Custom Craftsman Rock-Crawler build

Update on the craftsman! If your seeing this for the first time, then you can see how I got started in some of my videos on youtube. Click here to go to my youtube channel!

Got a little bit more done on the craftsman over the past two days. I got the mounting points on the tranny reinforced, I think I may do some more cross bracing in the center of the frame.

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I also got the seat mounted... I need a new seat though. I mounted it so it is still suspended by springs so you dont hurt your ass when you hit some bumps.

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Also starting to add some armor to this thing to make it indestructable. So I started ripping off the crappy sheet metal and stamped steel parts and replace them with something more light weight and durable...

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Rock sliders!

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These things are ALOT stronger.... And they sit up higher then the original foot rests for a little more ground clearance.

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Some dimond plate foot-rest-plate-thingies.. LOL!

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But they still wouldn't hold the weight of the tractor and the rider slamming down on some rocks. So I added some more bracing to support the weight.

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One side all done! ..... for now... lol

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Other side done!

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More to come soon! Almost time for a test drive video!

Shweet! Comming along nice!

Chunk wrote:

Its looking really nice! You planning on using the rear sheetmetal?

I could, but I'd have to trim it. I'll see how it looks with it on there... This thing is gonna need some serious paint.... But What color???

Yeah, I was thinking a bright color too! Like lime green or something really obnoxious ha ha... Yellow might work. If I can chop up that sheetmetal and make it look good, then I will probably use it. I'd have to reinforce it so it's not so flimsy... I want to be able to jump up and down on any surface on this machine, however keeping it ultra-light at the same time. I don't know if it'll work that way.

On a side note, i'm already thinking about my next build... lol.. I'm gonna turn the next craftsman into a rediculously fast, lowered, twin powered, death machine.. gonna be awhile though!

I like the bright lime green n black- i saw a toyota pickup like that and looked awsome.

What if you find some lightweight fenders- maybe trailer fenders?

Yeah im gnawing at the bit here- i want to start my wizard, MTD and wheelhorse mods- i wanna try one out in the mud!

Nice build. I like the foot rests. Is your mig a Flux core or does it use gas?

Yamaharules163 wrote:

Nice build. I like the foot rests. Is your mig a Flux core or does it use gas?

Gassless mig.... I can hook argon up to it, I just haven't. I fly through spools of wire and pay through the ass for electricity to run it. I donno if it is worth getting the gas were I'm just welding thin stuff. I've only ever broken 1 weld.

Did a little more today...

I didn't like the way the belt was setting up in the rear, it was possable for the belt to rub on the belt retainer for the tranny pulley, if you adjusted the tentioner all the way out.... or in... or whatever.... So I added this



So that makes me happier about that... You can see in the top of the pic, where it would have rubbed. It's shiney because I tried to get the clearance I needed by removing some metal.... didn't work.

So now, with the belt set up, I turned my attention to the skid plate for the transaxle... Would you believe me if I told you that the stock foot rest fits around the bottom of the tranny perfectly?

Well.....



It does! And it even has holes to mount it in the front. I had to cut it in half because the contour of the foot rest went down instead of up. Then I started to make the mounts, which is tricky, because it all has to bolt on and be strong. All this while not ruining my ground clearance.

Heres the begining of the rear mount.



All tacked together...



Welding it up solid...



Added a rear diff guard with the other piece of the foot rest.. lol!



Bolted on.



Now for the front...



Gonna try and do that one tomorrow... It's gonna have to be BEEFY!

Then who knows, maybe a quick test drive? Ive been itching to see how much faster it goes...

THAT is the shiznit! Its awsome! Its cool y found out a foot rest would work- less work on your part.- neat how y wrapped it up the back as well.

TODAYS PROGRESS:

I used a piece of the mower decks front hanger. Its made of the same stuff as the foot rest and has the perfect slope on it.





Welded solid and re-installed



The reason I used the mower deck hanger piece, is because I could cut off the old hanger reciever, under the front axle, and weld it to a new mount so you could still use the giant pin. So it worked perfectly.

Here is the front mounting bracket being made.









ALL DONE!






I may need to do a little reinforcing here and there, and I'm concidering adding another wide skid plate that sits just foward of that one, so nothing can get to the belts. Donno yet...


UPDATE AND TEST DRIVE VIDEO COMING SOON!

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... Just makes belt access a little more challenging, thats all. I Just might do it....

This thing is going to be a BEAST!!
Glad to see some updates.

are you planning on getting a bigger motor for it?

Mississippi1313 wrote:

are you planning on getting a bigger motor for it?

Not sure yet. I'm thinking of putting some 13" wheels from a honda civic and put some aggresive snow tires or something on them to get some height under it. If it boggs too much, then I'll have to do something.

Some more progress this weekend. Started on the front end. The goal here is to get maximum flex, while keeping it strong, light, and steer-able; all while tring to lift it as little as possable.



It had a nylon insert in the front axle....



...Which I replaced with metal...



semi-mounted... Lifted 1"



its a start...



Starting to reiforce it....





Kept messing with it a little more. I got a little more flex out of it. I put on a tire, and the steering to check if everything would still work maxed out in either direction.... So far so good.



Ive still got alot to do on it. Way more reinforcing and some tweaking to see if I can get a little more out of it. But so far, im happy

Nice.

Cool- have y checked how the steering would work with the extreme flex yet? Full drop on that side shouldnt be an issue- just full hilt i think might be an issue... the steering comes off the left side of the tractor - i dunno if y might need bump stops.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Cool- have y checked how the steering would work with the extreme flex yet? Full drop on that side shouldnt be an issue- just full hilt i think might be an issue... the steering comes off the left side of the tractor - i dunno if y might need bump stops.

Yeah, when your right, your right!

It actually does pretty good! at full compression on the left side, the linkage does come very close! I will have to put in some steering stops, not so much for the linkage, but more for the tires rubbing.

Here are some small update pics, didn't work on it much, mostly reinforcing and checking clearances...



Mocked up with steering and tires. (yes they rub.. lol!)





That should be enough travel... Not quite as much as I originaly wanted, but good enough! 8" from full droop, to full compress. Gotta figure out how im gonna keep it stable though... Springs, or shocks or I was also thinking about using those gas charged shocks you see on hatchback cars. I have 2 of them and they are the perfect length. It's a low speed machine, so they could work. Unless I find something better.

Oh yeah, I'm putting a new mudding vid up today, keep your eyes peeled. It's gonna be a good one! lol!