Hello from Atlantic Canada

Hi folks, I recently stumbled across this forum and it seems like a great bunch of people, so I'm joining in on the fun!

After having various toys in the past, like snowmobiles, a motorcycle, and a Jeep, an off-road lawn tractor sounds like a blast! Cheaper than a quad, smaller than a quad and I'm thinking easier to work on :-) So I picked up an old 'Yard Machines' tractor for next to nothing to experiment with. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it has potential!

I never learned how to weld, but I suspect I may need to do some fabrication on this little beast, so there's no time like the present to learn...lol

Excellent!  Welcome to ATLTF!

Need any inspiration, @AllisKidD21 has one similar.  

His threads:
https://www.atltf.com/t5063-mtd-off-road-build-mobile-terrain-dominator-1
https://www.atltf.com/t5599-mtd-off-road-build-mobile-terrain-dominator-2

Thanks! After doing some research, I've come to realize this isn't the ideal tractor for offroading but it gives me something to play with while I work on my skills

that's the whole point of the hobby, at least to me, take something like that old yard machines tractor, and make it into something fun to ride and not worry about trashing it, is there an ideal tractor for off roading?, in my opinion, no there's not, it depends on the skills of the builder, what he/she wants to do with it and what they're willing to put into it money wise

darkside0914 wrote:

that's the whole point of the hobby...it depends on the skills of the builder, what he/she wants to do with it and what they're willing to put into it money wise

HAHAHA, considering I have no skills when it comes to metal fabrication, or even welding, well let's just say I need something to practice on

Maritimers wrote:

HAHAHA, considering I have no skills when it comes to metal fabrication, or even welding, well let's just say I need something to practice on

Welcome to the club!!! There is a great sense of accomplishment when you get better!

i'm the same way, i bought a cheap harbor freight welder and started sticking this piece of metal to that one and sometimes they stay stuck together, with the exception of my 2020 build off entry most of my mowers are unmodified except a pulley swap and tires, if that tractor has the old style fnr transaxle it can be made faster without a pulley swap, if you're interested i'll share the video on how to do it

darkside0914 wrote:

if that tractor has the old style fnr transaxle it can be made faster without a pulley swap, if you're interested i'll share the video on how to do it

Sure, I'd love to see that!
To be honest, its been so cold and snowy here I haven't bothered taking a close look at this tractor yet. This thing has the 'Shift on the Go', so I'm guessing the transaxle doesn't have gears...only forward and reverse!
Oh ya, speaking of cheap welders, what's the best kind for a newbie? MIG?

Flux cored mig FTW! Cheap and easy to learn.

The shift on the go uses a 2 belt CVT setup. Stock they’re ok, but belt tension is critical so they’re very tough to get a pulley swap just right. We put an MST206 in my buddys MTD to get rid of that setup. But you are correct the transaxle is just forward neutral and reverse in a single speed (commonly referred to an FNR)

That's great info...thanks!

There is a cheap one from Harbor Freight, not sure if Princess Auto up there has something comparable.   I have not done Flux/Mig welding personally.  I only have my dad's Arc welder from the 50's.  LOL

lol...thanks

MST is a good place to get your feet wet.  My first mudding mower was an MST  (3/4 inch axle).  I have since upgraded to a Peerless 820 (1 inch axle) from a Murray as well, so that was a direct bolt up for me.  :-)

Should you decide to swap out to an MST, look up Doc Sprockets's Doc Locker!


It would help you get through the mud, and makes the tractor MUCH safter in the hills. Kills your turning radius though.

This can be a fun Hobby.

Awesome!

this is that video i was referring to, i planned to do this myself, there's no welding involved just a few parts needing swapped, ok just about everything in the case is swapped, from what i can tell it can be done like in the video with forward only, or modified so you can have forward and reverse, the guy is building it for racing, so no need for reverse in the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E04LsSnLwG0&list=WL&index=2

Great, I'll check it out!

welcome to the forum! Hope to see you advance into some new skills with this build. there is all kinds of great videos on you tube on learning to weld and what cheap welders are best.

i started with a arc welder many years ago. but dove into mig welding 10 years ago with a 175 dollar chicago electric 220 volt welder with gas. and it served me well until last night! lol it crapped out on me.
myself i've welded with flux core and gas, and i will not go back to flux core the differance is night and day

there is also a lot of people that do fabricating videos on you tube that can give you some great ideas. like Vasily builds! cars and cameras! Rather be welding! Red beards garage! just to mention a few.

diddie wrote:

welcome to the forum! Hope to see you advance into some new skills with this build. there is all kinds of great videos on you tube on learning to weld and what cheap welders are best.
...
there is also a lot of people that do fabricating videos on you tube that can give you some great ideas. like Vasily builds! cars and cameras! Rather be welding! Red beards garage! just to mention a few.

Thanks!

I've watched quite a few 'Cars and Cameras' videos. for a couple of young guys, they are pretty creative!
I also watched the two videos included up above that talk about lockers. I thought it was interesting that both videos come from guys that live up this way :-)