Budgets Tractor Builds

That's sweet! Mine came with with a 70cc head/carb and a custom made intake, the bore was worn and it had broken piston rings so I ordered a new 70cc top end from Amazon for $110 and installed a pz19 carb. I don't know what the top end is (forgot to record via GPS on the last trip) but it's darn quick that's for sure! The thing is a blast, I don't see myself parting with it any time soon!

Today i made a jumper wire for my john deere and it turns over again and replaced a fuse i need to replace the jumper with fuse wire. And adjusted the governor on my simplicity now it runs a whole lot better and doesnt over revv. So its fixed and one less to repair. Ive got the parts to "upgrade" this cub cadet down the street someone wants tk partial trade for my simplicity

got another deere its got a super fragile hood so its exploded already water cooled kawasaki with a bad headgasket and all the rebuild parts and i also got three sets of ag tread 5 bolt wheels and a set of polaris tires and a briggs oppy all free and traded an old quad for the deere its got a brush clearer and deck in good shape

Wow nice score! A brush clearer? Like a sickle mover that goes off to the side?

No ita mounted up front its like a cable and a chain on bars. Also imma wet the throat of this beast and see if it will pop off

This motors pretty junk the starter is siezed at the top bushing and my spare starter is rust welded itsself together and the motor is fulla dirt mice and spiders so it orobably overheated before pulled so this is why i dont buy "ran when pulled" or "ran when parked 5 years ago"

I always laugh when told "it's good" without proof. I have only been at this for about a year and already have a handful of stories about the crap people are willing to lie about. The first and second tractor I bought (separately) for modding I was told only needed a battery and a carb cleaning (nothing farther from true.) Both were from older guys (I'm 47) who were lawn mower flippers and I assumed they were honest. After reviewing them I would challenge my friends to point to something on one of these machines and I will tell you what was broken, missing, or hacked on both tractors. No stone unturned including the need to rebuild both transaxles. Neither of these "gentlemen" would budge on price, as "It's a good running and cutting machine." This happened a third time shortly after on a parts machine I bought in winter that was covered with snow so I couldn't inspect it that well. This one was so much more trashed with four points where the frame was broken and the body was split in two places under the control counsel, as well as an array of other terminal problems.

Buyer beware

Well heres my gt build progress its gonna be a monster also thats true dr bob always something with these tractors. I havent posted any pics of anything on this tractor yet other then mabye front end pics.

Where would be the fun in everything going smoothly! Lol. The challenges are what makes working on small engines a true hobby for me (and side hustle).

my mowers that im building i am trying my best to over build the parts i make for them because haspin is tough on stuff. if anythings underbuilt its gonna break nothing can be plastic or if it is its gonna be thick plastic and bendable instead of crackable. i have to support my craftsman II's battery tray and make sure its strapped tight. ive gotta have the bumper properly welded in the rear and front needs a skid plate, tensioners need remade, i need to make supports for my fenders and hood, i need to support my chassis ive got extra side rails im gonna butcher and then bolt them on and weld it when i can. i also need to put a cast iron front axle up front and figure out how i wanna re do my steering box. also im building a trike,my gt, and my wheeliehorse. so after the trike is mostly finished and waiting on parts ill work on my craftsman II. im kinda writing this as a list of work needing done on it for later.

LIST:
reinforce chassis
reinforce body
change front axle
repair steering
battery tray
skid plates
tensioners for the belt

I was driving my rally craftsman towing a trailer around and down shifted to slow down and talk to someone and it hucked chunks of the transmission case on the ground from the middle. Is my transmission saveable or should i give up.

I do have the parts to swap an mst206 in there

Budget_gokart wrote:

I was driving my rally craftsman towing a trailer around and down shifted to slow down and talk to someone and it hucked chunks of the transmission case on the ground from the middle. Is my transmission saveable or should i give up.

If you want it to move under it’s own power you should replace the transmission.

Use the MST206.

Im kinda sad i have to part out my other craftsman now but jm pretty sure everything sbould work the same right?

What transmission is in it now?

Budget_gokart wrote:

I was driving my rally craftsman towing a trailer around and down shifted to slow down and talk to someone and it hucked chunks of the transmission case on the ground from the middle. Is my transmission saveable or should i give up.

I wouldn’t try it.

Put that other tranny in, keep an eye out for parts and swap that in. Also I think if you poke around on e bay and such you can find old msts. Or maybe this is a good idea to stick a peerless 700… they’re pretty cheap compared to other trannys on flea bay.

I swapped it out and while swaping out the old blown spicer i found out the new one is a foote i know nothing else. So i had to move a transmission bracket up and swap brakes over and they arent working anymore so i have to take them back apart and find out why and its faster with the foote, but it complains a little more the old one was quiet. And the shifter is one gear off because i had to bend the shifter to get all 6 gears so reverse is neutral so i dont get any reverse but thats easy to fix i have to get more welding wire to fix that but i can ride it safely around town again i just have to repair a few things and tommrow im gonna swap front axles and put a cast iron axle in

Is that foote gonna just grenade or is it gonna be okay that spicer wasnt too happy. It was junk anyway when i got it it was full of water. Also today i swapped the front axle out for a cast iron one and it has travel now

Well my craftsman fired right up like it always does (its snowy out) and i got the wheelie horse almost done! Just gotta swap rear tires and an exhaust it sounds like crap and runs weird but its pully swapped and it drives its just slow i gotta swap the rear pully still

I rebuilt my spicer it exploded the reverse chain to bits and was binding gears up it should be fine. I plan to put this transaxle in my MTD and im gonna do a big front pully small on the rear. Its got a big ol 20hp briggs and ive also got the clutch parts from a craftsman chassis and i was thinking about throwing the same craftsmans steering column into the MTD ill cut a big peice of the frame from the craftsman and use it on the mtd chassis and i plan on doing some kind of suspension on this build but it may end up with stock steering and a go kart front axle

mmm... transaxle soup

I run used engine oil and lucas ball bearing grease anf it makes good soup. The transmission didnt wine or anything and it shifted smoothly even. It seemed to work well

Any way to make stock headlights brighter and make the headlight lens clearer? Can i sand the ribs off the back of the lens?

Which tractor are ya working on? If you want a general fix I say take aluminum foil and glue it to the lenses. Be careful to not crinkle it and it should help. There are kits out there to fix yellowed lenses, but in a pinch I think buffing compound and a polisher should do. I think you can get LED bulbs that are a lot brighter but that's not a concept I'm too familiar with, though @MightyRaze and @Brianator have done something along those lines.

Yeah, LED helps a little in the brightness. 1156 bulb is what most have (twist in).  I have used the silver foil tape behind my lenses too or chrome paint should the chrome backer be gone or worn out.  I have used rubbing compound and polish to take some yellow out of lenses in the past.

Budget_gokart wrote:

Any way to make stock headlights brighter and make the headlight lens clearer? Can i sand the ribs off the back of the lens?

The oxidation (yellowing/clouding) happens on the outside of the lens, I restore car headlights by using wet sandpaper and Duplicolor Crystal Clear automotive clearcoat. Step one, wet sand with 800 grit. Step 2, wet sand with 1200-1500 grit. Step 3, wet sand with 2000-2500 grit. Step 4 clean with rubbing alcohol. Step 5,  Clearcoat and the lenses will look brand new! Sorry I don't have pics of any results on this phone, I'll try to dig some out from my old phone later or tomorrow. I agree with the boys too that if the reflective surface is crap to try your best to restore it and yes LEDs seem to work really well too!