Craftsman 2 build A.K.A No.9

Finally got my hands on two cube craftsmans, one for parts, one to build. Never got any photos of the parts one, anyway, here it is,


Need to put another motor in and get a transmission, along with wiring and a lot of other little things. Will keep you guys posted.

I'm confused. Is that the parts one or the one your gonna build? You contradict yourself a bit there haha

Update on No.9, which is his name now.

No.9 has to wait till Wednesday to be started. I forgot that there was no carb gasket between the top of the bowl and its seat. Had to put Copper gasket on it. Thank goodness I remembered. She's entirely wired up, 11 horsepower flathead motor in, trans is on, has the gas plumbed, exhaust is done, belt is on, trans works, hood and fenders are back on. Its so nice to (almost) have a running mower again!



And MatthewD, this is the one i am going to build

Neat! What engine was in it originally and what gearbox do you have in her?

it was a 12.5hp, and a 6 speed gearbox that doesnt belong lol, was only supposed to have a 5 speed, so Neutral is now where first usually is lol.

Oh right haha. Looks like someone has been modding it before, judging by the hole in the side panel at the front there (prob to fit a muffler I would say) and by the front bumper. I love the look of those cube craftsmans, pity you cant get them over here.
I'm guessing that 11hp was originally out of your Murray

Update:
I had it running earlier on today, but the needle valve in the carb isnt fully closing causing it to puke gas a lot. So i need to take the carb to a local small engine mechcanic and see if i can do a governor swap on it to the newer style carbs, or get it cleaned really well. Have to edit the footage, so a video will be up later tonight.

Sorry MatthewD, didnt see your reply till now lol.
Ya, the previous guy went at her pretty good. It was for a muffler, it was some kids mower before me, so he had put a fancy paintjob on it (with a brush and was interior house paint) and the bumper bar is solid steel rod, so its pretty much bulletproof. And the motor is out of my murray, only swapped the motor in the murray cause i didnt have a carb for it (carb bowl was thrown cause i had it in a rag and it was mistaken for garbage) so i had to wait to get a carb before i could use the motor and i had got one, and was planning to put the motor in my lawnflite (a side build that has been in the corner for a couple months now, and is my first mower i ever got) but this build was a priority as i had all the stuff to finish it in no time, planning on swapping for a newer flathead eventually, (very soon) will update when i have a video up. Which will be soon (i hope)

The craftsman is having carb issues, but i think i'm going to do an engine swap on it for a newer flathead. Anyways, heres the video.

Thanks. Bumper looks beefy! Any pics of the spare one? Is it in worse nick than that one?

I dont have any photos of it, but ill get one tomorrow if you want. It wasn't to bad structurally but it needed some love. And i didnt like the look of its hood so it became a parts machine. Actually tore the motor off of it today, the guy i bought it from said it only needed a coil, so it got one from a 15.5 ohv, just hoping it runs better than my 11 did. I'm hoping to drive it by tomorrow night. Fingers crossed!
Photo of the motor

Nice! I love the feeling of putting together a tractor to get running!

Wee update:
ITS ALIVE!!!!!
Would post a video, but going out for a rip tomorrow and edit it together so ill post it then. Anyways, everything went according to plan, and now she runs and drives! Need to do a pulley swap soon though, its pretty slow. Maybe next week ill get into town and get a 6" pulley.

As promised, heres a video!

Another update:
I apoligize, i don't have any photos. I tore the trans out and put a 5" pulley on, got the trans back in, removed some parts that were in the way, only have to cut off one bracket today, and then that should be it. Then i can put more idler pulleys on to clear the shifter. And then all i have to do is make some guides so the belt can't jump out. Were supposed to get a lot of snow today, so im going to try to get out earlier than usual. Hopefully i'll be able to get a driving video today.

Well, i jammed my thumb the day after i posted the last update while working on it, so i threw in my wrench and called it quits on her for a while,

just came back to it today. The deck lifter mechanism wouldnt pull out of the mower, because i was dumb enough not to pull the lever off first. I felt like a goof realizing this today while working on it. Got everything reassembled for the most part, now i need to get a slighty smaller belt and making a side shifter tomorrow.

If everything goes to plan, i'll get a belt on sunday, along with the rest of my long list of need to gets.

Pity about the thumb. I know the feeling. Any plans for frame bracing or better tyres for the front?

Probably no frame bracing, but better tires up front for sure, this thing steers like absolute junk in the snow lol, just waiting for snow to stop so i can do the metalwork outside for to do the side shifter.

Got some progress today. Went to town yesterday and forgot a belt so it wont be driving for a while

Nice shifter. Does it go up to the left hand side? I thought yous boys were against left hand shifters, haha.

BTW I always buy my belts from bestbrearingsonline.com. it was £7 something for the last belt I bought put of them for my Westwood T1200.

Yes it is left hand lol, i prefer holding the wheel with my right hand, so doing it this way makes it easier to shift and buying from there would turn into like 15$ ish cdn, so i just buy local. Last one cost me 37$ and only lasted two hours cause i didnt move the obstructions (like the shift tower) so thats why im doing this now lol.

Yeah I would hold the steering wheel with my right hand. Those belts are dirt-cheap but they're very good for the money.

Hey guys since you were talking about front tires, what tires do you like best on front and rear for mud or snow?

Hey guys since you were talking about front tires, what tires do you like best on front and rear for mud or snow?

Slowly cobbling some more to it. Got the side shifter figured out better, also need to cut out more as of now as my limit from the frame is 4th gear. Got the fender cut out to fit the shifter, planning on covering it with a rubber covering since its a big hole right now. Will get photos tomorrow when i have time.