"NellyBelle" Craftsman LT1000 [2018 Build-Off Entry]

Yeah, at least the countershafts would have to be changed. Input shaft might be in the wrong location too.

Keep the trans . They are more durable that 700s in my opinion just cause the cases are stronger.

Yeah but under those circumstances? IDK....

GET A FREAKING WELDER AND IT WOULNT BE WEAK!!!!!!

Hehe

Yeah I know. Still won't make me less worried about the ratio I'm running, and I don't want to lower it any.

Trust me , a 700 isnt going to handle it any better. ive tried it and for high speeds with large tires they do not last long just like transaxles.

I actually feel like a 700 and live axle setup would be less reliable for off road conditions. Just a lot more stuff to go wrong it seems. Also I'd like to point out that it's usually torque that kills a trans, not input speed. Sure if you go 100mph with a stock trans it'll probably barbeque it, but you're not doing that. Just don't dump the top gear when your tires are half way buried in mud, haha.

Yeah I know that torque kills them...but I'm sure that input speed helps, given the noise it makes when you pulley swap it.

It can wear out bushings for sure, but I meant input speed isn't what busts the case.

Yeah, I wish they just made all cases out of cast iron. That'd be sweet, lol.

Haha, that would be neat for sure. My 600's have cast iron axle sleeves, but the cases are still cast aluminum.

i might be getting a cast iron tranny..... hehe


Anywho the 700 is better for speed and low tourque. i blew up two from high torque and if i would have had a lower hp engine they would have been fine.

It also depends on how you mount a 700. If you just bolt it to some wimpy frame it can flex and break the case under high torque. The racers usually bolt them to thick steel and some build bracing around them to keep them solid as well. Also making a brace for the pinion shaft housing is a good idea.

Yeah I gotta weld some 1/4" plate around my 700 in the lawn boy. Even with 3/16" frame it flexes.

Still on hold, but found some pictures on what she was like before I had to retire her from mowing.



Redneck train! LOL

Tractor photobombing a photo of the sheepies!

Still had the deck on in that footage.

Started on the fender flares today.

Okay, so not much has happened with this rig.  With the John Deere looking more and more troublesome, this thing was getting further and further in the back of my mind.  A few days ago, I was talking to some guys about scrapping it.  Then I realized how many memories this thing had, and how much I really shouldn't be taking it for granted like I am.

So, in order to get it running, I am scrapping the suspension idea.  I am sorry to say that.  The only reason is time.  I am 100% sure it will work, but I want this build to be done, and I think I can live with no suspension.

Pics of its current state in the back of my shop:




To get it running, I need:
A new carb
A tranny
Oil
Swap the other foot board on
Front trans mounts, the old ones went on Sodzilla
Throttle

When you put it all together, it won't take much to get it running. Now, before someone says that I could probably just clean the old carb, that's not the problem lol. The solenoid hole stripped out and the solenoid is now lost to the world, lol.
I need a tranny because I am not comfortable running the spicer, and the 920 that I was going to put in it has a hole in the case. My plans are to swap the spicer into Sodzilla and the MST in Sodzilla into this rig. I think the spicer will do fine for a mower, and the MST should be alright for this rig.

So I guess I just need to reassemble this thing, I forgot how little it actually needed. This should be getting done relatively soon.
Oh, and Sodzilla is going to be returning to stock, the poor girl.

Should what are the plans for front and rear tires? I assume the Mud Lites will go back on the rear, will the little Ags go on the front of this one?

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Should what are the plans for front and rear tires? I assume the Mud Lites will go back on the rear, will the little Ags go on the front of this one?

Yep, you got it 100% right.

In a hurry, so I already mounted the shifter and the battery tray.

Oh, and I hope @MightyRaze doesn't mind, I went ahead and removed the (ON HOLD) from the title.

Nope that is fine.  I will document it and you are good to go. 

