New guy, first Off Road/ Utility tractor build.

Hey guys, I'm in the middle of a build right now and thought that you might like to see some pictures, so here goes.


Home made snow plow, but it pushes rock too.
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Rear luggage rack, with ammo can tool box.
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Controls and gauges, Volt meter.Temperature gauge plumbed to the oil.
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Rear trans-axle guard
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Dual exhaust
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New front tires awaiting installation.
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The transaxle is locked and I have done a pulley swap, I might get 10-12 MPH out of it. She's got a B&S 17 HP IC horizontally opposed twin. A set of rear knobbys' are on their way. I have a front bumper that I have built also, I use it for off roading. You can change from the bumper to the plow with out any tools in about 4-5 minutes.

them look like good tires welcome to the form can you do a right up on how to lock that axle love the tractor that is what my off road mower is

i have the same front tires on mine. best part is that they were free.

I got this set of tires from ebay for about 60 bucks, defiantly not free, but I think they will work well. Pretty stoked about the rear knobbys' coming in. Thanks for the welcome. I watched a couple of videos on you tube about locking rear axles. It seems that there is a plethora of tractor trans-axles. This one seems to be pretty light duty, so I have my doubt as to how long it will last.

Welcome to the forum and nice job on that offroad mower i like that rack on the back how did you build it? and i like how you used steel mesh on it.

Thanks for the welcome. I just used some scrap that I had. Here are a few pics to illustrate. I actually used some aluminum mesh that I had for the top portion and it's held down by self tapping screws. The rear rack is darn sturdy, I can sit on it with out any flexing. (145lbs)

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Off road bumper installed.



Rear rack
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Making a belly pan to protect the pulley and belt system." />

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I had to cut out a section of the belly pan to allow for the large spring and clutch pulley movement, but I did not want to leave that area exposed so I took a thinner piece of aluminum and gave it a nice contour and then riveted it to the main belly pan. I like the look, it really makes the underside look clean, but the amount of protection it provides is main goal. It's easy too remove as well, with four bolts holding it on.

Has all the properties of a good build! This one musta slipped by me till now lol. Opposed twin or v twin? I like using small DIA pipe for exhaust too, sounds amazing underload. Well, to me at least, not the neighbors.

Thanks, it's been going pretty well. I think the tires will be sick, they should give a nice lift just by themselves. The engine is a opposed twin, and the exhaust is made out of 1'' conduit.

I like the fab work all over but the belly skid is tits!   

Thanks creepy, I was driving through a small section of pasture and was just barreling over some decently sized trees and that's when I decided I needed to protect the belts and pulley. I bought that piece scrap aluminum from work and the thinner stuff is made from a medical 4 drawer cabinet which was made totally out of aluminum.

I did not get much accomplished but did a couple little things this weekend. There was a spot on the mower where the controls were to control the height  of the deck and since all that is gone, I wanted to make it look a little more clean. I decided to cut that area out and replace it with a bolt on aluminum panel. It looks nice but also acts as a access point for the belts and pulleys. I also made a cool shifter knob out of a spent 50 BMG case. The theme for this build will be like a military jeep or something along those lines.

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Research tells me that this case was made in Des Moines Ordnance Plant - Ankeny, Iowa

this is really turning out awesome for a MTD?

Thanks, and yeah, it's an MTD. There has been a significant delay in getting my rear set of knobby tires which has really put me behind where I thought I would be. Once I get that all squared away then the next thing will be to revamp the steering, which right now blows I have an extra Murray that I would like to pull some parts off of. But I have also toyed with the idea of taking the steering off of a small ATV with suspension and getting that to work.

Loving the mtd build. Suspention is an awsome mod for ATLT. Mine workes great no problems a nd really improves the ride and handeling. I would encurage anyone thinking of doi it to just jump in and do it. Check out my build in signiture. Keep up the updates

Thanks, I'm trying to find a cheap, junk atv frame that might work to steal the front suspension off of, if I can find that then we'll be in business, but I doubt anybody would really want to get rid of an ATV frame, that seems like something I would want to keep around, but it might be out there.

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working on the front steering and new tires installation.

Top tractor axle is a donor from an old murray, the bottom one is a factory MTD. I need the front spindle mounts from the murray so I can mount my new tires, which require a 3/4 shaft.











I got a different set of tires in, they are 22x10-8 and I got them mounted but I had to trim some fender to fit them.









The only problem I am having right now is that I have great steering to the right but awful to left. Other than that this thing will probably be getting some paint soon. I still need to name it, any ideas?

Not sure on names but the rest is sure looking good, cool front axle swap. I widened my mtd axle and plated over the welds.

Why didnt you just swap the spindles? Were they not long enough? I thought that they slipped in, but could be wrong.

The spindles on the MTD were a smaller size, the spindles from the Murray were 3/4 dia. I left the axle the same width but the whole package was widened by a few inches since the spindles were a little bit longer than stock MTD. I tried to swap all the steering components from the Murray as they were a heavier build, but I could not figure a way to fit it all with out having to relocate the engine. The paint I'm planning on is a nice satin OD green.

I like how you turned the led lights to make it look mean

That was the intention, I actually just put a piece of electrical tap over that "corner" of the light and it turned out pretty neat. Thanks.