Husqvarna LT 130 MUD mower

Wait what??? The front axle pivots in the middle but the pivot can slide up and down in those mounts? Interesting,  can't wait to see how that handles and flexes . Yeah I had to notch or get ride of a bunch of hood material but I really liked how it turned out as I can snap the edge of the hood onto my towers and it locked the hood in place and I would just pull on one corner and it would snap off. ( doesn't do this anymore since I hit the tree , bent something)

You didn't notch it you just full on cut the sides off I thought. And I am surprised no one has done what I have done with my pivot before. It just seemed logical... It really needs those mini traction bars though because when you steer the axle has a few inches of back and forward movement.

Looks good muck! We'll have to see if the metal on metal contact caused wear issues but other than that is should work nice. Also yeah, I would definitely do a couple radius arms so you don't fold the whole thing under the tractor or something, haha. Gonna have some romp pictures soon?

Well I was considering doing that and even made a test mount for one but I had the same issue with pivoting back and forth. I did notch the hood, then just chopped the rest off as I thought it looked better.

Well Its gonna need a rebuild on the carb and the heim joints before I romp so I am just waiting for the mail to arrive but it is coming from china so it'll take a while. Oh well i'll be patient I have 2 other mowers to work on in the mean time. And I have the new tires to put on and I have to do hood work. It will be fun to romp the craftsman and the lt130 at the same time though with a buddy. BTW go check out the lt4000 build.

Made 2 rear skid plates for the LT130 and the LT4000 today. It started with the bar that just went across the middle but then I thought I may as well go all out and make something that will do the job. They are extremely tough and they just mount up on the normal mounting holes. I don't think I am going to paint them because They are just going to get scratched and rust anyways and the holes are not welded shut on the tube. Even though its just a mud mower and not a hill climber or a rock crawler it's good to have it in case I hit a rock in the mud or need to slide over something. Sorry for the double post btw I just like to keep the topics alive.

Cool man. I like the motivation you found when you started building those. I think that way a lot. "Well if I'm in here doing that, I might as well do this too."

Thanks Carl. I cant wait to see if they mount up and work well. They should fit any spicer.

Finished the adapter hubs last week but now they rub.  I just went to the store to buy 10$ worth of bolts and now I am really getting P O'd. I don`t know what to do now. Maybe get longer bolts and make some spacer for between the hubs and the wheels that is 3/4 inch long? that might be kinda sketchy. But maybe if I weld the spacers to the hub it wont be so bad. The tires definitely level the mowers frame out quite well though. Please help if you have suggestions because I am starting to get really annoyed by these stupid tires.

Those look pretty sharp! Much netter than the turfs. Also about the spacing, turn them around. Then the offset will be reversed and they will stick out more. Also the tread will be facing the right way.

I wouldn’t worry too much about those tires being that close. Yes it is something you need to fix but it’s something we all deal with. The tires on Ol’ Red are about a quarter of an inch away from the part of my fenders where they meet the floorboards. It almost looks like you could get away with just using a half inch spacer which would be easy to make and I don’t think that’s sketchy at all. Certainly better than cutting the frame.

Ok yeah, That`s what I figured. I will just make some small spacers but should I weld them to the hubs? and yeah I put them on backward I realize but it was just to test. I don`t want to turn the wheels around though because then then they will be very weak. I only need to clear 1/2 inch off the frame and the gear shifter. They are pretty narrow tires too.

Yeah I guess turning them around would maybe space them out a bit too much. I'm sure making some spacers wouldn't be a bad idea.

Yeah I even tested it out but decided it would be weak. It has quite the stance though..

I dont know, sure it will put some more strain on it... but I dont think it really matters as long as you arnt planning on taking this off jumps?

It will give it a wider stance, and given the high center of gravity that will help some to keep it from rolling over.

Thankfully its not a hill climbing rig. Mostly for mud so tipping shouldnt be that bad.

Well. I used some front atv tires on one of my mowers and had a similar problem. Here's just an idea for what you could do, grind off the exposed part of the hub center on the front of the hubs and just add a few washers to the back of the hub on the axle to widen it out to clear the frame. Or if you could find tires with the same bolt pattern but for rear atv rims they are centered and do not have as much sticking in towards the frame.

So you mean take off the sides like I did on the one side on the rim but no the other so the middle section is all that's remaining? Would the hubs be weaker like that? I don't really feel like finding other tires.

Sorry for the ignorance, but why would it be weak if you turned the tires around.  I haven't got my head back into your thread with all the other threads hoppin.

Do your adapters bend?

Spacing them out would be okay, but it wouldn't hurt to try and flip them around. If you're worried about more stress on the trans you could maybe make axle supports.

Im just worried of the excessive amount of stress on the hubs. It would bend them in my opinion. And they took a long time to make so I don't want to risk it.

I guess I don't understand how adding a spacer vs turning the wheels around would be any different in stress?  I have not seen a picture or find one of your hubs. (I thought I had, maybe it was someone else)  It looks like you cut out standard wheels and drilled holes for the bolts.  I am guessing one side that you have out right now is the "short side" and the other side of your hub is the "Long side" of the shaft.  So,,,, if that is the case and you are concerned with the strength of your hub.  Is it possible to cut out some triangle pieces to weld in to create gussets to strengthen that hub from the back side (long side) half way between each bolt?  That would add a lot of strength and rigidity to them.

No its that I thought you were talking about turning the atv tires around so the deep side would face the outside of the mower. It might work if I turn the hubs around but I would need to cut off the excess material around it and i'm not sure if it would still be as strong.

I would just carefully measure to figure out the minimum space or thickness you need to make. Then just sandwich it in between the hub and the rim. There’s no reason to weld that in. Redzz “Sears Killer” has a set of aftermarket Bolt-on wheel spacers on it, however his tractor likely has 1 1/8 axles.

Just flip the wheels. I cant believe its significantly weaker by any means.
What does you hub look like?

I really think that the first turn you go around at any speed, even stock speeds youll find one side coming off the ground.

Unless you like the way they look.

Sorry i'm a bit of a bonehead guys but I figured out what you meant. It had a half inch of side to side play but now with some more grinding and some washers on the nut side, it is down to just over 1/4" of side to side play on the tires, I think I can live with that as this thing will pretty much live in the mud. I guess we will find out when I send it for the first time.

I am probably definitely going to paint the white rims black BTW...