Crazy_Carl's Wheel Horse Mud Rat [2018 Build-Off Entry]

That's pretty cheap. Good find Beal. I think I'm going to order a 12" piece. Once I receive it, I will measure the I.D. and see if it really is 1.000.

Should be close. Its not like pipe, where the ID could be different throughout the whole piece.
This stuff DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel) should be consistent clean through.

Itd be neat to see the process to make this stuff.


Ide like to get some for the other thing, but I think Im gona try to find some thick wall pipe and bore it out.

Here's a little teaser of what my wheels will look like.  I'm glad I went with the wide rim.  I'm still waiting on a tube to mount the other front tire and the placed goofed and powder coated my rear rims the wrong color so they have to re-do them.  They should be ready in a few days.

Those look super nice Carl!

Oh @TheBeal, I have good news about the DOM tubing you spec'd out for my knuckles.  It will work perfectly.



Remember the other little crack I found in my frame.  While I was fixing that I decided to add in these little 1/4" x 1/4" x 2" pieces to better connect the frame rails to the tranaxle mounting plate.  I don't know who invented these little magnetic welding clamps, but he deserves unlimited PBDGs.  I picked these up on sale at TSC in a package with two pairs of vise grips for like $10.  Well worth the price.

Looks great Carl! I'd like to get myself a couple of those magnets as well sometime, haha.

Yeah they work well for small stuff but they aren't as strong as labeled .I have two

Glad to see it will work!
glad to know Im not just a pretty face!err... ugly...face.....


I have some nice magnetic squares. Mag-Mate is the brand, and they are Made in USA! They are like $10-15 each, but they hold really well.
I recommend them to anyone who wants to splurge on welding magnets.

Super nice welds!

*as i grind off the tops of my crappy welds* yeah nice welds!

I stumbled across this one on wheelhorseforum.com  Looks like he has some kind of custom front end too.  I'm definitely going to draw some inspiration from this one.

Nice! You could do some pulling with this one! Yesterday I was driving through town and saw two cubs that were set up for pulling in front of someone's garage, and since I am getting a cub sometime I should get to know the guy so I can learn how to set up mowers for pulling

That Wheel Horse looks awesome! Nice mean lookin' stance and some nice loooking paws on the back, haha.

Just to clear up any confusion. I stumbled across pictures of this tractor, not the tractor itself.

yeah ik, would have been cool if you would have gotten it tho. not enough pullers here.

Any of yall on facebook? i just set up an account , Biggas Mowers if anybody wants to friend me. still not used to it, really weird setup.

My seat came today, so I decided to borrow some tires and get this thing mocked up on all fours.  I really like where this build is headed.

Is that where the gas tank was stock? Is there some welding going on around it?

Those fronts look funny on such a small mower. Small but super heavy I guess

Really love the look of that Wheel Horse. Should be interesting what the front end looks like once you are done with it. Have fun!

TheBeal wrote:

Is that where the gas tank was stock? Is there some welding going on around it?

The answer to both of those questions is yes, but the gas tank is completely dry if safety is what you're getting at. On Monday I had a pretty hot torch heating up the hub under a full gas tank on Ol' Red. I exercised some caution though.

Safety? naw... You dont seem to be a dummy so I didnt even think about it.

What was welded/why did it need welded? Pictures?

I like the big paws up front... looks less like a rat and more like a bobcat!

@MightyRaze "Bobcat" that's funny lol

@TheBeal The factory dash/gas tank is cast aluminum and most of the paint has worn off of it leaving a gray appearance.

Those front tires look big as hell... but I did see that tractor on the wheel horse forum & it is definitely a cool inspiration.

you can use this too if you need more inspiration....

good one @mrshaft696

Despite what some of you guys think I love these front tires. I can think of three tractors that have pretty large front tires that look awesome(sears killer, mutt, heavily modified LT4000). Isn't the idea to get our tractors looking more like an ATV and less like a tractor? I do have some plans to level out the chassis and get the front axle forward though.

<--------- And don't forget the future Kal-El there to the left.  May be just a frame today.  Same tires look so LARGE on that wheel horse.  Just don't realize sometimes how small those things were but packed quite a punch.