Craftsman GT3000 "MUTT" Part I

What? No flux core reserve wire?

If I had flux core reserve I'd have to have a reserve liner and tip sooooo nah lol.

Mighty, I do like the idea of running it back there, but I'm worried about caving it in. Scraping the belly on rocks is a pretty common occurrence. It's fine for all the solid stuff under there, but I'm not sure how tubing would do. Also, I'd put a muffler in there just because I want to have the option to be quiet.

Got actual keystock for the steering hub, not just some square TIG filler rod that i thought was keystock. Swivel head ratchet came in handy for putting it back in. Lot less slop in the steering now, maybe 1/3 of a turn.





Haven't got any shielding gas for the welder, so I threw a spare muffler on to bring in a hickory tree I cut off the fence. Hood didn't quite fit with it, and I wanted a weight behind the bumper anyways. Oh, and btw, that's the homemade boat trailer I picked up for $10, shortened, rewelded a bunch of, and threw the stone boat(sled thingy) on. That was like September last year, lol. Also featuring the McCulloch Pro Mac 55 I picked up for $1 at a garage sale.

Wait, so there's 1/3 of a turn of play or you got rid of 1/3 of play? There's a bit of play in my steering now because the one sway bar link end I used is trashed hahaha. All's I gotta do is get a different one and weld it on instead.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Wait, so there's 1/3 of a turn of play or you got rid of 1/3 of play? There's a bit of play in my steering now because the one sway bar link end I used is trashed hahaha. All's I gotta do is get a different one and weld it on instead.

Lol, there's 1/3 of a turn of play in it now. Was like more than a half before. You better quit braggin about having all these links or I'll come up there and get some myself!

Hey I run a Pro Mac 55 too. That things a monster lol. Half tempted to put the bar and chain off my Pro Mac 700 on it. But I gotcha beat Rich, both of mine were free

Lucky. Mine has the 20" bar, and a weird ass chain on it. I think the chain is original too, as wore down as the teeth are. Still cuts though, just gotta sharpen it a lot. It's currently the only chainsaw we have thats runnable, dads stihl and my craftsman both aren't running, and the Homelite 7-21c is too heavy to be practical for small stuff. Last time my dad used that to cut a tree off the fence he broke his nose, lol

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Lucky. Mine has the 20" bar, and a weird ass chain on it. I think the chain is original too, as wore down as the teeth are. Still cuts though, just gotta sharpen it a lot. It's currently the only chainsaw we have thats runnable, dads stihl and my craftsman both aren't running, and the Homelite 7-21c is too heavy to be practical for small stuff. Last time my dad used that to cut a tree off the fence he broke his nose, lol

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Wait, so there's 1/3 of a turn of play or you got rid of 1/3 of play? There's a bit of play in my steering now because the one sway bar link end I used is trashed hahaha. All's I gotta do is get a different one and weld it on instead.

Lol, there's 1/3 of a turn of play in it now. Was like more than a half before. You better quit braggin about having all these links or I'll come up there and get some myself!

Come get some of them if ya want, but you better bring the 20 horse out of your Murray with you, hahaha!

I'd need like 500 of those links for it to be a fair trade for the 21hp

Yeah, thats true... I'll give you $100 instead, that way I can keep all my spare links (I'm actually getting low on them) Hahaha.

Fug man, that'd be a dealeo if you weren't so far. I really gotta get rid of some of the junk laying around in the shop. Got engines for days

Look at who's bragging now! Haha, I do have a few spare single cylinders lying around though. Just need some oppys now...

Gonna ask for these for christmas. Literally the perfect candidate for front tires. Don't know what I'll be using for hubs yet. Gonna try and get these on before I do the new exhaust.

Yeah those would probably look sweet on the front of 'er. I need some new fronts for the MTD as well, some nice narrow knobbies or something. Haha.

Yeah, hopefully they're better for crawling. There's this one rock in the yard I just cant quite get up with the 18s...

Last night I took out the clutch, brake lever, seat mount, and some other stuff to paint em. Just cleaning em up right now. They're all gonna be black.

21s are here! Haven't got any pics yet. They seem to hold air. Tread isn't that great, but better than the turfs. From the mockup I've done so far, I'm definitely going to have to move the spindles up. That's ok, they needed replaced anyways. For hubs I'm going to probably cut down the original craftsman rims and weld them on. Gotta find the damn things first! Haven't seen em in months. I'm gettin kinda frustrated, can't find the things for the life of me, and I've looked everywhere.

Sounds like someone else moved them around.

I doubt it. I probably just put them somewhere dumb before I settled on a spot to put all my tires and rims. Last I remember seeing them was when I cleaned the shop, they were in a tote. Last I used them, i think they were on mutt and had 145/70-6 go kart tires on em. A month or two before I joined the forum lol. Those tires are on the front of orion now, not the rims though...

Still havent found those rims...

Stole my phone for a bit of a photo session on what I've been doing.

Painting random junk that needed painted. This is the 2nd and hopefully last time Ive painted this battery tray. I'll probably do the steering mount too while I have the battery tray out, but Id be using the rest of my black spray paint and then brushing the rest on. Not a problem, if it's the same color as everything else it won't draw attention for close inspection lol.


Other junk I've painted. Clutch mount and assembly. Seat mount.


New front wheels for mutt! Still have air in them from when I put air in em!


I haven't exactly heard good things for radials in offroad applications, but these seem to be as soft as any other bias ply I have.


Compared to the current fronts.


Compare to the executioners.


It appears I'll either have to cut the bumper a little bit, or move it forawrd. Might have to cut the edges of the running boards too. Not a big deal, as long as they don't hit the frame its all good.

Should look pretty cool! Be nice to be able to mount bigger rocks and stuff. Should help with steering in the mud too!

I sure hope they're as great as I think they'll be.

I did find those rims, I might be able to use them by cutting the inner side off and welding the outer to the inside of the rim, we'll see. My greatest concern is getting them straight. I won't stand having a wobbly wheel.

Guy on facebook gave me an idea to use an MTD deck spindle as a hub. Just a bit too small...what a shame.


Steering mount and arm painted. Had to brush the paint on these. Wouldn't have if I had known I was going to walmart and getting some more paint this morning(pics from yesterday)


New clutch linkage mocked up. Used my best ball joints for this. Woulda used hiems but I like the offset of these, plus fine thread is good to have. Less likely to come loose. I have it welded now, gonna pretty it up with the bench grinder. 3/32" 6013 is not nice for welding or tacking. Actually gotta have the welder on 60 to be able to control the puddle. I'll paint it and get another pic later.

6013 weld pretty nice!
Or do you mean they are just too small .dia? I could understand that... I guess.

It's the small diameter. Dunno why dad bought the sh*t. Only have two sticks of 5/32" 7014 left so I had to use this stuff. I guess it's not so bad after ya get used to it...

Better save up some $$$ and got on a rod buying spree!

Its be nice to blow like, $500 on rods.

Looks good be nice once you weld it up. Any reason your pics are getting smaller?