LT4000 Craftsman Mudding/Racing 250 mile trip build

Heres my 2015 ATLTF Build off Entry. Its a 90s LT4000 Craftsman.

Engine:15hp ohv Briggs

Transmission: Mst 206

Me and a friend are building mowers for a 250 mile trip we are doing to raise money for a charity.
So it needs to go fast be rugged & reliable And stop quickly.

So for that Im going to need disc Brakes, Fabricate a frame to reinforce the existing frame.
Im Going to Pulley swap it 7 in in the front and a 3 1/2 in the back which should give me a speed of 45-50 mph
im going to stick with single cylinder engines because there lighter but if i blow to many up ill go to a v twin or opposed.
Need to beef up the front axle with nice thick tie rods and good go kart spindles so it doesn't come apart on the road.
And its going to have to pull a trailer with parts in it so im going to have to add a ball and hitch.
Still undecided if im going to do direct steer or have a steering box. I think ill beef up a steering box.
Im going to add a winch Led lights Alternator to power the lights and winch.
Might add a power inverter so i can charge my phone on the trails and road.
Its going to need a horn,directionals Stop lights ect to be road legal. Gonna build a rack for the back to hold a gas can and some tools.
Gonna add a reserve tank to have extra fuel because 250 miles is pretty far. And i think thats the main stuff. And i wish everyone the best of luck with this 2015 build off. Let the build off begin

That 250 mile charity sounds very interesting. where do you drive the 250 miles though? Oval track? Trails? sounds fun!

there going 250 miles from one end of there state to the other

This looks interesting. I'll be followin' this one for sure!

Excellent! Good luck!

MasonMcK wrote:

That 250 mile charity sounds very interesting. where do you drive the 250 miles though? Oval track? Trails? sounds fun!

Heres our route for anyone whose interested. it could still change. http://www.mapquest.com/?version=1.0&hk=8-yT9ANEwa

hope you get it done for the trip good luck!

Did some measuring and found out im going to need 244 in of 1x1 square tubing to make my reinforcement frame. which is 20 feet so im going to get 4 6 foot lengths and have 4 feet to spare.

The tractor came with 8.50 rims and i wanted 10in rims so i dug through my parts pile and found 2 10 rims its a good thing i save junk.

And i dug a little deeper and found this big gas tank i didn't think i still had. dont really know if ill be able to use it might be too big to fit anywhere.

Size comparison  

Front fenders? Mabey??

With the help of a sawzall and a crow bar i got the tires off. and they were dry rotted which is why i didn't save them.
Now i need to find some good tires.

Im sort of liking the look of the rear tires up front. ill have to get longer spindles for it to work. Thoughts?


And heres the motor im using its a 15hp ohv briggs

Could have dual gas tanks if you wanted. Stock one where it was and the big one behind the seat on the back with a cage around it like I did with the baja sears. Just an idea, might be kind of ugly looking, I don't know.

mr.modified wrote:

Could have dual gas tanks if you wanted. Stock one where it was and the big one behind the seat on the back with a cage around it like I did with the baja sears. Just an idea, might be kind of ugly looking, I don't know.

Yeah thats a great idea i was thinking of getting 2 jerry cans and put them on the back with a fuel line coming from them to the engine. And ill have both of them sit on the back rack. and a tool box in the middle of both of them.

Any more progress?

Rear tires up front look good. If it were me, I'd probably try getting matching ones front and back. That would look neat. By longer spindles, do you mean they don't stick all the way through the rim? Could probably weld an extension on if you wanted and be pretty safe. Unless you could find longer ones, that might save a lot of work getting things lined up and then smoothing the welds back out.

Craftsman1998 wrote:

Did some measuring and found out im going to need 244 in of 1x1 square tubing to make my reinforcement frame. which is 20 feet so im going to get 4 6 foot lengths and have 4 feet to spare.

The tractor came with 8.50 rims and i wanted 10in rims so i dug through my parts pile and found 2 10 rims its a good thing i save junk.

And i dug a little deeper and found this big gas tank i didn't think i still had. dont really know if ill be able to use it might be too big to fit anywhere.

Size comparison  

Front fenders? Mabey??

With the help of a sawzall and a crow bar i got the tires off. and they were dry rotted which is why i didn't save them.
Now i need to find some good tires.

If you decide to do the the front fenders I can help mount them.

Doing my 2015 B-O thread right now.

Yeah i could use some help mounting them because if i don't mount them well they will rattle around and make alot of noise.

LAWN MOWER MUDDER wrote:

Are you still making a custom front axle for this? Just wondering cuz that one looks rather stock...

And yes i do still plan on doing a custom front axle i just have the old axle on it so that its not sitting on the ground.

mr.modified wrote:

Rear tires up front look good. If it were me, I'd probably try getting matching ones front and back. That would look neat. By longer spindles, do you mean they don't stick all the way through the rim? Could probably weld an extension on if you wanted and be pretty safe. Unless you could find longer ones, that might save a lot of work getting things lined up and then smoothing the welds back out.

And i am Going to get matching tires for the front and back. but im not sure what yet. but im going to use them for now. and The stock spindles are about 1 in too short so what my plan is is to get grade 8 bolts and extend then and then later get nice spindles for the custom front axle. but first i need to get it pulley swapped reinforce the frame do a double clutch. test that with stock steering then beef up the steering when i find out what needs improving,

Craftsman1998 wrote:

Yeah i could use some help mounting them because if i don't mount them well they will rattle around and make alot of noise.

Let me know when. i'll shoot some photos on how I did mine.

Yeah send me pictures when you have time

Craftsman1998 wrote:

Yeah send me pictures when you have time

I'll try to send some tomarrow permitting the cold wyoming weater coming in.

Anyone know where i can buy a 6in or 7in 1in id Pulley? I found ones online but there 40-50 dollars And i dont think tractor supply sells them that big but i can look when i go.

And will cast iron pulleys fly apart under load?

I think I bought a steel pulley from tractor supply that was 10" once. One that you have to weld to a hub though, not already assembled. I think it was about $20, but of course you need some kind of hub, or an old pulley from whatever your working on of course. I think cast iron pulleys would be ok unless your going to spin it like 7000rpm+ or something.

I can get a pully and a hub at the local farm store for $18 and weld it up for you if you can get $25 to me. Only if you want though.

mr.modified wrote:

I think I bought a steel pulley from tractor supply that was 10" once. One that you have to weld to a hub though, not already assembled. I think it was about $20, but of course you need some kind of hub, or an old pulley from whatever your working on of course. I think cast iron pulleys would be ok unless your going to spin it like 7000rpm+ or something.

Yeah i dont plan on spinning it more than 4000