Alfredo Murray

Brianator wrote:

Those Kohler Commands are great engines, I'm really happy with the one I scored for $25!

Wow that's impressive! I can't find any running engines for less than 200 around here. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

muddybasilisk wrote:

Wow that's impressive! I can't find any running engines for less than 200 around here. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

I just got lucky on that one, the guy couldn't get it running but all it needed was power to the SAM and fuel bowl solenoid... it's ran perfect since!

I forgot to explain the headache I went through with the transaxle on this mower...

As you know, I used Ole Blue's transaxle. There's some stuff that was going on with it before it blew up that I never mentioned to you guys because when I was getting footage and information to make that post, it blew up. So I scrapped that post and just made the one that it was dead. There will be a very long future video on my channel that will feature all the footage of what it was doing and diagnosing it, taking it apart, and the overall pain it has been.

But basically, after I rebuilt it and put it in Alfredo, I went on a test drive, and it was still broken and not functioning right. It was slipping awfully bad and would barely go up hills. When I say slipping, I don't mean belt slip, I mean internally and I have confirmed that it was internal several times. Long story short, I FINALLY figured out what it was.

The key that holds the Doc Locker hub to the axle had sheared when one of my little spacers walked out and got wedged between some gears (that's what caused the trans to randomly lock up and eventually busted the case... Richie called it way back when lol). So when it would get under load, the hub would just spin on the axle and at this point is impossible to ever get back off.

So I ended up welding the hub to the axle. That failed yet again, so I got it rewelded with as much heat as possible and it has held up since. So hopefully it stays that way or I'll be having to make a brand new Doc Locker or just weld some spider gears.

Anyway, now that I added that to the mix, here's a video of Alfredo in action lol. Yes it's first person but there will be some second person videos soon!




I also just want to put this here for myself to see how far he's come thus far

I FINALLY replaced the nylon spindle bushings! I should've done this mod from the jump on all of my Widebodies but here I am doing it for the first time, 5 years late. Thanks  @MightyRaze for getting me those dimensions for like the 5th time  



I had to cut off the part I have circled here to be able to reach the hole for the cotter pin.



While I was at it, I decided to go ahead and weld up the front end and reinforce it.



Set it on fire for a little bit.




My welds still aren't great but eh, long as it does what it's supposed to do lol. This is also a very difficult spot to work in with a fully assembled mower that's right side up so I know that had an affect. Couldn't do as much prep work as I wanted to because of that.




It's all finished now though. Hit it with some clear coat and then some black gloss today.




It was long overdue for those mods lol. Front end is MUCH better now and it wasn't even that bad compared to some other ones I've had. Very happy with it. Took it out and pulled another Widebody out of the briers today with it. Can't wait to actually hit some real trails with it!

Lookin good!  I don't remember if I had to trim any off the axle to get the pin in on the spindle.

That's some good upgrades man nice work!

Looks great!

I can’t remember what thread I saw this on. I believe it was MUTT’s thread but I’m not positive. Anyway I immediately took a screenshot as I knew as soon as I saw it that I needed to do this to my Widebodies.



So I pulled Alfredo down to the shop today in order to do that and one other thing I’ve been meaning to do. I drilled the hole, started tapping the bolt, easy peasy. Until I snapped the bolt. That was one heck of a fight undoing that but eventually I got it out. Here was the outcome.



The other thing I’ve been planning to do is replace that thin rear plate. Gonna do that before it cracks and also going to fab up a new hitch plate as well. I need these old ones for the frame swapped Widebody.

Nice job. What are your plans to make the new hitch plate? Something from scratch or find a GT one and figure out how to use it?

Not MUTT, but GT6k. Got the @RichieRichOverdrive right.
https://www.atltf.com/t5893p200-craftsman-gt6k#130444

That particular pic was from the GT6k but Mutt had that mod first a few years ago. I think it’s a great mod.

MightyRaze wrote:

Nice job.  What are your plans to make the new hitch plate?  Something from scratch or find a GT one and figure out how to use it?