Nice to see some progress on it. You will lock MST? I would build a side shifter for it, do a very good locker, axle bearings, IDK how far you modded your MST. Are those Fenders off the junk Mower? Is the hole in your 920 big? you ever looked inside?

MightyRaze wrote:

Nope that is fine.  I will document it and you are good to go. 

Great, thanks!

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

Nice to see some progress on it. You will lock MST?   I would build a side  shifter for it, do a very good locker, axle bearings, IDK how far you modded your MST. Are those Fenders off the junk Mower? Is the hole in your 920 big? you ever looked inside?

No, I am going to leave it open, since the mud lites do great on an open diff.  It had a side shifter, but the problem is it doesn't really clear with the tires, so I don't mind having center shift.  Yes, those are the fenders off of the Roper.  The 920 hole isn't too big, but it leaks oil, and since I have a MST, I'd rather use that than have to worry about the reverse chain.

The hole:


Shows up terrible on camera, but you get the idea.  Yes, the whole thing has been apart.

Here are some old pictures of what she will look like after the fender swap:



Forgot how much I missed her.

I would open 920, JB Weld the hole, and put 920 in Sodzilla and sell spicer. The Fenders and Tires look SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice to see this build revived. You could fix that hole in the 920, doesn't look too bad. Any idea what caused it? What fenders are you putting on it?

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

I would open 920, JB Weld the hole, and put 920 in Sodzilla and sell spicer.  The Fenders and Tires look SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I might, then have a 920 in Sodzilla.  Thanks!

MatthewD wrote:

Nice to see this build revived. You could fix that hole in the 920, doesn't look too bad. Any idea what caused it? What fenders are you putting on it?

Thanks!  Yeah, I probably could, I might try.  Well, since the guy I got it from happened to be involved in distributing a certain substance that has a name similar to math, and he was kinda crazy anyway thanks to some other neighbors that drove him to it and got us involved in a range war that is still going on even though he moved...I'll leave your imaginations to that.



So I picked up a table on the side of the road and now it's my engine table and since I am on an engine spree, I decided to do some work on Belle's engine.

The same guy who I got the 920 from owned this engine, and he bypassed the gov.  When I rebuilt this engine, I did not know that you had to remove it from the inside, so I just ran it like that for a while.  But today, I popped the crank cover:



Pulled the gov:



And put the cover back on.  Then I bolted on the starter and allowed myself the luxury of having an extended fuel drain plug:



Then I removed the air filter housing, which is off of an OHV and will be turned into a snorkel:



Then turned my attention to this STUPID carb, that I bought BRAND NEW for this engine, and the EPA had to screw it up with the anti-afterfire solenoid, which stripped out and fell off MULTIPLE TIMES pouring gas all over my exhaust.

The dumb carb that needs to be replaced:





Does anyone have a link to a cheap Mikuni or a Mikuni knockoff?  Because I'd like to have something with a bit more power.

Pulled the exhaust pipe off, some genius welded this ring thing on the end of it (WTH):



I'm lucky enough to have a threaded exhaust and a bolt on exhaust, I am going to be using the threaded exhaust because I have no welder, as ya'll know.





Need to clean it up a bit, but it's not too bad.  I did clean the carbon off of the engine when I did the valve job on it.

Here is how she sits right now:



I'm happy with this engine, I just need a new spark plug because the old one is fouled, a new exhaust pipe, a new carb, and then just reassemble the thing.

Spark plug:



It is side-gapped, which is an awesome mod, I absolutely love it.  Boosts RPMs, gas mileage, torque, all that good stuff.

Since it did run when it was parked, it won't take too much to get it running again.

Lemme know what ya think!

Nice work. Messing with engines to see what boosts power is fun. Did you just remove the weights from the governor assembly or the whole gear? If I'm not mistaken the actual gear splashes oil around and you're just supposed to remove the weights so you don't loose any lubrication. I could be wrong though. Nice job either way.