[FINALIST] - CraftsmanQuad's CraftsmanQuad Mark II [2019 buildoff entry]

So here it finally is, time to get off my arse and start building. This is a 1991 craftsman lt4000.

I plan to run it at haspin which means it needs lots of work in relatively short time. It will be getting:

Lowered fenders
Front independent suspension
Steering box off a cub cadet
Roll cage under the dash and hood
Locked peerless 820 with aftermarket final drive
Deck raise lever shifter
Reinforced frame
18 horse vanguard
Pulley swapped (little more than 1:1)
18 inch kenda pathfinders
Led lights
Paint
Full wiring harness
Recoil pull start
Double barrel ATV exhaust
Foot pedal with cruise control cable
Remove the governor from the engine

Undecided mods are:
Exhaust “cutout”
Rear facing LED lights
Hydraulic disk brakes (front will have drum brakes from the mini quad)
Paint color (I have an idea but not set in stone)


I plan to run the craftsman hood at haspin, but that isn’t my main goal. End goal is either my Murray hood like @mightyraze has on Kal, or a true craftsman square body hood. Just depends on what I have when the time comes. I’m sure there are other small things I’m forgetting but work will officially begin tomorrow.



Approved: MightyRaze 2-22-2019

Good luck man!

Looks like a Great Build! TONS OF MINTY PARTS!!!
excited how that thing will turn out!!!

This looks good.

I missed out on 2 of those al cheapo atvs at the junk yard... if Id had had a truck.

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

Looks like a Great Build! TONS OF MINTY PARTS!!!
excited how that thing will turn out!!!

Oh I’ve been collecting for awhile

Goal for today is reinforce the front half of the frame, remove the old axle and steering, as well as anything mower related. Don’t need any of that garbage.

Bonus for today would be getting the suspension mocked up and seeing how it will fit around that big vanguard but we will see how far it goes

Been looking forward to this build. Good base mower to work on. Would be nice with a Squarebody hood.

Hows this build coming along?

Progress is good. Couple friends came over and we got it stripped to the bare frame, and I ran out of angle iron lol. Laid down some of my best and most consistent beads though, so I’m getting better at welding. Got the 820 mocked up and it bolted right in with no mods! Next step is to reinforce the factory transaxle mounts with some flat stock cut into triangles

Pics!

Forgot this pic of the bracing on the front of the frame haha. Took a different approach than the mowrons here, but should come out pretty stiff. That brace along the top of the frame is what are up most of my angle iron

LOOKS GREAT!!!!!

Got me some inspiration on how I could rerinforce my Widebody...

I like to see fresh ideas about frame reiforcement. Does the frame resist twisting now? It certainly shouldn't buckle from a front impact.

I haven’t really tried to twist it. It’s only sitting on jackstands without any weight in it, so it just kinda tried to flip up on its side

The bracing looks great! You lucked out and got a pretty good frame to begin with. It's seems to be the same as mine.
The ones with the 13in trans mounts are pretty weak. Mine still has alot of twist in it I might do something similar.

13 inch trans mounts...I assume that is width between the mounting bolts at the axles?

What is it about them that makes them weaker?

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

13 inch trans mounts...I assume that is width between the mounting bolts at the axles?

What is it about them that makes them weaker?

Yes width between mounting holes. There more likely to belds side to side and they dont have the L shape that sits flat against the trans.

Gotcha. Well I guess I picked well then. There were several of these tractors at the lot, and I picked one that was complete, the sheet metal was all straight and intact, and had a clean frame that didn’t have oil all over it. I had never realized there was any difference in the transaxle mounts in these tractors. Very good tidbit of information there!

Minor update, got the transaxle gussets welded up. Muffler cut off the engine, and that’s about it. Ran out of welding wire so had to run to Lowe’s and pick more up. Really liking that Lincoln wire. Much better than the Chicago electric wire that came with my welder, or the Hobart wire from TSC

That's definitely going to be a beefy frame.

Jeremiah R. Cooper wrote:

That's definitely going to be a beefy frame.

Hopefully! Just stick some angle iron to it and hope it’s stiff enough lol

Kind of at a standstill until I run up to my grandmas next weekend and get more supplies. Some rebar to reinforce the back TVP part of the frame, and more angle iron to finish the front.

Should be a good build! I'm interesting to see how you're gonna make the Ross steering box work with the ATV front end. I bet it'll be a nice setup!

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Should be a good build! I'm interesting to see how you're gonna make the Ross steering box work with the ATV front end. I bet it'll be a nice setup!

Ya I forgot you were using A arms that is gonna be interesting. All the atv suspension conversion I have seen are either direct steer or rack and pinion.

I hope my AYP also has the good frame now....

need to look & measure....

Hope I can steal a few more reinforcement Ideas off your Build, since IDK rn how I could reinforce the Widebodys frame!

I think a steering bell crank for the tie rods would possibly work. Like have a drag link off the pitman arm turn the bell crank, and keep the dual tie rod setup.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

I think a steering bell crank for the tie rods would possibly work. Like have a drag link off the pitman arm turn the bell crank, and keep the dual tie rod setup.

Bingo.

The only variables are space and I’m not going to have any idea on that until the engine is mocked up into place with the pulley I will be using, and a belt on it so I know what all I will need to dodge lol

Going to do equal length tierods to keep bump steer to a minimum, and the wheel base will end up about 3-4 inches longer overall I’d guess. Using the factory notch for the front axle as the notch for the tierods.

Not sure exactly how much load will be put on the shocks or even what they’re rated for. I am going to build it all with the springs set to their lowest setting so if the big vanguard and heavy frame compress it too much for my liking I will raise the front a couple clicks.

Also will add a couple degrees of caster in there to help take the strain off the a arms since those will be the weakest part. Such thin metal. Tilt them back a little and all the impact will be transferred to the shock absorber

Sounds good to me! I can't wait to see this thing take shape this is gonna be an awesome build.