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

yeah , but i would like some softer riding on my murray.

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4 extended bolt on the rear mount with spring between the transmission and the mount bracket with pivot bolt's or studs in the front two bolt holes is nothing new. There is at least one guy every summer that tries it. The only one i have ever seem work at low speed articulation was an golf cart front leaf spring inverted with a trans pulley with welded on extended frange mounts to let the belt grip up and down.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

mightyraze wrote:

This can kinda maybe-ish prove that I have suspension...maybe....

Maine Mud Mower wrote:

4 extended bolt on the rear mount with spring between the transmission and the mount bracket with pivot bolt's or studs in the front two bolt holes is nothing new. There is at least one guy every summer that tries it. The only one i have ever seem work at low speed articulation was an golf cart front leaf spring inverted with a trans pulley with welded on extended frange mounts to let the belt grip up and down. 

Not only is that not what I did, I don't appreciate people coming to my thread and just being a nuisance and a pain in the rear.

If you look above, I did PM some people with how I did it, and they all gave me recommendations on improving it, and didn't just try to discourage me.

If I had done that, just because you didn't see something doesn't mean that it can't work, nor does it mean it can't be done.

(BTW, it sure didn't feel like summer today.)

Just making sure your not on track to end up like all the others that failed then faded into history. If you have something new then I am all for it. Just trying to save you embarrassment and share the only setup I ever saw work.

But hey I will make you a deal. Prove that you can on video make a trail riding machine with over 3 inches of suspension travel in the rear that does 25mph and hell I will pay for and ship you a shirt that says you are a Mud Mower Suspension God.

Maine Mud Mower wrote:

I will pay for and ship you a shirt that says you are a Mud Mower Suspension God.

@AllisKidD21 needs that shirt, not me.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Maine Mud Mower wrote:

I will pay for and ship you a shirt that says you are a Mud Mower Suspension God.

@AllisKidD21 needs that shirt, not me.

That is already in the works he and I have talked about his setup.

Maine Mud Mower wrote:

Prove that you can on video make a trail riding machine with over 3 inches of suspension travel in the rear that does 25mph.

I'll have to think about it.  Don't want a shirt like that, but I don't back down from a challenge if I can reasonably do it.  IDK if it has 3 inches of travel or not, I don't want to pitch the belt so I have the travel restricted.

Extra deep trans pulley will keep that belt steady.

Doug wrote:

Extra deep trans pulley will keep that belt steady.

Yeah I'm going to.  Still don't want to push it.

I measured the travel, about 2 1/3 inches.  If you wish to change your challenge I'll be fine with that.

Dangit. Lol I was so looking forward to see your rear supension. If you do end up posting a picture and its simple enough, I might use it on my LT130 but its not in the buildoff so don't worry.

Haven't worked out the bugs yet.  I can show you once I do.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Doug wrote:

Extra deep trans pulley will keep that belt steady.

Yeah I'm going to.  Still don't want to push it.

I measured the travel, about 2 1/3 inches.  If you wish to change your challenge I'll be fine with that.

Glad to see Doug knows who I meant. Nope there is a reason I said 3 inches and do 25mph. The only setup that ever worked used leaf springs 2 inch travel he could make 16 mph and ran a custom welded extra deep trans pulley he welded himself.

Quote :

Nope there is a reason I said 3 inches and do 25mph. The only setup that ever worked used leaf springs 2 inch travel he could make 16 mph and ran a custom welded extra deep trans pulley he welded himself. 

Well the reason I don't have a ton of travel is that I just wanted to relive a little bit of stress from the tranny and my spine, not have some kind of crazy rock crawler or something.  No thank you!

So a bunch of pics. First off, how does she look half naked?

I kinda like it, lol! No, I'm not going to leave her like that though.
Here's a mock-up of the new fenders, the seat, battery, etc. Imagine the Mud Lites under those fenders....

This is gonna look sick!
How do ya'll like these tires for the front? I like them, the should also steer well. They also are really cheap....

Use your imagination to imagine the fenders, tires, seat, all that good stuff. It'll look really good!!!

This a cast iron or stamped steel front axle?

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

This a cast iron or stamped steel front axle?

Currently a stamped steel axle. Was gonna put a cast iron one from the Roper in, but it is like a 1/4 inch wider. Might be able to move the mounts a little to the side. Want to because on the current one there is a lot of play in the spindle housings, and one of them has cracked and is almost busted through, don't want it to break on the trail somewhere.

The front axles on a craftsman gt6000 are a good choice too. They are 1/8 thick steel welded together with bronze bushings in the spindle holes.  
You can cut them, modify them and then weld them back up.

Keep up the good work.

muddstir wrote:

The front axles on a craftsman gt6000 are a good choice too. They are 1/8 thick steel welded together with bronze bushings in the spindle holes.  
You can cut them, modify them and then weld them back up.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the advise and the compliment! I hope to get the Roper axle to work, but if not I'll look for a GT6000 axle.

Right fender is on!



Need 2 inch bigger tires on the front, looks super dorky with those tiny one!
Rear fenders need to be trimmed; they tires are touching them, and especially with the suspension in the rear....
I also, now that I see how much farther they stick out, I need to put fender flares on. Gonna do it the way FearlessFront did it, mostly because I have like 20 feet of that edging sitting around, waiting for a purpose in life.

Should be a really fun mow-chine when it's done, literally cannot wait!!!

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

This a cast iron or stamped steel front axle?

Currently a stamped steel axle.  Was gonna put a cast iron one from the Roper in, but it is like a 1/4 inch wider.  Might be able to move the mounts a little to the side.  Want to because on the current one there is a lot of play in the spindle housings, and one of them has cracked and is almost busted through, don't want it to break on the trail somewhere.

muddstir wrote:

The front axles on a craftsman gt6000 are a good choice too. They are 1/8 thick steel welded together with bronze bushings in the spindle holes.  
You can cut them, modify them and then weld them back up.

Keep up the good work.

I can attest to the Craftsman GT front axles. They are really nice for being stock axles. The cast Iron I would be leary on, as they can snap since its a more brittle material.

Nice rear end... You know craftsman does make cast axles right? If you found one it might fit.

muckmudd wrote:

Nice rear end... You know craftsman does make cast axles right? If you found one it might fit.

Thanks!  Yeah I know that.  Trying to spend as little money as possible and I think the Roper axle will work.

Doug wrote:

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

The cast Iron I would be leary on, as they can snap since its a more brittle material.

Well I'm not super sure that it is cast iron. Either way, it's rectangular and weighs like 25 lbs.  Should be good enough either way.

Yeah they can be brittle and don't allow much flexing. Or you can just go the other route and make one.

I'd prefer a steel axle because you can weld on it for repairs/modifications or whatever.

Okay, so I'll give ya'll some pictures so you can have an idea of what it is we are talking about.
Here's the bad spindle mount on the one that's installed right now:

Here's the good side:

They both have a ton of play.
Here's the axle I would install:

The spindles mounts on this one are just pipes welded on, not like the stock one.

They have minimal play.  To get it to fit, I'd have to trim that pipe that sticks through the center and drill a bigger hole for the pivot bolt.  Should be able to do that, probably gonna be my solution to the issue.