Craftsman Lawn Rider?

Picked up a free Craftsman Lawn rider today. I don't know much about them but there sure arent many pictures of them on the internet. It's basically even cheaper than a lawn tractor. Its called a "lawn rider" It has a 4 speed transaxle. I was in a rush so I didnt look at it much but it has a little 11 or 12 HP engine. It has a deck so I'll probably just fix and sell it but I thought it was interesting. If anyone has more info on it I would appreciate it.
Not my picture

Huh, sure looks cheap lol. 4 speed? Probably a 930. Is it a tecumseh or a briggs? Those rear tires are puny for a geared.

Looks similar to a Rally that I had a while ago. It had a 12hp Briggs and an MST 205. It later got scrapped as the frame and dash were very rotten. The frame was just a stamped one and flexed a lot, although some bracing would sturdy it up.

Looks like one of the ugly ones made my noma. Similar to mine, but not quite the same

Huh looks interesting . Probably a briggs, not sure why why would have a peerless iin it .

Yeah it's a stamped frame for sure? I'm not too sure why you think a crappy quality mower would have a peerless 930 though and not a cheaper option like a spicer. It definitely looks a lot like the rally, just painted red hahaha.

Or do you mean one of these. Not my image

Yes that's what I had in mind.

Its not a 930 though is it?

That picture looks like a 930.

Maybe it is IDK. I will have to check.

Finally brought this thing home and now I can work on it. Im pretty surprised with how much I got done today. I started by stripping it down. Took out the wiring, got rid of the engine, got rid of the deck peices, and then I dropped the 4 speed foote transaxle. I Changed out the sprocket on it for a 3 or 4 inch pulley, then I put it back on with the tires off of the lt4000 for the time being. I then mocked up the new honda GX160 that I stole off of a push mower that I got for free. I made holes and bolted it down, then I welded the transmission pulley which is a 9" I believe, onto the old self propelled pulley hub thing that is seized on. I then took all the foam off the seat, wire brushed the pan, cut out a part of the fenders, and dropped the seat into the body a little bit for some stability. To finish off the day I welded on a chezey side pipe and put a rubber bungee to hold the hood on. I also wired up a simple kill switch and there is no wiring, because it is pull start.

Next things I need to do are, rethink the pulley swap, maybe go for a 6 or 7 on the rear, its way too fast and dangerous, I almost flew off twice, and I was only in second gear. I will also weld the front axle so it doesn`t pivot anymore. I also want to make direct steering for this thing. Maybe not even heim joints, but something better than stock. It was so wobbly up front and thats why I kept going up on three wheels.
Im not too concerned about this thing in terms of preformance. Ill probably just keep it at the farm so I can have fun there too.

I upgraded the steering yesterday. Might still tweak it a little bit to make it less twitchy, but it works. I added some stops today after I nearly crashed when the steering turned too much and jammed up. I Still need a bigger pulley on the rear. I welded the front axle but I still might add some more supports.

Nice job with the steering stops. Always a good idea to have those, haha.

Nice low buck direct steering.  How much play is in the wheel?

Surprisingly, there is absolutely no play in the wheel. so even just holding on to it while I drive makes it turn a bit, so its almost whats dangerous about it. How could I reduce the sensitivity of it?

Shorten the rod coming off the steering shaft a little bit

That's what I figured, Ill play around with it after shcool today.

Cool mods. That is one big front pulley. How does the little engine cope with the speed? I like the direct steering too.

It goes way too fast. I will put a bigger pulley on the rear. And the engine power is sufficient. Still pops wheelies in 1st gear off of a launch.

So today I one of the last and main things to it, I scrapped my direct steering and I put in some old craftsman steering in place, its a little worn but it'll do for the few hours that I d ride this thing. Also you might notice I painted the hood and seat with some very old paint. This thing has costed me 0$ so far and I can't complain, it rides much better now and I can actually put it into the higher gears safely but it puts a big load on the engine. I might put some brakes on it at some point too lol.

I thought you were using heim joints or rod ends all along.  whoops.  That would explain where slop was coming from and making the direct steering sketchy at high speeds.

That's some interesting steerin, I would never trust thatvsteerin box at high speeds, and heim are a must for any speed or heavier modification on the spindles.interedting design of hood om that model of mower.

Well It actually worked fine and there was neraly no slop so that's ok. I think I blew up the transmission yesterday though.

oh no what happened?