Craftsman 18hp Rally Mower

Looks like you’ll be building more or less a mowron clone. I don’t blame ya, they’re very well put together. I got to drive one at haspin. I flipped it late one night and the next morning we replaced the steering wheel and a tube and she was back out on the trails. And I flipped it pretty hard

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Looks like you’ll be building more or less a mowron clone. I don’t blame ya, they’re very well put together. I got to drive one at haspin. I flipped it late one night and the next morning we replaced the steering wheel and a tube and she was back out on the trails. And I flipped it pretty hard

Ya pretty much. The pull start and small tires was a dead giveaway. The main reason for doing this is I've seen the videos from Haspin and how well the Mowron's machines perform on steep terrain compared to other mowers. There low and stable and thats what I'm going for.

The biggest thing they did to lower the center of gravity was to remove those brackets right under the fenders under the seat springs and mount the seat on the frame. The chassis is more or less stock height. That helps your CG but keeps ground clearance decent

Ya would do that but I have a rear mounted gas tank so I can't. I'm looking for a Craftsman hood mounted gas tank but I can't find one.

I’ve got one I’d give ya, and several that you could easily make work if you want it

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I’ve got one I’d give ya, and several that you could easily make work if you want it

Hey thanks man I appreciate that. I assume we live pretty fare away from each other.

Well, Indiana and California are pretty far apart lol. I’m putting a bigger tank in mine so I don’t have a use for it, and have so many other tanks on the shelves. Just PM me your shipping address and I’ll mail it out this weekend when I get back home.

If there are any other small parts you need I can stick them in the same box, just let me know

I'm currently out of town but I was able to get some work done before I left.


Got the rear end all stripped down and the gas tank drained and removed.



Made up some new fenders still lots to do but I did some more stuff that I will post later

Now that’s a way of lowering the fenders I have not seen before, very nice!

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Now that’s a way of lowering the fenders I have not seen before, very nice!

Well I wanted them seperate so I could easily access the belt system and I need to fit a battery box there and a small tool kit. I'm not familiar with the way the mowrons did theres. What are some other ways you know?

I’m pretty sure they just removed the bracket underneath and let them slope back a little, simple and effective, but I never cared for the look. I’m gonna split the difference between what they did and what you did. I’m going to mount my fenders level like you did but keep them one piece just by trimming the piece right in front of the seat where it slopes up to the level the seat mounts to. If that makes sense.

I think the mowrons removed that bracket along with doing some cutting to fit the frame tunnel.

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I’m pretty sure they just removed the bracket underneath and let them slope back a little, simple and effective, but I never cared for the look. I’m gonna split the difference between what they did and what you did. I’m going to mount my fenders level like you did but keep them one piece just by trimming the piece right in front of the seat where it slopes up to the level the seat mounts to. If that makes sense.

The reason they didn't cut the front part out is probably because what your doing will make it so your fenders dont meet your foot boards anymore. They rely on the fenders alot for strength. What are you plan on doing with your foot boards?

I’ll cut the bottoms off the front and will re bend/drill out the bottoms to match with the footboards

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I’ll cut the bottoms off the front and will re bend/drill out the bottoms to match with the footboards

Thats probably what should have done but I wanted them to be seperate. Where are you planning on putting your battery/gas tank?

I didn't have time to finish that update earlier so here it is.


I made a new seat bracket so the seat now sits about 2 1/2 inches off the tunnel.


I didn't want to completely get rid of the rear fender bracket because it holds the seat springs and I know it adds alot of strength. So I just shortened it.

I didn't lower the seat that much just 3 inches but I think it will make a huge difference.

I’m going to either run my battery in the stock location, under the center tunnel, or under the dash. We’ll see

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

I’m going to either run my battery in the stock location, under the center tunnel, or under the dash. We’ll see

Both my Craftsmans were originally rear mounted gas tanks and batteries under the hood so I'm not entirely familiar with the hood mounted gas tank Craftsman battery position. I'll look at some pictures later.

Well I've been out of town and haven't been able to get much work done. But yesterday I got around to welding up the frame.







I welded the rear plate on and moved the transaxle mounts down 1 inch to help with fender and ground clearance and then welded them all in. I still need to add some gussets but this will do for now.

Also all the goodies arrived while I was gone so hopefully I will be mounting the tires soon and installing the pull start and starter gear as well.

Nice reinforcement.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

Nice reinforcement.

Thank Crazy_Carl I figure I better be safe then sorry. I wouldn't want to crack a case because of frame flex.

Today I installed the brand new starter gear.


I also added a small piece of angle iron on my axle so my steering bump stops actually do something. And I got sick of my bent tie rod with no joints so I took a Bolens 1050 tie rod and sleeved it with a piece of pipe.





I still need to fix my steering box and eventually make a new front axle but this should do for now.

Solid upgrades to that axle.  I like to see actual tie rod ends.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

Solid upgrades to that axle.  I like to see actual tie rod ends.

Thanks. Alot of people just reinforce the original tie rod but if you dont have joints it just has too much play. They aren't actually heim joints there better then nothing.

This have gen 1 steering still?

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

This have gen 1 steering still?

Yes and it is in pretty bad shape. The plastic part that holds the end of the steering shaft in place is really worn out.