Craftsman 18hp Rally Mower

Those running boards frames are cool! They look like rock rails, haha. Should be pretty solid!

I think cut those off, weld them back on a little wider, and put some extruded mech steel and have custom foot boards

HOLY CRAP!!! THEY LOOK GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks AllisKid and SebastianAlbrecht

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I think cut those off, weld them back on a little wider, and put some extruded mech steel and have custom foot boards

Okay I'm still on the fence about that. I think that would certainly look alot better but I don't have access to any mesh (I'm getting to the point where I'm tired of putting money into this build and I'm just ready to ride it). I also would have to rework my throttle because it is very poorly set up. But still not sure yet I would definitely prefer custom ones.

If you know anyone with a junk trailer you can cut up the ramp. Heck, some of the cheap TSC trailers had mesh “flooring”

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

If you know anyone with a junk trailer you can cut up the ramp. Heck, some of the cheap TSC trailers had mesh “flooring”

Ya I'm gonna ask my step dad he has some junk trailers.

Use chicken wire or some really high-gauge goat fence.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Use chicken wire or some really high-gauge goat fence.

I was definitely thinking about it. But I don't think it would be quite strong enough and I want this build to look as professional as possible.

Maybe run some small reinforcements along the bottom.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Maybe run some small reinforcements along the bottom.

Maybe. I'm still not sure on what I want to do about all that.

Next weekend I hope to get this thing all put back together. I'm not sure abojt a test drjve but I'm really hoping I'll be able to fire up that oppy! I haven't started it since Christmas because I haven't had a gas tank on it and as yoh all know I have made a bew exhaust. I can't wait to hear how it sounds!!

Well the weather looks pretty bad this weekend and I think I might be getting sick so I'm not sure if it's gonna happen but I'm try to start this thing I picked a filter, a shutoff valve, and some line.

For the foot boards, maybe add another loop outward from the loop you just welded in. Use smaller tubing and where you put your feet would be kept flat and underneath would look angled. Could even use something like rebar which is cheap and has the rough surface for grip. Maybe even two more loops per side if you will be using the rebar.

prancstaman wrote:

For the foot boards, maybe add another loop outward from the loop you just welded in. Use smaller tubing and where you put your feet would be kept flat and underneath would look angled. Could even use something like rebar which is cheap and has the rough surface for grip. Maybe even two more loops per side if you will be using the rebar.

Good thought and thank you for your imput. But I have decided the best way to do this right now it to use the stock ones. I can always go back and put mesh over the tubing if I decide I want to.

I made an access panel to get to the battery




I just used an old hinge I had lying around and the peice of sheet metal is off of a Kemp wood chipper.



Gas tank is in I just need to go hook up the line and filter.

Does anyone know if my shut off shoud go before or after my filter or does it not matter.

Very nice job with the battery re-location! I like it a lot!

Also, I like to put the shut-off between the fuel tank and filter, that way you can change filters without spilling all your fuel out. Also if you need to remove the tank for any reason you can unhook the line right after the shut-off and remove it with the tank.

I like that side access to the battery!

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Very nice job with the battery re-location! I like it a lot!

Also, I like to put the shut-off between the fuel tank and filter, that way you can change filters without spilling all your fuel out. Also if you need to remove the tank for any reason you can unhook the line right after the shut-off and remove it with the tank.

Yes that's kinda what I was thinking about the filter change but I didn't even think about removing the tank. I think I'm gonna put the filter right by the carb and the shut off a few inches past the tank.

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

I like that side access to the battery!

Thanks!

So I got the line ran through and the filter and shutoff/valve all hooked up.





But when I tried to start it nothing was happening so I pulled a spark plug and sure enough I had no spark. On a hunch I disconnected my kill wire and it fired right up. I'm guessing the kill wire is grounding out somewhere but does anyone have any idea what could be happening here?

Also: I didn't try to drive because I don't have any throttle or brakes right now but I pushed in my clutch and it didn't fully disengage at all. It wanted to because the rear pulley did slow down but was still probably spinning and 100-200 rpm. I assume that my clutch just doesn't have enough throw or something but does any have any suggestions??

A bit of a discouraging day but never the less I shall prevail.

I’d try a belt 1 inch longer for your clutching issue. As far as the kill wire grounding out, you just gotta look it over and find where

Maybe your kill switch is bad. I would test that.

not Sure of your set up but if you're running factory wiring it could be one of the safety sw. activated or bad ! and as craftsmanquad said id try 1 inch longer belt.

diddie wrote:

not Sure of your set up but if you're running factory wiring it could be one of the safety sw. activated or bad ! and as craftsmanquad said id try 1 inch longer belt.

I bypassed all the safety switches and used it after that with no problems. All I did was move my solenoid and ground when I relocated my battery.

So I dealt with my seat springs for the third time!




I made a fairly crapy gas pedal that I will post up some pics of later. And all though it was pitch black outside I went for a quick test drive. Sadly my oppy was running poorly so I think it may need a carb cleaning. I've actually never cleaned the carb on this motor so that might be it. But other wise it seemed fine. The actual test drive is today though since I didn't get to 5th gear. Lol

The other thing is my belt is slipping alot because I'm running a bealt that is way to long because its all I have that will work right now. I need to pick up a shorter next time I'm at TSC.

Well I was attempting the start this thing this morning and it really started giving me trouble. I could only get it to run for a few seconds and that was at full choke. I'm in the middle of cleaning the carb right now. I assume this is a jet issue but there is now way to remove the jets on this carb so I blew them out with a air compressor hopefully that will be sufficient.