Craftsman trail Mudder

hey guys recently bought a craftsman lawn tractor for 100 bucks! t has a 12.5hp brigs on it! RUNS STRONG!! any ideas on what color i shuld paint it? this thing so far has had some history.. previous owner would use it to level out the beach infront of his house with the deck.. LOL. so i went to go pick it up Ignition was siezed.. so i unpluged it and did it the redneck booster cables way ahah got her runnin in seconds. on old gas. then that day went mudding majorly.. this is it. if anyone has any ideas for it i would greatly appreciate it. and no im not gunna lock the tranny , ive alredy gone thru 2 trannys on my other mower bc of locking them.




12.5 briggs

5 speed tranny

My tires that are going on it. I need valve stems. i hate having tubes in them! they dont set the bead right..

looks like it will be a good off road mower for u

You can pick up bolt in valve stems from the auto parts store .

Rims probably arent wide enough for those tires- most likely the reason they dont sit correctly. I put a set of smaller tires on my stock MTD rims using tubes - they sit perfectly fine .

one problem im experiancing is the belt falling off alot.. its an older belt. is there any way i can get it to stay on betteR?

Stock they come with a bracket that bolts under the battery tray to hold the belt on the back pulley - looks like yours are missing- just make up a couple belt retainers and it should work fine.

so i went n looked under it. and i saw a bar on a pin connected to a retainer i was like hmmmm and i found where it was suposed to go. put it there and put a pin in and WALA no more belt comming off~ wooo thanks for telling me where to look!

Awesome deal man!
What size are those ATV tires?

22x11x8 are the size of the tires

I finally got them on

So i went for a Romp! ahha probbly gunna get in trouble for going in that part of the yard but whatever it was fun!

sweeeeeeet man that thing looks sweet

That mower looks sweet and i really like those tires on it.

thanks everyone! ive been looking for a mower for such a long time i finally found a good keeper with the Strong frame that i wanted xD

Craftsmans are great for modding! i love mine! Wouldnt trade it for anything in the world!

arild365 wrote:

Craftsmans are great for modding! i love mine! Wouldnt trade it for anything in the world!

Not even a 4x4 ATV?

Trcustoms wrote:

arild365 wrote:

Craftsmans are great for modding! i love mine! Wouldnt trade it for anything in the world!

Not even a 4x4 ATV?

Nope not even an ATV! Some guy already offered but my tractor can go threw actually more than a 4 wheeler! My brother took his 4x4 honda and he got it stuck and i had to drag him out with my tractor! And the tractor is cheaper and easier to repair. I can take anything and repair it on that monster. Its better on gas and its alot funner. goes pretty fast too!

Its pretty much asking a parent if thed trade there kid for a dog. hahaha

i agree- my nephew has a ATV - im like- "phhhfft - my agway can go more places then that and its stock" .

I have an 'ATV ' - that lil razor one - someday ill fiddle with it, see if i can mount a motor and lawntractor sheetmetal on it - be easier then modding the original plastic.

arild365 wrote:

Trcustoms wrote:

arild365 wrote:

Craftsmans are great for modding! i love mine! Wouldnt trade it for anything in the world!

Not even a 4x4 ATV?

Nope not even an ATV! Some guy already offered but my tractor can go threw actually more than a 4 wheeler! My brother took his 4x4 honda and he got it stuck and i had to drag him out with my tractor! And the tractor is cheaper and easier to repair. I can take anything and repair it on that monster. Its better on gas and its alot funner. goes pretty fast too!

Its pretty much asking a parent if thed trade there kid for a dog. hahaha

Yeah, I guess I'll sell or trade anything for the rite about of money or a better trade.
Anything but a kid ofcourse!
I'd sell any of my mowers for $150 bucks if someone wanted one. haha

sorry guys no updates in a while, dont really have any ideas for it yet? any ideas would be helpfull! shes a beast tho

Im not sure if id sell any of my modded tractors when i get sick of em - Id have to make a double reciept saying 'as is' and im not responsible if anything happens while theyre riding it- to many people are sue happy with todays crappy economy . Might be easier to part em out .

update.

Hey guys i finally wired up a push button ignition and a toggle switch on /off on it tires are on the right way, im putting a car battery in it!, and im going to be making a skid plate for the tranny, i hit it relle hard on the weekend and broke one of the fins on the case. also i think im going to change the exhaust, any ideas would be greatful xD

Little update !!
hey guys havent been around for a while.. my tranny took a dump.. the whole top part of the case cracked in half.. :S but i finally found a new tranny for it, going to be putting it in tomorrow i will post pics! asap!

so ive finally had some time to work on my craftsman i just did spindle mod for bigger tires on front put my big atv tires on the back, im currently in the middle of going to lock the rear end i havent made that choice yet. but im going to put a light on it. and finish the paint job, what do you guys thnk of the hood? its flat black and yellow to make a smoke ish look. im going to put a car battery on the tractor, i also did the slap shifter like fearlessfront on the raise lower deck rod so please gimme some ideas on what i should do further, im in the middle of doing a pully swap. its got like an 8 inch on the back.. stock so im gunna put it to a 4 inch or so and go buy a new belt, ideas are welcome!, im thinking a front and back bumper boxed steel ideas are welcome!, i also want to put a light on it, if i wire it to the charging system just the light will always be on correct?

Id run the lights to a separate switch - and direct to the battery. Running it off the motor will make it brighten and dull with the revs- if worried about leaving it on, they make lighted toggle/rocker switches so can easily see it on.


Id find some LED headlights- theyre way brighter and last longer then normal bulbs.

well the charging system when i hook it up it starts smoking from under the shroud, so i need to cut the wires. thats why i was gunna hook the light straight to the motor,

i did that too and it started to smoke i dont know if i did it wrong but there are two wires coming out of mine.

yes same with mine 2 wires coming out, and it smokes when hooked up so.. i dont have a clue!


got a new belt for it and new back pully running a 4.5 inch on rear and stock 3 inch on front. and ha finally it can bring the trailer where its been in the last while by itself not pulled by the truck! im still deciding colors for it.. thats why paints all effed up lol ! might keep back john deere green and do the side steps yellow leave hood the way it is and paint frame and dash shiny black and the rims yellow too, also going to change the colour of the engine shroud its currently red its a 12.5 ohv Ic GOLD im gunna paint it yellow and paint the front grill john deere yellow also!**
i think ALSO need ideas for the exhaust i bought a 90degree for it so i could use the tires on it bc it would hit with the exhaust so now the exhaust is pointed down. straight piped. NEED ideas, or i can leave it like that also!