Craftsman mud Tractor

Well I have been watching the site awhile  after seeing Fearlessfront's YouTube channel. Not long ago my lawn tractor cut it's last blade of grass
when the deck finaly rusted bad enough that a deck support snapped off . At first I considered scrapping it . However I remembered years past how much fun I had modifying lawn tractors. So here is my build. Here are some
specifics :
all steering joints switched to hiems
new clutch setup
pulley swap- 9" front- stock rear
foot brake pedal
foot gas pedal
governor delete
locked rear axle
side shift

there will probably be more as time goes on but for now here is some video

Nice looking mower, id love to get one of them craftmans and build something out of one.

they look very similar to our westwoods,

one thing I may have to add to the list is more suspension for the seat.

well I have been working off and on modifying the tractor . First thing was the steering and some of it didn't
work as intended    . But such is life. I will have some video of it soon . It's amazing how long it takes
to edit video. I will also be including something people my find useful when trying to make tie rods .

Looking forward to it!

Ok tractor fans the steering. Enjoy

It's amazing how quick work can take up all your free time . I hope to get back to the lawn tractor soon.

well I have been working off and on the tractor and decided to tackle the rear axle . The hardest part is trying to figure out which way to do it . You have the Doc locker the Fozzy locker and Fearlessfront has a good way of locking the rear axle . But all those require a welder ( which I have ). However I want to do one without welding anything. The way I intend to do it is with a piece of drill rod, a cast iron pulley, and a locking collar . I am just waithing for some parts to come in so I can do it . When they do rest assured I will be taking some video of how I do it. I have been working on the gas pedal . I will be doing the usual using a bicycle hand brake and cable . I will update again soon .

The steering looks really professional. I understand what you mean by other things taking up time. for the locker, maybe a doc locker with a 3/4" hub in a keyed axle, and have the hub fit in the bull gear. Just coming up with some ideas. Could be done with the right machine tools, or maybe cut up a old sprocket that has a 3/4" bore.

Cool tractor!

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

The steering looks really professional. I understand what you mean by other things taking up time. for the locker, maybe a doc locker with a 3/4" hub in a keyed axle, and have the hub fit in the bull gear. Just coming up with some ideas. Could be done with the right machine tools, or maybe cut up a old sprocket that has a 3/4" bore.

sounds like we're on the same page with the locker idea . Instead of a sprocket I will be cutting up a cast iron pulley. If all goes well the
most I should need in machine tools will be a 6" dial caliper , some layout tools, and a die grinder.
The keyways will be ground in with the die grinder . I will be better able to explain how I do it on video.

my1987toyota wrote:

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

The steering looks really professional. I understand what you mean by other things taking up time. for the locker, maybe a doc locker with a 3/4" hub in a keyed axle, and have the hub fit in the bull gear. Just coming up with some ideas. Could be done with the right machine tools, or maybe cut up a old sprocket that has a 3/4" bore.

sounds like we're on the same page with the locker idea . Instead of a sprocket I will be cutting up a cast iron pulley. If all goes well the
most I should need in machine tools will be a 6" dial caliper , some layout tools, and a die grinder.
The keyways will be ground in with the die grinder . I will be better able to explain how I do it on video.

I get what you're saying now. I wasn't sure how thick a pulley would be, but if it's cast I think it's pretty good.

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

my1987toyota wrote:

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

The steering looks really professional. I understand what you mean by other things taking up time. for the locker, maybe a doc locker with a 3/4" hub in a keyed axle, and have the hub fit in the bull gear. Just coming up with some ideas. Could be done with the right machine tools, or maybe cut up a old sprocket that has a 3/4" bore.

sounds like we're on the same page with the locker idea . Instead of a sprocket I will be cutting up a cast iron pulley. If all goes well the
most I should need in machine tools will be a 6" dial caliper , some layout tools, and a die grinder.
The keyways will be ground in with the die grinder . I will be better able to explain how I do it on video.

I get what you're saying now. I wasn't sure how thick a pulley would be, but if it's cast I think it's pretty good.

you are cutting a cast iron pulley... I'd just go with carbon fiber... Lighter than aluminanm and stronger than steel...

you are cutting a cast iron pulley... I'd just go with carbon fiber... Lighter than aluminanm and stronger than steel...[/quote]

 When you see the video I think you will better understand why I am using cast iron. Plus carbon fiber gets to be cost prohibitive . I haven't seen carbon fiber handle the type of shock loads that I will be placing on this part. But I will admit I don't have alot of experience with carbon fiber.

Yeah.... Cf is costly... I was kinda just joking about that... I'd just do whatever you are doing

this sport is all about creative thinking and keeping an open mind. So using carbon fiber in a transmission could very well be a good idea. Joking or not. Just not in my budget.

well one thing I am going to do on my trans-axle is add in the ball bearings. there is quite a bit of clearance where the shafts go through . It will be after thanksgiving when I have all the video edited. The editing always seem to take forever to complete .

Happy new year everyone . Well so much for having the video ready sometime thanksgiving. Here is what happened .
I have a rather nasty health problem called Crohn's disease . I have been dealing with the major problems associated with it for about 7 years.  I have spent this last year doing test after test in preparation for having surgery to correct the bowel stricture and two fistulas that had developed . Finally I had a date set to have the surgery .   unfortunately I have to put everything on hold until I am healed up.
I am hoping to get back to the video by the end of January .

my1987toyota wrote:

Happy new year everyone . Well so much for having the video ready sometime thanksgiving. Here is what happened .
I have a rather nasty health problem called Crohn's disease . I have been dealing with the major problems associated with it for about 7 years.  I have spent this last year doing test after test in preparation for having surgery to correct the bowel stricture and two fistulas that had developed . Finally I had a date set to have the surgery .   unfortunately I have to put everything on hold until I am healed up.
I am hoping to get back to the video by the end of January .

Man that stinks i hope your surgery goes well and you get better soon

yes the surgery went well . I am at home recovering an was told by the doctor to take it real easy for the month . But so far everything is going in the good .

my1987toyota wrote:

yes the surgery went well . I am at home recovering an was told by the doctor to take it real easy for the month . But so far everything is going in the good .

That's great that your surgery went good. I like your tractor I really wish I had never had to get rid of my Craftsman.

Thank you .

WOW has time flown by. 3 years almost to the day. anyway I am trying to revive my old project in the midst of working full time and having to do stuff around the house. It is amazing how these old Briggs engines can sit for years yet a quick carb clean and they fire right back up.

Welcome back man! Gotta love the reliability of these old small engines, especially briggs. Looking forward to seeing you put more work into this!