CraftsMan Build? Need Ideas!

What do Y'all think? What should I do? Believe me I'm all ears! Any suggestions WILL help!


Here's The CraftsMan!

It's CraftsMan DieHard II Twin Cylinder 18HP (Let me know if you guys need anyother details!)

Thanks
CraftsManLover

Its got potential- specially with the opposed twin ( plenty of power) - i own 7 craftsman tractors.

So whats the plan for it? Offroad or hot rod? I hot rodded my 85 LT12 - had some issues ( 6" engine pulley contacted the clutch pulley and eventually the stock trans locked up from not properly prepping it and no brakes either) - so its going back to stock.

Itd be easy to mod for offroad- a few other members already have theirs set up - check out the project section.

Reguardless what the plans are- you should pull the trans, clean it and put fresh grease/oil in it - old stuff just wont cut it.

I want to Off Road But with LOTS of speed!

Speed and offroad dont mix that well - specially for crawling or rough terrain. Stock steering should be upgraded ( reinforce spindles ) as as well as decent brakes . Id also suggest a helmit . Also depends if you want it lifted or not . The 18HP will be plenty powerful - id use a foot throttle for more control . I put a 4" engine pulley and 6" trans pulley on my 3 speed agway tractor ( have yet to see how it runs) - i wanted a tad more speed ( was slow as molasses) - i also added rear tires on the front ( welded bolts on the ends of the stock spindles) and larger rear tires for a wider stance/stability. I was thinking of a 14.5HP motor or 11HP motor- its taken a back burner due to other projects and no shed time.

Yea I wouldn't be going Off Road to bad (Probably hardly any mud)

But ya I would LOVE the speed!! How fast do you think I could get this Bad Boy to go??

Whats your Suggestions on Foot Throttle??

I really Appreciate ALL of your help!

CraftsManLover!

The taller the tractor is off the ground- more unstable itll be (top heavy) at high speeds - ditch the stock steering if youre aiming for anything over 20mph - stock craftsman steering has way too much slop for anything over stock speeds - when i had my LT12 opened up - it wandered all over.

The MTD in my av pic ( to the left<<<<<) is a inital mild mod going to full bore hot rod as a prequel to my future build of a 69 wheelhorse sheetmetal on a 2003 MTD bolens chassis - which will be lowered ( 4" off the ground) , wide and real fast, but built to handle that extreme ( direct steer, brakes).

The MTD sits about 2" lower then stock , due to raising the front axle to top of chassis, lower profile rear tires and lowered seating position- just those simple mods makes it handle tons better . Actually feels like im driving a big wheel .

The MTD is my 3rd modified build ( speed wise) - first was the LT12- then came my 94 murray then the MTD.

The LT12 ( in its fast days) had a 14.5HP OHV briggs, 6" motor pulley and 3" trans pulley on the stock 5 speed trans. Top end was maybe 30mph - too fast for stock steering and no brakes. The motor pulley contacted the clutch pulley every time i engaged it with a screech.

The murray originally had a 14.5HP OHV as well ( stock) - that got the pulleys off the craftsman- basically stock at first ( tires n everything) , it ran around 30mph with a 6 speed shift on the fly. So i picked up a tractor with a 18.5HP opposed twin that found its way on the murray, i upgraded the front wheels to golf kart rims and tapered berings, and larger rear wheels and a steering wheel throttle ( still no brakes and stock steering) . 1st and second were mainly stockish speeds- after 3rd ( i never went over 4th gear) were frighteningly fast - well over 40mph and i wasnt even near wot and 6th gear for a stock tractor sitting too high and loose steering and no brakes - it scared me too much to drive it, even with a helmit on so i took it apart.

The MTD is actually pretty slow at the moment - was an experement using the stock transaxle, and variable pulley a 6" engine pulley and 4" trans pulley - so its getting the opposed twin off the murray , fixed center pulley to match the stock transaxle and ill see what that does - if its still not fast enough, its getting a spare 6 speed shift on the fly trans setup off another 94 murray i have. If i go that route, itll get a full lowering with drop spindles up front and chassis notch in the back for the 4" ride hieght.

For a foot throttle, on the twin, i removed the throttle cage assembly and hooked a bicycle derailer cable directly to the throttle plate link - i left my governer intact ( i DONT suggest moding a governer/deleting it unless it has been properly modifed to handle the extra revs ( all new internals, billet flywheel, ect) - over revving a stock motor will 1. blow it up, 2. possibly make the flywheel explode .

My murray went that fast with its governer intact and functional.

id suggest the foot throttle- as its easier to control then a steering wheel one - you run the cable to a pedal setup ( i used an old pedal off my wheelhorse on the MTD - i posted pics of it under the projects section.

Agway :


foot throttle:


mod murray before i took it apart:


governer/throttle setup on carb:


Pic that inspired me to build my modifed wheelhorse ( found this online - mine will look similar to it):

How exactly do you make it go faster? Like what exactly do you modify to do so??

I'm new to this whole thing :\

All i did was change pullies on the motor and trans - you can go to TSC and get weld in center type steel pullies - dont use aluminum.

Youll need to change the steering ( look under direct steering thread under chassis modifications ) and add some sort of aftermarket brakes - stock brakes wont do anything, theyre designed for 5mph- not 20 plus.

Make Them smaller?

CraftsManLover wrote:

Make Them smaller?

Welcome to the forum!

Smaller back pulley or bigger front, either one or both = more speed.
I like to do a 1:1 gearing for off roading, 5" front pulley 5" back, the clutch grips great too with that combo and does around 20mph.

As TR mentioned - stock tractors use a small pulley in front and large rear pulley- engine spins faster, but trans actually goes slower. keeps the tractor at a 'sane' mowing speed of 5-8mph . I had this parts dynamark with a 14" rear pulley! Thing only had a 8HP motor tho.

The plus about a larger front pulley is the motor is actually slower , but the larger pulley makes the pulley travel twice as fast- also makes the motor not work as hard either becuase its doing less work. The smaller trans pulley makes the trans do more work , why its important to make sure theres new grease/oil in it before modding - becuase itll spins a WHOLE lot faster .

The 3" pulley on my murray made my trans howl horribly- and that had lucas oil additive in it( best stuff i could think of at the time) - another thing is dont go smaller then a 3" trans pulley - belt will slip horribly . Stock clutches dont work that great either- Fearlessfront made a racing type clutch on his mud tractor- check out his builds.

You might want to research a little more about modifying lawntractors first before building one- i get ideas and pictures from www.heymow.com on stuff im working on. I dont suggest signing up- they dont like stuff we do - i did , mentioned i wasnt racing and they kicked me out - its a racing only forum BUT can still get ideas from other builds there.

Dont just slap the tractor together, they were never ment to go over 5mph - the 2 mods i built were totally unsafe /unstable ( from my experience - if something had broken while at speed - id probably of been looking at some ER time - even with a helmit on. Ive had plenty of slow speed crashes when out mudding ( flipping over, driving up trees) and those hurt - think of crashing at 20 plus mph . It should be built strong and safe ( as possible) .