Mud mower build

I’m looking to build a mud mower with my son. I’m not sure what a good but cheap mower to start off with would be? Or what to look for?

What ever you can get your hands on. Then the sky is the limit. Learning thru trial and error and your wallet sucks , keep your eyes open , free and cheap is good, running is better. The people here are very knowledgeable and talented , I think it would be safe to say it is not and will not be there last romp.

These things are like hot rods they are never finished.

Is there anything I should look out for in a mower though?

Most any tractor will do.  One thing to look for is an actual "geared" transaxle.

I agree with MightyRaze about the geared transaxle. Another thing I'd look for is one that runs already. To me there is nothing worse than fighting with a mower trying to get it to run and not being able to just hop on it and have fun. Save the mechanical aspects for future builds.

@SwampTrekker0415 There's about a hundred or so things to look for lol.

I can narrow it down if you answer some questions:
Do you own a welder or have fabrication skills?
How are your carb/small engine diagnostic skills?
What kind of riding do you and your son plan on doing with the tractor?

@Crazy_Carl I have two welders. My Carb and small engines schools aren’t the best But I’m trying to learn from a buddy of mine that works on lawnmowers for a living. Pretty much we want to be able to drive it through wet conditions and mud as well as sand. We live in South Florida. Thanks for your help

@SwampTrekker0415 It sounds like a craftsman or AYP build would be a great starter project for you. The chassis does have some shortcomings that can be fixed with a welder, but there's a lot of great videos and information on here about building one into a machine that would do very well in your terrain you described. Are there any cheap geared craftsman LTs or DYTs on craigslist or facebook marketplace in your area?

@Crazy_Carl how about a craftsman dlt 3000? I couldn’t find any Lts or Dyts for under $200

@SwampTrekker0415 That actually sounds pretty good. From what I could tell from a google image it looks like a geared transaxle but I would double check. Does your friend that works on mowers come across any mowers with a junk deck? Those are prime candidates for modding.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

@SwampTrekker0415 That actually sounds pretty good.  From what I could tell from a google image it looks like a geared transaxle but I would double check.  Does your friend that works on mowers come across any mowers with a junk deck?  Those are prime candidates for modding.

They come both ways I believe, i had one that was a foot pedal hydro with cruise control. I have a dlt 3000 and it has a cast iron front axle with a 20hp v-twin, 6sp trans. Red like most others.

Yeah, I would steer clear of anything that says Hydrostatic or Automatic.  Like Carl, said, running mowers with no deck are good places to start.

@Crazy_Carl My friend does come across mowers with rotted out decks but his boss is very stingy about giving them away. How can you tell a geared transaxle from a hydrostatic/automatic transaxle?

On a craftsman the shifter will have numbers if geared.  Hydro will have an arrow with tractor speed.  Some newer ones have foot petal for speed. Also steer clear of those with F-N-R on the left fender or in the center between your legs.

@MightyRaze That's really solid advice to give this guy.

@Crazy_Carl
Thank you
What is the best way to go about lifting a mud mower?

@SwampTrekker0415 Running bigger than stock tires lol. I'm perfectly happy with where my center of gravity is.

I have seen some "mud bogger" build mowers with lifts that keep the engine and pulley system up and out of the muck. Basically you've gotta have good fabrication skills to build sub frames where you can mount the front and rear axles, then your frame and body sit up on top of that. I would check out the lifted mowers section. There was a guy from NY that was building some lifted craftsmans. I know a guy building one around the corner from my house but he's not on the forum.

@Crazy_Carl I really appreciate your help and advice. Thank You

@Crazy_Carl what do you think about a Wheel Horse for mud mower build?

Now that I've built a Wheel Horse I can't picture myself building any other kind of tractor lol. I want to set some money aside and finish mud rat this winter when work gets slow again. The only downfall I've found is wheel horses don't make for good speed machines due to the low gearing. I would only build Wheel Horse "garden tractors" that have horizontal shaft engines with ideally the 8 speed rear end, but the other Uni-drive horizontal shaft input trans are very beefy too.

@Crazy_Carl
Is there a specific model number or numbers I should look when looking for wheel horse?

There's too many too list lol.

Basically the best thing to look for is an 8 speed. Which it usually says on the hood somewhere. It will have two shifters and take a set of calipers because the axles should measure 1 1/8"

The day I spotted Ol' Red at the scrapyard, I knew if I saw those two shifters I was buying it no matter what and if it was a hydro I was turning around.

@Crazy_Carl
How about a craftsman LT 4000 6 speed. It’s an older mower in great condition? Square body

That's a good one to start with. I like square bodies! How much can you get it for?