this one in particular, but we'll see. It's the one on the LEFT side in the pic. Here's the Sudbury kijiji photo:

http://sudbury.kijiji.ca/c-ViewAdLargeImage?AdId=544187013&back=-1&ImageIndex=0

Thats awesome, id get that in a heart beat

You could sell that for 200-300 pretty easy in my area. Little bit of paint. I may be getting the same one, but newer, and selling it for a profit. Anything that l get complete, and decent, I usually sell. Then buy more parts!

[quote="jack9102"]Hoooly 1997 Murray, Think you broke the build page, your avatar pic for some reason is 800px wide - threw off the structure of the entire build page xD

sorry but I didn't know how to change it.sorry

It may have been a loading error to do with my computer, I did refresh the page a few times, didn't change then. It seems to have gone back to normal now No worries.

And yeah, seriously considering NOT modding this one... I dunno, it's just too perfect for me to chop, cut, and build into a monster. It should actually put in a couple thousand hours of work first Plus, if the case 446 turns out, which I'm getting on a trade, I'll have cash from this to get something more modern with a stronger motor, and maybe even multiple tractors for the sale price of this craftsman. I've already got a grasscutter, a 1993 John Deere F935 Commercial 72" Diesel.

Well, after much inactivity, what with Christmas / New years and all, I've got back to the forum :DYAAY Now, for an update.

No Case 446, the bastard sold it on me, no emails or calls from him...

The Craftsman is still in the shed, nothing's changed, it's on blocks with the rims in a stack beside it, I sprayed a couple rusty areas with Krown rustproofing aerosol, and it's gonna stay there till the snow leaves [early april?]. I'll be putting new tires [turfs] all round, sanding and painting the very few rust spots, posting and selling it as a mint grasscutter. My vision is that the profit from it will allow me to buy some MTDs or AYPs to build, ones that have put their service in already xD I can't hurt this one, it's too good for its age. Separate build threads will be created once I get a tractor[s] to build, but for now, my main machine for the snow is my '76 Ski-Doo Elan Deluxe 250 SS.

The 340 Enticer Trapper is looking like a no-go since many parts are discontinued, including the carburetor, which I need. It's all together, and I drove it briefly, limping to the end of the driveway. And there it is below. Damn shame since it's in great shape otherwise. If I can't find anything used, it's getting sold

At any rate, I was wondering what you all think I should get and what I should do, free-floating ideas. Bring 'em. Of course, I'll have my own ideas once I get a chassis to play with, but put an idea in my head. I'll use this thread for that till I get something new. Thanks for the brief interest this post generated in it's beginning though guys!

The Enticer has been sold for $320. It's in a good home now, sold it to a collector. Said he swapped a carb from a parts sled, and it works for him, happy customer - the guy even bought me a 20 dollar gift card for McDonald's as thanks for not being a d about the sale and honest about the sled's history

jack9102 wrote:

the guy even bought me a 20 dollar gift card for McDonald's as thanks for not being a d about the sale and honest about the sled's history

Yuck, he probably heard the sled had a rough past and bought you $20 McDs as punishment. Like "this guy was mean to a sled" ima f his heart up!


Bummer about the Case, those are really neat looking tractors.

Krawler86 wrote:

jack9102 wrote:

the guy even bought me a 20 dollar gift card for McDonald's as thanks for not being a d about the sale and honest about the sled's history

Yuck, he probably heard the sled had a rough past and bought you $20 McDs as punishment.  Like "this guy was mean to a sled" ima f his heart up!

lol, their sweet tea is good tho

Krawler86: Lol, definitely not.. The sled was in near perfect shape, and apparently we both ate garbage food And yeah, I was really hoping to get the Case. They're all beef. No plastic and no nonsense. Great pullers with nothing more than tires haha.

craftsmancole: YES. by the gallon my friend.