2010 Craftsman ys4500 Build

I am working on a project to rebuild my Granddads old YS4500 into what would probably be described as a woods buggy, (This isn't the actual tractor, I didn't get any pictures before I started taking it apart.)


I have a long road to cut through the woods to the back of my property, then maintaining said road, lugging stuff along said road, etc.
I have a set of Kawasaki ATV wheels for it, and am working on hubs for them.

I am also going to need to lift it, in order to give the front wheels room to turn, 6" in front, 7.5" in back.
Anyone have any ideas on extending the input shaft on the hydro, modifying the steering linkages, etc.?

You’ll probably want to swap in an mst for the rear since the hydro won’t last long and chud357 on youtube has a video on how to lift the front

Hydro will last depending on how you run it and if it's the regular Hydro-gear trans that is in most Lt1000's. If it is, than you should definitely get an MST. If it is not, than it should be fine as long as you don't way overload it and you're okay with stock speed.

The manual says it is a Hydro Gear T2. Not familiar with an MST. I wasn't planning on locking the diff. in the hopes that if it was overloaded, it would just spin. What is the best way to extend the input shaft?

an mst is a gear drive transaxle, they come in 2 to 6 speed configurations, known for being very reliable. i wouldn't bother extending the shaft, most hydros are splined and to extend the shaft you will need to find a splined coupler that fits the shaft plus another shaft that fits the coupler to raise it to the height you need, as well as pillow block bearing at the top and down by the coupler for supporting the shaft, and unless you find a splined shaft for the extension shaft you will have to buy a pulley as well, i'd go with a jack shaft setup, might be a little more expensive but the parts would be easier to find in my opinion, a couple pillow block bearings, a keyed shaft of what ever length you need, a couple pulleys and belts, and some steel to make mounts for the pillow blocks, keep the pulleys the same size as what's on the transaxle so it doesn't over drive it, this will kill a hydro quick by over heating it

Interesting. I thought I might have to go that route, as the shaft is indeed splined. Then, there would also be the issue of re-attaching the fan somehow to the coupler.
 I noticed that originally, the transaxle pulley was 3/4 - 1" lower than the rest of the other pulleys. It seemed odd that that would be misaligned from the factory.

that is odd, i wouldn't think it would be like that factory, it would likely wear through belts pretty fast, but i couldn't say since i've not dealt with these newer craftsmans

The front lift will probably be similar to what chud327 has on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ_CVmFJaZ8
The rear, that will have to be a bit different. I'll have to see how that evolves. I will have to include the front mount for the transaxle, as well as the jackshaft, and likely a spring loaded idler for the lower belt. How do you figure out the belts you will need?

cut a belt in half and loop it around the pulleys tight and mark it where to cut end and looped section meet, then measure from the cut end to the mark you made

Belt sizing is always a pain. Could you jack up the fenders or make some other changes to fit the wheels without lifting the entire frame? Might be easier than making heavy duty brackets and things to lift the frame up off the transmission and then changing the pulley arrangement. Not only that, but the center of gravity would be lower too keeping the engine down lower.

The wheels will fit, just barely, as-is. I thought it would be better for the engine for the frame to sit semi-level. Is that a concern?
 While I am not opposed to either method, the body is one piece and is even under the steering column.
Although body spacers/brackets would be do-able. Rather less daunting than lifting the frame, too.
 Also, as mentioned earlier, the hydro pulley seems to be misaligned from the factory, although that could be tackled with spacers under the base of the idlers and clutch pulleys, I suppose.

shouldn't be as long as the oil pickup if it's a pressure loob, or oil slinger on a non pressure loob, can send the oil where it needs to go, chud doesn't seem to have any issue with his engine on the poulan he lifted the front of, i believe both are at the end of the engine where the oil will be anyway, it seems there should have been something there to align the pulleys, i wonder if it was worked on at some point and the spacers not put back in, or maybe it actually was made that way, doesn't make sense it would be but you never know and i can't find any information saying anything about the issue

Upon closer inspection of the drawbar, it seems that I have some stress cracks on one side of the hydro bracket to deal with. I was planning on reinforcing the hydro brackets anyway. Once I get some basic repairs to that, I can put everything mostly back together, with some temporary lift brackets for the front, to get a better idea of front wheel travel, how much the steering links will need to be modified, how much lift for the back (of the body), etc. I was originally worried about maximum lift for maximum turning, but it looks like that might be limited by the wheels hitting the steering links, as well as frame clearance, so even as little as 3 to 4 1/2" lift may be enough, time will tell.
The steering links are solid round stock about 0.6" in diameter, and not adjustable. If I cut those and put 1/2" pipe over the ends, slotted, with a clamp over it, will that hold for an adjustable (and extended), link? I seem to recall some vehicles using that setup for tie rod ends, although those are threaded.
As far as I can tell from the engine manual, it is a fully pressurized system, like a car, so the frame angle should't be an issue.

it might work, as long as the clamps would tighten enough to hold it, but i think it would be better if you could set them where you want them and then weld them in place,

I have the front hubs done, and all four wheels on to fit. I am thinking I will need to move the front axle further forward. Also, I having problems with drilling the final holes in the rear hubs, and may need to start over. That being said, where this isn't intended for speed, the bigger tires are going to make it faster, so I am thinking I am going to need to reduce the ratio to the back wheels, and while I'm at it, go with a
1" output, too. has anyone else done this type of setup?

I have finally finished the rear hubs, not as polished as I hoped, but...


I am working on raising the body up in the back by 3 1/2". Also I will be adding additional bearings just behind the hubs to provide additional support. I am not so much interested in speed, and the ATV tires should make it about twice as fast as stock. Would adding a oil cooler to the hydro help?

Hubs look like they’ll work pretty good. Axle supports are a great idea too, havent seen those done in a long time.

An oil cooler would be great for the hydro if you could find a way to tap into the right place. Most of these LT hydros are sealed units with no hoses or filters you can tap into on the outside. If it does have an external spin on filter you could use a remote filter kit with a cooler in line like i did on mutt’s oppy.