Big lifted Craftsman Lawnrider

I got this Craftsman Lawnrider for free a while ago, and since it was dirty as heck, had no deck, and had butchered electrical system, it would be best turned into a mud mower rather than getting it mowing again. These Lawnriders are quite a strange mower, with a plastic hood, different body design from most Craftsmans, and a very different frame. Not the most pleasant mower to work on either, but it's cool working on something different. It has 12hp IC, and a Foote transaxle. My plan it to lift it a fair bit (probably body lift and trimmed fenders in rear and some suspension lift in front, and if I can get enough clearance, put a set of 2 38.5'' Ground Hawgs I have in the rear. Also planning to build a different front end on it at some point, and probably a General Lee paint job. The shifter will also have to be relocated to the floor, as it is blocking off the clearance required for bigger tires as is. First pic is stock height, second 2 pictures are with a greasy body lift mocked up.

lots of room for bigger tires in the rear

Cool machine. Pretty similar to Muckmudd's machine? As I said in his thread, I had a Rally like that but with an MST 205. The frame is really thin, would need a bit of reinforcing.

MatthewD wrote:

Cool machine. Pretty similar to Muckmudd's machine? As I said in his thread, I had a Rally like that but with an MST 205. The frame is really thin, would need a bit of reinforcing.

Yup, quite similar to Muck's Lawnrider. A few small differences, but pretty well the same mower. I also kept the stock engine instead of swapping in a Honda lol. I'm planning to reinforce the frame quite a bit, at this point, I'm still removing the old deck mounts and relocating the shifter. I'll have to make my own electrical system too, as the one that came with it was toast. Wires were damaged, and the kew switch had been screwdrivered. I'm planning to do a very simple wiring setup, similar to Muck's mud mower (which I wired), with toggle switches for killswitch and starter.

Yeah they are basically the same Matthew. They don't seem to be very common but somehow we both got one. I wish mine had an MST205. That would be fun. Body lift jokes aside, it doesn't even look that bad. You should make a real gas tank for it next. What's wrong with this one?

muckmudd wrote:

Yeah they are basically the same Matthew. They don't seem to be very common but somehow we both got one. I wish mine had an MST205. That would be fun. Body lift jokes aside, it doesn't even look that bad. You should make a real gas tank for it next. What's wrong with this one?

Gas cap is pooched, I cant fit the stock gas tank/dash with the body lift anyway, running a Tecumseh push mower tank right now, gonna figure out something better at some point.

Progress has been slow (haven't touched the mud mower in a few days), because I have been constantly working on my trucks instead. I did get the body lift welded up though, and did a few other things too. Ended up installing an MTD hood that I had in my junk pile, as I think it looks better. Still needs many things, the shifter is literally a pair of vice grips with a pipe on the handle poking out below the seat, and I can't hit all the gears, since I didn't cut out a big enough hole with the grinder. I took a picture of the frame, it is pretty light, and I'll definitely have to reinforce it. Yes, I know the hood is angled down to the dash, but it should straighten out when I make a proper dash, I don't really care about the small details on this build anyway. Once I get a bit more done on my Sonoma I'll get back to working on the mower.