98 craftsman lt1000 Mudder/trail rider

They are great in snow too.

So a few days ago I ordered a bull gear and spider gears since it was cheaper then just ordering spider gears and it came today so I’m going to use the spider gears to lock up my mst before I put it in and I’m also going to add bearings once they come in the mail so any advice on opening up the mst 205

Put it in neutral and remove the detent ball and spring so it don’t get lost. Don’t forget the 2 bolts on the bottom half of the case when splitting case. I didn’t see them on my first time and wasted a half hour trying to figure out why I couldn’t get the case apart. Draining the oil is optional but less mess if you do it first. I lock mine with spider gears also...frustrating getting them to set right but they work well.

Clean it before you take it apart. Don't want any dirt in it. Don't lose the detent spring. If you have to take anything out, take pictures of how it is in the case first.

Flipping the transaxle also flips the input direction. So yes, you have 5 reverse gears, but they're driving you forward because the transaxle is upside down. It's not like a car differential where you only change one of those variables when you flip it.

If you do get the cast iron axle from the gt6000, bolt it up as high as you want in the frame. If you don't, get the stamped axle up as high as you want and weld it there, as well as welding some reinforcements on the axle. I had one once. Welded it where it split but it just tore itself again just short of the weld and the whole spindle left the axle lol. Keep in mind that locking the front axle may bring any weaknesses in the frame to light.

Anymore I’ve decided to not flip the transmission and I also got a Murray front axle and steering setup that I’m swapping in

Ok so I’ve ran into a problem and that is that the clutch is in the way of the steering which means I totally have to redo it so it’s out of the way of the steering and behind the big hole in the frame so can anyone give me a rough idea on how to rig this

It’s going to be hard to get a good answer without actually being there looking at it. When you start swapping parts from other makes of mowers you have to start getting creative by rerouting things and making parts at times. If you don’t have a welder it gets pretty difficult..but not impossible. It’s hard for me to tell what your trying to accomplish with the one picture.

well today I got the main part of the clutch done now I just need to rebuild the clutch and the linkage any ways you guys think that I could improve it

Putting the clutch pulleys closer together gives them more leverage to pull the belt tighter

Alright then i guess I’ll do that when I get the chance Thank you

You’re welcome. That was the only thing I could see from the pic that would make much difference

My main problem is gonna be figuring out how to remount the clutch so there’s no bar running across the frame any ideas?

Welp yesterday I shortened The clutch arm and figured That I’m gonna have to move the clutch way back behind the steering shaft so can anyone get me a picture of The bottom of there Murray

Welp I’ve decided that I’m gonna just buy a new steering box for it for $65 and put that in instead since the Murray one is going to have too many problems with Clearance under the frame also if anyone’s interested in the Murray steering then contact me

On your clutch bar it has to work from the right side (sitting in the seat). So if the clutch pedal is operated with left foot then you are pretty much stuck with the bar going across. If you want to use your right foot for operation then you can eliminate the bar.

i got the transaxle locked and together now but i didnt put enough gasket maker in one place so now theres a leak on the one side, is there anyway that i can patch it without taking the whole trans apart again

I use to fix car transmissions that had leaks on the pan with the blue silicone sealant. I would wipe off the leak, put a gob of blue sealant on my finger and rub it on the leaky area trying to push the sealant into the leaky area. Then more sealant on and around the leaky area also.

Well I’ve got everything together and I’m having a problem, I can get the tractor started but as soon as I let off of the clutch or take my finger off of the pto safety switch the tractor dies. I’m guessing this is an electrical issue but what can I do to fix it. Right now I’m charging up the battery and hoping that may help it. Also stage 1 of the build is complete but right now I don’t really have the time to go over it but I’m hoping to be able to update you guys on the tractor within the next week

you've eliminated all the safety switches right, that's the only thing i can think of that would cause your issue

The problem went away, after I charged the battery it fired right up. For my safety switches I have the springs on the seat one removed so it is kinda bypassed, for the pto one I have to push it down with my finger to start it since I removed the lever, and then the clutch one is the way it came. I took it out for a ride today and it worked good for the most part but I’m having a couple of small problems that have to do with my clutch and drive setup. The first one is that the clutch seems like it’s slipping even though I have more tension on it then stick. The next problem is that due to the shift pattern being too short I can’t get it into 5th gear. Then my third one is that I need a few belt keepers to keep the belt on the idlers but I can dab those up soon.

So the time has finally come to update you guys on what I’ve done with this. The first thing I did was make a double pulley clutch thst works with my stock clutch linkage, it works well but I need to make a couple belt guards and I plan on replacing the spring with a stronger ad
justable one I have that’s from a Murray. So far it works pretty good but I feel like I could eliminate most of my belt slippage with a stronger spring.

The second thing I did was swap the old steering box out and put a new gen 1 steering box in that works surprisingly well for what it is

The third thing I did was swap in the locked mst 205. I was planning on running bearings in the axle shafts but the ones I was told to get (6203) ended up being the wrong size so I left them out. To lock the transaxle I decided to use extra spider gears due to me not having a welder. I also drained all the fluid from the case and refilled it with some 90 weight we had in the basement. The mst ended up having a longer shifter rod so I had to add an extra idler pulley and bend my shift linkage so that it would work with the higher rod.
Here’s the problem I was having

And here’s how I put the idler in to hold the belt off the shifter rod

While I had it apart I ended up putting the atv tires on the back and also blacked out the headlight lense since I plan on adding a light bar

So here’s my current to do list for this this thing
Atv front tires and rims for the front of the tractor
Adjust the shift linkage some and grind away part of the fender so I can reach 5th gear
New grille since the current one is split in half and held together by zip ties
Have my dad weld up a front bumper for this thing
Remake The rear rack so it has more support and can hold more stuff
Rewire it so I can get rid of the safety switches
Make a gas pedal and run it ungoverned
Paint rims black
Replace the clutch spring with a stronger one
Add a light bar onto the bumper
Setup a quieter exhaust instead of open headers like I have it now
Make a few belt keepers for The pulleys
And maybe make a roll cage for the engine so it won’t get messed up in case I roll

And after those are my plans for phase 2 of the build, anyways leave any suggestions or changes that you would make to it. Here’s some pics of the test run I had with it today just around the yard, it does surprisingly well In mud, and managed to haul a couple hundred pounds of blocks pretty good

Nice work, looks like you're having fun.

One suggestion I would make is to change the idler setup to push the belt the other way around the shifter shaft. The way it's running now will greatly decrease the surface area of belt on the trans pulley and cause belt slippage. If you have the belt on the other side of the shaft and use a flat idler to push it towards the clutch, you will have better belt grip and it will still clear the shifter shaft.

Keep up the good work!

I was originally gonna do that but the problem is that it would rub on the clutch pulley and if I put another idler in to hold it off of there then I wouldn’t have room for my clutch spring, so sadly I’m stuck with it unless someone can think of a way around it

Maybe I could try and find a way to add one in behind the shift lever and above the transmission

Well bad news, today I brought it to my grandmas to weld a bumper and as I was rolling it down ramps off the back of the van it got a little hard to push so I gave it a good push them when I got it on the ground I noticed there was 90 weight leaking out and a hole in the bottom of the case right by the bull gear. So tomorrow or tonight I’m gonna be seeing what went wrong with it, anyways here’s some pics of the carnage

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...............

i ACTUALLY feel bad for you.......
hopefully you figure out what happened