"Dinky" (Crafstman 917.254650)

UPDATE****
Dinky has not broken its rear yet axle agin, or front JB weld mounts yet, but after about 50 wheely pops i actually have destroyed my belt. whole think is black and has fibers coming out of it. fastest i ever killed a belt that never had issues of rubbing or popoing off.

DINKYS BAAAAAAACK!
i cant fix the front mounts the right way since the aluminum is broke off the trans were it used to be bolt holes. so i welded the rear bracket to the frame.
not a mod i wanted to do, since now instead of snapping a front mount, i risk bucking or cracking my frame and i have less support on the trans.

i might take dinky on the trails this weekend, and i plan on driving it arrround here and there. if nothing breaks by next paycheck, im buying a new rim and tire for the front right wheel, its been a dented rim to mangled to seal to a punctured tire for a long time. its no longer JB weldable. like my trans.
this will be the last bit of money i sink in to it till i move at the end of the year.

Hey if it gets it running and working.

well that did not last long... poped some wheelies at walamrt on this 13F day. felt like i broke my welds, as the trans was rocking agin, so i baby it for the mile home. go to inspect my welds and see this.

That sux bigtime!

You need a solid rear frame or else you’re going to continuously break cases like that, I saw you mentioned the front mounts where broken off the casing. I use 1/4 steel and make heavy duty front trans mounts, I use both bolt holes on both sides for the front mounts, along with cross bracing inbetween the two front mounts and the rear of my frames. The more support those aluminum casings have the more abuse they can handle

my front mounts used to break, so i welded them double thick, instead the trans mounts broke
also dont know what you mean by "solid rear frame" sounds like you want me to fill all the air space or somthing.

Solid as in strong 0 flex. I have a cross brace inbetween my rear trans mounts and I have a cross brace inbetween my front ones also, seems to make the rear of the frame stronger, solid, more stout. I can get some pictures later

Pretty cool that you drove it home like that though.

redzz02 wrote:

Solid as in strong 0 flex. I have a cross brace inbetween my rear trans mounts and I have a cross brace inbetween my front ones also, seems to make the rear of the frame stronger, solid, more stout. I can get some pictures later

i dont know what you mean by cross brase, you mean like just weld some angle iron from left to right so it cant pull apart? also, especially if im hauling something heavy, and i rip on dinky, the whole frame twist as i my front end starts going in the air. like i can see the motor sticking out the hood more on one side when i rip on it, and i can see everything shifting from the driver seat.

mr.modified wrote:

Pretty cool that you drove it home like that though.

yeah, would have sucked if i coudnt, dew to cold, i have no finished my mud cart 2, witch is the only way i could hall dinky in that state.

@RockeyDA yes that’s what I mean I weld in cross braces to try and keep the mounts from flexing. Like you mentioned you can notice it shifting under extreme load. If you weld in some cross bracing it will help out tremendously. Right now your frame is flexing and your transaxle is the “solid” point that is trying to keep the frame from flexing and shifting. So not only is the trans axle taking the load of making the tires spin, it’s also taking the weight of the frame shifting which is a major factor in casings breaking like that

Gussets everywhere!

Could weld braces to the mount.

so im finally getting dinky up and running agin! and i did some parts tradeing and ended up with a trans i belive is called a 820 or somthing. it shifts like MST, is oil filled, used 1" axles and seems way more boss than an MST.
so i currently have a set of standerd issue 5 lug 12" garden tractor rims with turfs witch are a no go, and with me lowing dinky in the past dose not clear shifter. i need me some 5 lug 8" rims that are wide, would the rims in the link below be a good match? like are they wide enogh and will the bolt patterns match up?

if no id like some sugestions. i want my 8" rims so i can have my 20" aggs still and run the pressure low like i always do.

https://recstuff.com/trailer-tires-wheels/trailer-wheels/8-trailer-rims/8x7-5-lug-on-4-5-white-bell-trailer-wheel/

820's are nice. They come with grease.. but someone could have converted it to oil.

Those 8x7 wheels should be fine. Standard garden tractor hub is a 5 on 4.5 circle.

thank you so much, i really mean that, i posted this everywhere and no one could give me a straight answer.

progress update. i swapped dinkys shifter over from a same hood style craftsman with a fender shiftier, it was impossible to  make this shifter even connect to the trans, put dinkys old rednecked shifter back on, only can shift RN123.. 4 if im lucky. took some mesurments, dinkys frame is 2" shorter in the rear but all the stamping have not been adjusted, only screw holes. do no fender shifter will ever work right in dinky.... so i did what any sensible man would do... i oppend the trans and re-arranged the gears.

i got my dream 4 speed setup now! the gear order now is
[ R N 1 3 6 4 ] 5 2
so i got my same 3 speed setup as before, only now if im stalling in a bog, i can finally have a gear thats got more speed than 2nd but more torque than 3rd without affecting how i do my going down the road/ trail shifting. (i have a harder time smoothly and quickly shifting 6 speeds the gear ratios are to close together.)

im gonna do a video update soon, but here is some pics of the recent adventure. dinky is driveable now.

so i put my GPS in my pocket and reset the max speed on it, drove dinky as fast as i could without feeling like i was going to die, top speed was alittle over 30mph (steering play is really bad now and i cant bring my self to full trottle it) if dinkys steering play gets to much worse it wont be driveable, the wheel turns about 5" without doing anything to the steering. i think driving it with a flat tire all that time was really hard on the setup... and i cant look at the steering setup to see whats going on unless i take the motor out. so this is how dinky lives in 2020.