Not MUTT, but GT6k.  Got the @RichieRichOverdrive right.  
https://www.atltf.com/t5893p200-craftsman-gt6k#130444

Definitely make one from scratch. I haven’t found a frame that fits the Widebody frame width. Can’t say I’ve tried very much though lol. I’m gonna try to make it all one piece instead of two. I felt like I could’ve been happier with how the MM turned out by grafting the two plates together. I feel like one plate would just be cleaner and stronger. Just better overall. Guess I’ll find out.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

That particular pic was from the GT6k but Mutt had that mod first a few years ago. I think it’s a great mod.

For sure. I can vaguely remember a time or two my foot slipped off the pedal. Definitely not something I want to happen again lol. I went back and checked before I posted it and saw it on MUTT so I assumed that’s what the screenshot was from lol.




No progress on the plate yet. Been so much busier than I thought I’d be this weekend.

Finally got started on that plate…



Gonna try to put this on too.



And here’s what we got going on for the plate. I was gonna try to bend the metal to make the corners but I didn’t have enough metal so I had to cut and weld.





I am going to weld a piece of angle iron to the bottom to be able to mount the skid plate and put a hitch pin in it. I’ll reinforce it as well so it doesn’t just bend the plate.

Got the top done, I just need to drill the holes to mount the body to it.



I’m going to weld the plate to the frame instead of bolting it.

You can also see in that last picture the front transaxle mount laying on the ground. Yes I’m finally getting those done as well lol.

Got it all finished up! The new front transaxle mounts:





Then I continued with the plate. Welded a piece of angle iron to the bottom and reinforced it.




From there I slapped a quick coat of black paint on it just to protect it really. Drilled and tapped the holes for the body to mount to, then I prepped the plate and frame for welding. Zapped it on and hit the welds with some paint and we were good to go. Didn’t snap a picture unfortunately. Got straight to working on the rack. Mounted the front of it by cutting holes in the body and dropping it in with plastic bushings/spacers. Then bolted it on with springs as spacers.





From there I went to the back half. A little more technical but not too bad. Got the rack set at the height I wanted and then measured and cut some square stock to length. Got the angles cut in, made sure they fit right, then made mount brackets and welded them onto the plate and drilled holes to be able to have the rack removable.







I like it a lot. Very sturdy too. I can jump off of it.

Next to Ole Blue:





I think I’m gonna order up a little light bar and put it on the bumper. Add some fuses too. Need to oil up the pulleys, grease the input shaft and check the trans oil cause it’s screaming right now. After that, I’m calling it done for now. Love this little thing. I think once that maintenance and light bar is done and I clear my mowing mower projects out I’m gonna transition to the MM. It’s time to get that thing going again.

Got it all done for now! Of course a project is never really done but there's not really anything else I want to do to it right now. I'm very happy with what I have currently. Only thing I have planned in the future is swapping back to the 14.5 after I build it but I don't feel like doing that right now nor can I afford it and the Kohler is doing just fine for now. It does seem to have developed a lifter tick and is leaking more oil than it was but I really just don't care lol. As long as it runs and isn't an absolute dog I'm just gonna send it.

Anyway, popped an inline fuse in the headlight circuit and got my light bar installed.




Couldn't get a good spot to drill the bar to mount the brackets to the bottom so I ended up just moving the light up a little and mounting it this way. I kinda like it. Very simple and easy.



Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.



Anyway, I also ended up pulling the trans again as I found the pulley to be wallowed out and had a lot of slop. So I replaced it and made sure to get the set screws very tight and locked them in with some RTV. Also greased the input and changed the oil. Popped it back in there and gave it a quick test run. Was definitely quieter. Good enough for me. Put some washers in between the spindle bushings and cotter pin up front to take some slop out of that as well. Feels like it's pretty dialed in now and I'm happy with it. Time for some riding!

Lights are plenty bright now!




Took it out to the college yesterday to kill some time tearing up the streets and parking lots on my breaks. It was a good time.







And a little bit of video to go with it: