Craftsman off road tractor

is it ok that once the gears start turning the axle i can't turn it by hand in 6th gear but if i put the pulley or vise grips on i then can turn it, but when i turn it with the pulley in like 4-6th gears its stiff, that normal at first since i welded the spider gears?

well have some more updates, got the thing together

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i also have the start button partially installed,

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and this is the top of the trans with stock pulley, im working on the new pulley but this was for a test run.

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and this is after a short trip threw the mud.

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these arnt the only updates i have, on youtube im have a new video, just go to, https://www.youtube.com/user/motorhead45102
and watch a video and some. but also i noticed when the tractor was in a bind, say front is stuck and wheels are spinning, it WILL not shift unless i put the park brake on and bounce back and forth, and then i can shift, did i mess somthing up or do they all do that.

Shouldnt have to do that to shift- somethings binding still . On my 85 when i was driving it, id let off the gas and slap the shifter higher while it was still moving .

"that back pulley is huge"



yeah i know its not staying on there but thats what came with the mower,
but when i put the small pulley on im going to have to put another pulley within the belt system cause the belt will hit the shifter with the smaller pulley

ok small update, i tried another camera i have i wish it would record sound but it don't cheap vivitar camra all well but also tell me if the pic quality is better, i think it is.
but this is what my mower will look like once i weld the rims to the bigger rims

pic 1.
view from the back (note: wheels are temporally sitting there)
i also have a wider wheel base too so more stability, and i can go on atv trails just fine.
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pic 2

I love how nice the old tractor rims fit just right inside the other one.
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pic 3.
and the tires are just small enough and not too big to hit the fenders but they are close

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and an angle view to see how far the wheels stick out past the fender which means when i put the old rear on the front it will actually look good. meaning the rear will be about the same so i don't get the funny look of wider base front from rear.
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well i would have a rear tire to front comparison but my camara wont read a memory card at all and i don't know where the cord is, so these were taken with my sisters camera which is basicly the same thing she just has .1 more mp and a bigger screen and a anti-shake feature, but her camera works better of course. but someday i will try to get a good camera to record good video for my trail riding once i start riding.

should work allright- id also weld some pieces of metal near the edge of the large rims to the small ones for a lil more support as well.

thanks for the idea i never thought about that, ill see if i can do that

Looks great! that new camera works alot better. I'm doing something simalar on mine, for the rear tires. Only difference is I cut the large "bells" off the wheel. So now it's a flat disk that I can weld some bolts to and bolt on a wheel. I just don't trust that little keyway... What size are your new tires?

Motorhead45102: I forgot to mention if wheel clearance is an issue ( specially when mud gets built up under there) make some metal spacers or use washers and raise the fenders up- MTD's have these cast spacers under their rear fenders - those would be perfect.

hey fearless the rims is a 13in. rim and the total diameter of the tire is 23in. from one side to the other. and they are bf good wrench tires. I don't know if im going to get anything done this week, maybe near the end of this week, idk but i also got a new riding mower, don't have it at my house right now, its out at my dads but im going to use it for grass cutting cause its bran new and i already have a toy mower.

Wow, those are gonna be pretty big! You can't tell that there that big in the pics. What size were your original tires on the back? And do you have a peerless or a foote transaxle?

well for now im just going to use the tires already on them, i don't have money to put better tires on, i don't really know when the next time im going to do things cause i don't have a welder or grinder and ill try to get things done over spring break next week and maybe go for a ride on some trails that week too, if im not working. but i think those tires will do , and im not sure on the wheel size of my old rear tires ill have to look at it tomorrow.

hey i have a question when i drove my mower after putting the trans back in, it is quieter on the clicking way quieter but it makes a weird humming noise, but just enough to hear it though, i also found some i beams, im not sure what they are made out off but may work for a shock for the supension when i give the front axle more travel, i think it would do great if i did that, so i can go on some rough trails and mudding, almost just like an atv.

Probably just transmission noise- as long as its got oil or grease in it, it should be fine. Keep in mind it wasnt designed to run those large tires either....

well i don't have the large tires on the mower right now those pics you saw were just temporarly placed, they were just free floating there, i don't know how it will work wth the bigger tires but idk i have a spare trans so if it goes bad i have another to replace it or any part.

just so you know, If the machine is hard to shift, you may have your shift keys misaligned

Mine makes alot of noise also. Did you change pulley sizes at all? When you do that usally it makes a little more noise. But it's probably nothing to worry about.

I know my ex modded murray would make a super loud whirring noise when slowing down , even filled with thick oil. It would make slight gear noises taking off....

there really is no way for the shift keys to be miss aligned for as they only go in one direction, i also haven't done the pulley yet, i hope to get somthing done maybe? this weeks since im off school all week, but im probably going to work and make some money.

just a small update, right now im not doing anything to the beast since its raining but that means more sloppy trails. too bad im not finished with the beast, but this was taken with the good cam but somthing about the face cover on the volt gauge makes the camera blurr the gauge numbers but its a voltage meter gauge so i can keep an eye on battery voltage will im riding. it would let me know if the battery is charging or not or if i stab a hole in the battery and leak all the acid then the charge will go down not that it will happen but it all depends on how rough im riding the thing but the battery shouldn't be bothered too much were its at.

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