You pick the the mods! I make it as cheap as humanly possible!

Hello everybody! I haven't been on here in a long time because well, I haven't been able to build a rig yet...... until now, the reason why you may ask? LAND!!!! out here in Texas we don't have many places to go off roading or other things like that unless you either A: break the law and go on construction sites (which I have done in my truck(Shhh Don't tell anyone)) or B: have a ranch or a friend that has a ranch. I don't have many friends (the ones that I do are quality so don't feel sympathetic) so I haven't had access to one. Recently, however, my father has acquired a ranch of about 500 acres and because I'm 17, I have to live out there with him, now I have land so now to build a rig, I plan on using a complete and running actual mower (at the moment at least) it's a 1986 Craftsman LT11 36with an oil puking briggs (that runs actually VERY good) and a Foote/Dana 3 speed rear end, I'll post up some pictures of what I have tomorrow morning.

500 acres... WOW!!! Lotsa room to work and play. Nice!

So- what's the plan for this thing? Your title kinda makes it sound like a blank canvas. To me, this screams: "Utility!" So... Fix the engine up, bigger tires, lock it. Winch, lights, toolbox, etc.

If you got a welder and a grinder that really changed the list I can give you. I second everything doc says, plus a atv rack, pulley swap, gas petal, and fixing up everything so it's easy to drive, like no play in steering, shift linkages tight.

I have an old arc welder that works great and a grinder

Doc Sprocket wrote:

500 acres... WOW!!! Lotsa room to work and play. Nice!

So- what's the plan for this thing? Your title kinda makes it sound like a blank canvas. To me, this screams: "Utility!" So... Fix the engine up, bigger tires, lock it. Winch, lights, toolbox, etc.

It is exactly that, It's raining at the moment but as soon as it clears up I'll shoot a couple of photos to show y'all what i have right now

Here Are a few pictures of the tractor as it sits right now

You have a winning combination there those old 11hp flat head engines and three speed tranny are tough to beat. and those old sears frames are much stronger than any thing built these days.

Nice rig first step remove the mower deck lol pulley swap it and i see it already has atv tires

Honestly I believe I won't have to do much to get it to be pretty awesome. what do all y'all recommend, the rear tires on this have pretty mean tread, the front tires leak pretty bad, the clutch system is pretty good and seems to provide good tension. lower main seal is puking and it still grips hard enough to grab it in third and go up a good hill with out slippage. the motor in general runs pretty good and the oil looks brand new. I'm thinking for paint olive drab matte green with an army star on the hood like the old jeeps

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

If you got a welder and a grinder that really changed the list I can give you. I second everything doc says, plus a atv rack, pulley swap, gas petal, and fixing up everything so it's easy to drive, like no play in steering, shift linkages tight.

So what do y'all have in mind for this thing, All I need it to do is drive at decent speed over a fairly rocky terrain possibly pulling a homemade trailer at times, and not kill me due to lack off suspension, also anything that will add the the cool/fun factor is always welcome, All I know for sure for this thing is paint scheme

ok, first off, I NEED steering, right now it is terrible, a 1/4 turn of play terrible, I do have an idea to replace while recycling what i have now but I want run it past y'all for improvements and comments 




here is my idea (btw welded to the partial gear thing not the tie rods)

nice that would work if there is nothing in the way i think i might make my steering like this

I believe it should work but and it would add ground clearance if I mount the tie rod ends at the top of the spindles and also I think I'll make the plates nearest the wheels that the tie rods mount to almost 6 inches long to have a high steering ratio, and it will take pressure off the rods and apply more pressure to make the spindle turn however I might lose a bit of turning radius if I follow this route, I believe i might have another idea to make a high ratio and also have a similar radius to what i have but this would require the least amount of external resources and $$$

IMO, if you have that kinda set up id look for a snow blower auger gear box.

Heres MUDKING's mower with a bitchin steering setup. no breaking this. Look at 1:35


Or at least this will give some ideas.

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

IMO, if you have that kinda set up id look for a snow blower auger gear box.

Heres MUDKING's mower with a bitchin steering setup. no breaking this. Look at 1:35


Or at least this will give some ideas.

Haha that's funny to me because I saw this a long time ago and I want to do that but I cant do it because it's kinda hard here in Texas to find a snowblower in general but i think this did just give me an idea, maybe a tiller gearbox, even more heavy duty a super easy to find

Thecrazyoldcraftman wrote:

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

IMO, if you have that kinda set up id look for a snow blower auger gear box.

Heres MUDKING's mower with a bitchin steering setup. no breaking this. Look at 1:35


Or at least this will give some ideas.

Haha that's funny to me because I saw this a long time ago and I want to do that but I cant do it because it's kinda hard here in Texas to find a snowblower in general  but i think this did just give me an idea, maybe a tiller gearbox, even more heavy duty a super easy to find

Now your thinking. Along the same lines. i have a snow blower box in mine and its used in a different format but id say youd want a 10:1 gear box reduction. Thats what mine is.

I have recently noticed that I need to adjust the seat back and down, right now I'm to tall for the tractor, I look like I'm riding a kids go-cart when I let out the clutch, also it would add to the storage space that is already large due to the gas tank and battery being up front, right now the spring for the seat is one of those awesome single pieces of steel that supports the seat and rider (they work GREAT) but it extends into what will soon be my storage compartment. I think the classic seats with the coils under will work fine I also need some leg guards, every plant down here wants to kill you so the the less of them you contact the better.

Yay another texan to share my frustrations with..lol anyway, same mods evryone else is sayin

crafsmankiller wrote:

Yay another texan to share my frustrations with..lol anyway, same mods evryone else is sayin

Haha awesome, I thought I was one of the only ones from here in the lone star state. Then you know about the heat in the summer time, I'll need a bit of speed to simply stay alive and not get heat exhaustion. I just thought of a "cool" mod, a small cooler that can fit in my storage compartment.

Nice looking little machine. I like square stuff.

i would use a 1:1 pulley ratio, (same size pulleys front and back) maybe even a slightly higher pulley ratio (like a 6in in the front and 4in in the back), fast enough to get a breeze and get places fast but not fast enough to kill yourself when you wreck.

I might do the 6:4 for a little more speed, for some reason on this tranny, the 1st gear is slower than reverse, reverse is about as fast as 2nd gear

same on mine, 1st is like a crawler gear, reverseis like 3rd for me, it gets aggravating when I need to creep backwards. I wonder if it would be possible to get different reverse ratios?

Well the only thing I can think is a duel pulley setup there, with 2 different pulley ratios, one on top of the other and 2 separate clutches, one that is your primary set of pulleys that are almost 1:1 that has a clutch that activates when released and another clutch that activates your low set of gears when pushed upon, so there is no risk of snapping a belt or a constant slipping under pressure of one of the belts but that is ALOT of work, might end up being pretty cool though if I tried it and it worked