[Complete] Mr.Modified's Craftsman HE [2018 Build-Off Entry]

Sweet glass pack. I'm curious to see how that will sound.

Thanks, I hope it quiets it down a lot compared with an open pipe. I'd rather have a good sounding tone than a really loud pipe. Easier on the ears. It'll be interesting to see how good it works.

Yeah I suppose if you're riding for long periods of time at Haspin you'll want a quietish exhaust.

I need to build one for my new cub. It's muffler had packing baffles of mud dober nests and the center pipe was flopping around inside.

Yeah after awhile real loud pipes get a bit annoying for me. bigasmowers the mud dobers tried to fix it for you.

So, decided to get my exhaust done tonight. Mounted the glass pack.


Held on with two bolts. One in a bracket and one through the frame.


Frame bracket


Bends from stock pipe welded in





With the grill on


Fit's nicely inside the grill. I think it turned out pretty good. Just needs some kind of tail pipe and some paint.

Looks very professional.  Where are you thinking of taking the tail pipe?  Out the back,... out the side?

Wow that looks phenomenal! I can’t wait to see it in person

Looking good! Decided on what rear tires you are using yet?

That looks outstanding! Nice job!

Thanks guys!
Tailpipe for now I'm thinking, more of an exit pipe right off the end of the glass pack. Maybe with a tight bent towards the outside if I can find one more. Rear tires are going to be those turf tires for haspin. But I'm leaving the extended length axles because I may put on the same AG treads like the front ones are. To do that I would need to put bearings on to support the axle, they would need to be spaced out to match up with the fronts. No time for all that now. If I get time I plan on cutting the tread a bit with the turfs for some grip. Leave the tire pressure low it'll be ok with the rear locked I think.

CraftmanQuad are you going this year? I can't keep track of what everyone's doing with my messed up memory lol

Yeah I’ll be there!

So sad about the turfs:( needs some aggressive treads for the mud! Oh well should still give enough traction to have a bunch of fun.

If wet weather hits then traction will be a bit of an issue. After haspin I'll figure out something better. And nice craftsmanquad, I'll see you there!

Yeah that exhaust definitely turned out fantastic looking, fits along the frame pretty slick. Definitely interested to see how it sounds. Likin' the new profile picture too! haha.

WOW, that Muffler is very cool!

Yeah you went all out with this cutom exhuast.  Did you have those bent pieces of tubing laying around or something?

If its anything like last year turfs will work. If its anything like 2016 and we get rain, well lets just say we will all probably sit lol.

Thanks, the exhaust bends are cut from the original factory pipe off that engine. It had 3 nice 90 degree bends. And yeah 2016 haspin had that one day where it was pretty tough. Getting from the camp area to the woods was the main problem, that's where the mud was the worst. I'd prefer things just stay dry, can't go anywhere when it's that wet.

And Doug, your doc locked MST is dripping oil from both sides just sitting here lol. And that's with gear oil and STP oil treatment in it. Oh well I guess. When it gets low enough it'll stop.

Here's a few quick progress pics.
LED Headlights


Mr.modified's official grip nuts installed


Rear fenders didn't match the running boards too well, parts from different year tractors? I pulled them together with one bolt and also welded them for strength.

Do you plan to put a brush guard on it?

Yeah I have an idea in mind for a simple but cool front bumper and sort of skid plate. Just been trying to get the top priority things going first. This time the front bumper will be good to pick up the machine with. On the simplicity, there's not much room for your hands to lift it.

This morning I got the exhaust tail pipe sorted out. Kept it tucked in fairly close to protect it.


Simple and out of the way, nothing too flashy this time as far as where it exits.


Clears the front tire no problem, and this time the front axle is solid so I don't have to worry about it moving.


Painted with VHT exhaust paint, suppose to be red but looks orange to me. Still kind cool, something different.
I was thinking, maybe paint the HE letters with high heat black but probably not before haspin. The galvanized may flake off in places anyway
with the heat. Then I'll have to repaint. You can see the added washer and bracing around the mounting bolts to stop fatigue cracks.


Shifter done. Had to rig one up using the shifter from the parts craftman. Hard to see the whole thing but I had to do a lot of
cutting and welding. Works good enough I think. Shouldn't break. Made a simple brace to keep pressure off the shifter input shaft.
That's the hose clamp you see on all the scrap metal welded together.


HASPIN BRACING! I also plan on some minor frame bracing between the axle and just beyond where the dash stops.
Seems that would be the most likely area to have problems. The dash and rear fenders/running boards kinda hold it together from there back.
I put a couple of weld beads from the dash tin to  the frame to keep things a bit stiffer than just the stock bolts. In this pic, you can
see I welded the seam on the top of the axle for added strength.

The fender mismatch was because the seat strap brace was from a different tractor and was taller.

Oh makes sense. I figured there was some mis-matched parts. I got it pretty beefed up though.
I also welded the seat bracket which was ripping out of the sheet metal.

So since most of the haspin machines seem to have locked front ends , is there more strain on the tranny and frame from not having some flex? On my LT 4000 the frame is fully two forced and the rear is solid axle with reinforcement, and the front end is solid tube welded to the frame and I wonder if it's abusing the tranny more than normal.

Exhaust looks cool in that red/orange paint. That plastik oil drain thang looks pretty precarious, could it not just pop off and dump the oil out? Or is it a cover for the drain plug?

This thing looks bullet proof. I would think it will last the adventure at Haspin. Heavy duty everywhere I see.

biggasmowers wrote:

So since most of the haspin machines seem to have locked front ends , is there more strain on the tranny and frame from not having some flex? On my LT 4000 the frame is fully two forced and the rear is solid axle with reinforcement,  and the front end is solid tube welded to the frame and I wonder if it's abusing the tranny more than normal.

Frame flex is terrible. Ideally you want only a small amount of axle pivot and decent frame bracing.