Trying to decide which chassis to use

I've got a plain jane late 90's LT1000 with a 17 HP motor and a 6 speed fender shift.  I was going to build that, but those things don't have much soul.

Fast forward to tonight.  My neighbor put an old murry out by the road and I snatched it up.  The engine is half disassembled and missing parts, so I'm probably going to repower it if I keep it.


I just need to decide which one is going to be used for my next project. The Craftsman seems a big longer and would probably be more comfortable. But the murray has more style & soul IMHO. Murry's got a 6 speed crotch shifter transaxle, and seems to have more ground clearance.

What do you guys think?

The Lt1000 is actually a pretty good and popular chasis to start a build with. 


I bet the Murray hood would look pretty cool on it. Just sayin.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

The Lt1000 is actually a pretty good and popular chasis to start a build with. 


I bet the Murray hood would look pretty cool on it. Just sayin.

That's one thought. Originally I was going to put an old Dynamark hood I had on Lt1000, because it didn't have a hood.

Certainly the LT1000, I love mine.  I have an LT1000 and it's sister, the '98 Weed Eater.  Same frame, trannys, engine, ect, and I love her too.

Lt1000 all the way. That Murray is just a stamped piece of sheet metal.

Also the transmissions are both setup the same, it’s the linkage on the tractor that’s different. I would build the lt1000 with the Murray hood, and keep the Murray transaxle as a spare. The rest of it is scrap

LT1000 is the only way to go, unless you feel like putting a whole subframe under that murray.

I might go to say, an LT1000 may be stiffer if done right than my 82 Murray GT frame.