Craftsman 18hp Rally Mower

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.

You should be able to at least remove the main jet, usually you remove it with an Allen key as the jet has a hex shaped hole. Either way blowing them out with compressed air will work fine.

Great job on the test drive!

Okay finished cleaning out the carb and through it back on. Fired right up and idles great l. I'm so glad that was it. My battery is dead so the Stretch44875 inspired pull start has been coming in handy alot! It's an awesome mod I would recommend it to anybody. I need a shorter belt because I'm am currently running the 7in pulley in the front and about 100 idler pulleys and it still slips but I did hit 5th gear and OH MAN this thing really flies!! It probably wouldn't feel that fast on pavement but on a dirt road it feels fast! I haven't finished my brake linkage so I didn't have brakes and almost died but it was totally worth it.
I also need to finish modifying my hood to fit and a few other exciting things.



Also: Can someone explain to me how I would go about posting up a video on here. I am currently using the Topic It mobile app the browse and do forum updates but I can use the website if necessary do I need to use a computer. I would love to be able to post up a video of this thing in action.
Thanks!

Looking awesome!!

For videos, just upload them to YouTube and copy the link. Then on the forum next to the image hosting icon there should be a little YouTube icon. Paste the link in there and it’ll imbed the video in your post

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Looking awesome!!

For videos, just upload them to YouTube and copy the link. Then on the forum next to the image hosting icon there should be a little YouTube icon. Paste the link in there and it’ll imbed the video in your post

Thanks! So you absolutely have to have YouTube to post to the forum??

I mean pretty much. I don’t know of any other ways. I like YouTube too because once the video is uploaded I can delete it from my phone and computer and it saves space

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I mean pretty much. I don’t know of any other ways. I like YouTube too because once the video is uploaded I can delete it from my phone and computer and it saves space

Okay I just need to stop being lazy and make a YouTube account.

I just picked up the 95in belt I beed for this mower so I will be putting that in and finishing up the brakes on it this weekend. This thing is very close to completion and hopefully I can get ut done this weekend.

So basically this weekend turned to sh*t!! Although I tried to make my belt system as adjustable as possible but the 95in I got is just alittle to short. I need to return it and get a 96in but I don't know when thats doing to happen because I think I have Mono and I feel like absolute crap. Spring break is coming up soon so hopefully I will have some tine to get this thing dialed and go for a ride.

I got the right belt but I realize the bigger problem is a lack of clutch throw. I think it is caused by a short leverage arm kn the pedal side so I I am not getting enough clutch movement and the pedal movement is way more then I want. So I might have to redo that at some point. There are some other issues so hopefully some improvements will be made while I have some free time over break.

Here's a pic from my little ride yesterday.



This was the only time I got stuck I got. This hole was alittle deeper then it looks.
The other thing is one of my hubs slid inward which is just weird because I have shaft collars on both sides of them.

My belt fell off a couple times on my ride yesterday so I maybe up a couple of belt keepers today.




Belt hasn't fell off since. Thats all for now. But I'm hoping to get more done soon.

Nice to see you got some wheeling time in! Sucks about the clutch issue, but I'm sure you'll get 'er figured out and working good!

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Nice to see you got some wheeling time in! Sucks about the clutch issue, but I'm sure you'll get 'er figured out and working good!

Yes it is good to be riding again! Ya it's sucks because I have so much time it to the clutch and it still isn't perfect. But I should just need to make a slight change then it will be perfect.

Today I swapped the front tires from the GT over on the the rally mower. I just put a pair of turfs on the front of the GT for now. The fronts are 18×7-8s which happened to be the fronts the pair with my rears which are 18×9.5-8s. They are both SunFs of the exact same tread pattern. To be honest I have been planning this for awhile now.





I think it looks great! Aside from the fact that the front end is way to high. At least 3in higher then the rear. I intend on solving this problem by fabricating new spindles. Some Cub Cadets (including the 149) have spindles that are not J spindles but still use and axle with spindle tubes. People building GT pullers have also fabricated spindles like this to lower the front end on there tractor. If you don't know what Im talking about they look like this.



Hopefully that should solve the issue. My exhaust may get in the way and have to be altered slightly. I am also still gonna look into the clutch in the next couple days.

I know I keep saying it but I am so happy with the way this thing is performing. After I put the tires on I rode around the house a bit and there is a steep trail that goes up from the dirt road and pops out behind me shop. I have never been able to get up it before but I have not tried it since I did all the new mods to this mower. I hit it in 3rd gear and maybe 3200-3600rpm and ripped all the way up it with about 70% traction. Losing enough traction to fish tale but still having enought to go maybe 16-18mph. It was a thing of beauty really. This may seem erelavnt but I had to share it because it's proof that this thing everything I wanted and more.

I thought about it and maybe it wasn't quite 18. Lol but still felt awesome!

Looks pretty cool with the matching tires! Good call on making steering knuckles, that's always the best setup. I was gonna do those on a couple of my tractors at some point but never actually did it, haha.

Yeah those are called "drop spindles". They are really common in the hot rodding world to gives cars a lower aggressive stance.

I'm really digging the matching tire look. It looks like a capable atv with some California lean to it. lol. Oh wait...you live in california

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Looks pretty cool with the matching tires! Good call on making steering knuckles, that's always the best setup. I was gonna do those on a couple of my tractors at some point but never actually did it, haha.

Thanks. Ya hopefully it works out well. I will probably end up doing on the GT as well.

Yes sir thats a good looking rig ! id say the drop spindles are just what it needs.

Cool project.

NorthportTroller wrote:

Cool project. [smiley]https://2img.net/i/fa/i/smiles/icon_biggrin.png[/smiley]

Thanks man

So I have been pretty happy with this rig but there are some things that still needed to be addressed. The steering even with the nylon piece from the box CQ sent me, just had alot of play and wasn't quite serving me well. So I add some bushings to the steering from the GT6000 and modified it to fit in here.




Some more mods coming to this build in the next week or two.

Well I have been neglecting my forum updates these days but that doesn't mean I haven't been working. So lets start getting y'all caught up!




I never talked about my rear pumper so there it is. 2 gallons gas jug fits excellent in there. Thats by design.




I moved my clutch farther to the rear of the tractor and dropped my pedal down so the linkage can pull instead of push. The action is reversed of how I had it before and it works way better. I used rod ends for the linkage and it feels alot smoother I would recommend it for sure.





I now have a side shifter! Works so much better! I just used a old axle shaft and the old linkage. I also used rod ends on this to keep play down.





I added plumbing nipples to my headers so I can thread in these TSC mufflers when ever to quiet it down. My headers are alittle short so it back fires alot without them.

I am happy with all the mods and in the next couple months I will be dojnv a full teardown for paint! So expect some glammer shots!!

Good to hear from you again! Great work on the upgrades!

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Good to hear from you again! Great work on the upgrades!

Thank you! I'm glad to be back.

Well I return again. I've been getting lazy with my updates so here comes another wave.

I've been wanting to ride this thing so I just did a quick inspection before and found some carnage.




The frame had cracked right behind the front axle on both sides. I wasn't expecting this because I don't run big tires or do a ton of wheelies but I do jump it sometimes and because of the stiff front tires it impacts hard. As you can see in the second pic I just welded the cracks then plated them with a piece of angle.