'03 LT1000 Trail Tractor "Project Hopeless"

My uncle gave me this yesterday, said he used too much starting fluid and it wouldn't start. I would say so. Other than that, its in good shape. The 6 speed trans goes into all the gears smoothly, actually feels better than my 2001 LT1000 that we cut grass with. It's in really good condition, and today I began work.

I started by removing the deck, hood and the deck hardware. After that, I removed the engine with nothing but hand tools and I have never wanted power tools more. I had originally thought the block might have been savable, but the hole was hiding behind the starter. When I tore down the engine, I was surprised the hole wasn't bigger. It's not all bad news though, I got a good air filter, shroud, flywheel, magneto, head, camshaft, lifters, pushrods, Nikki carburetor, clean fuel filter, a good drive belt, and a clean chassis to use as a base. This will be a very slow winter project as I have very limited funds because I don't work and(some people will hate this) I'm having enough fun trying to get my parents to lend me the money to get a used engine. But, now, on to the pictures.

The tractor when I brought it home


The hole hiding behind the starter


After removing the engine with a ratchet, 1'' extension, and a piece of pipe. Yes, I used a snow sled as a creeper.


After pulling the main counterweight and link out


Bowl o' carnage. It literally snapped both connecting rod bolts.

Thats unfortunate that you cant just put new guts back in the block. Craigslist will probably be your best friend unless you can locate a junkyard that has mowers-like me.

Those craftsmans are really good bases to start with, the frames are relatively strong. Biggest thing is that they are simple. axles swap in and out, belt system is easy, and the overall layout is a good design to personalize.

People have done over the top things to mowers so its easy to pick out the mods you want for your purposes.

Greetings from NY

Yeah I wish the engine was rebuildable. I've found eBay to be a good source of short blocks for these things as cheap as $100 with a new crank and piston. I'd just need counterbalance parts and I'd be good to go if I could get the funds. I'm not planning on anything major for my first project.

-Foot throttle with 4500 RPM governor setting give or take, already started mocking up the throttle pedal
-Pulley swap
-22'' tubed ATV tires on stock rims on the back, 8-10'' snowblower type tires on the front on stock rims
-Maybe a quick paint job

This winter I should have some more money as I plan on getting a job after football ends, so some billet internals may be in this tractor's future.

Well, I got something done. Its the plate from the deck engage lever, just mocked into place for now. I still need to find a brake handle and cable....and an engine.

thats cool with the PTO plate. budget build, repurposing parts.. lol. oh, and yeah, an engine would help

You probably could patch that block back up without welding via this hack job method. As long as you have a usable crank, cam, and all that junk. Probably would be easier to just find another engine somewhere though. Guess patching it up would be more for the sake of saying you did it.

Yeah the 18 HP internals are toast. Cam and valvetrain is good, crank could be good but the rod and counterbalance are gone.

I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!


.......maybe I should explain myself some more here  


I had my first throttle pedal mocked up using the old pto lever on my craftsman LT2000. The only reason why I didnt go through with it was because the original plan was to put a brake pedal right next to the throttle pedal, so this design was going to be to bulky for my use.

Well I'm proud to announce this project has gotten back on the table. I found a cheap engine that needs a connecting rod. I'm getting it from school, where we pulled it off thinking it was total junk but I looked it over and it just needs a connecting rod and base and head gaskets. I am however putting a billet dogbone link in this 14.5 horse I/C Quiet. I don't plan on revving it over say 4,000 RPM and it will spend most of the time around 2500 RPM. Once I get it running and driving, I'll pulley swap it, lock it, and toss some tires on it.

That's good. I think those dog bone deals are only about $25-30 on the arc website.

@mr.modified wrote:

That's good. I think those dog bone deals are only about $25-30 on the arc website.

$25 bucks. Cheap insurance. I'll end up using this thing instead of my ATV.

Is it normal for a Peerless MST-206 545C to growl as it rolls in neutral? My lawn cutting tractor has the same transaxle but is silent in neutral. Just wondering if its something I should worry about.

Mine did a little but it was mostly the idler pulleys (was geared to go 40 mph). if it is pulley swapped it probably will grind. check the oil level in the trans.

Finally a little bit of progress. Been kinda slacking on pictures so none yet. I removed the remaining deck brackets and got some good ny-lock hardware out of the whole deal.

GOOD NEWS!
All of the engine parts have been ordered, and let me tell you employee/student discounts are so easy on the wallet. Last thing to order is the billet dogbone.

Here's Hopeless as she sits right now. Engine will be installed in the next coupe weeks or so.

SURPRISE!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGlgXNwnVQA

I came across a great deal at school. We're cleaning up and scrapping stuff and my teacher said if you see anything you like and you want it, take it. I found this Kawasaki FH580V, seemed to have good compression and it had spark in both cylinders. I brought it home, put oil in it, put gas and a battery in, and that video is the first attempt to start. That was with no choke.

It's slow as hell because I don't have my throttle hooked up yet and it's not pulley swapped yet, but I did take it for a quick ride on my ATV trails and it did really well for turf tires and a stock transmission.

All I wanted to do was take her for a ride and do some snownuts. She had other ideas. Had everything she needed to start but she cranked away, flooded, and cranked away some more. No go. I'll figure it out in the spring when it isn't 10 degrees out.