craftsman ralley/mud mower "bad moon rising"

hey guys, here is a build im working on now, its a older craftsman with a 20hp briggs oppy, it cranks and runs, but smokes a good bit, it has a 6 speed peerless, and is fender shift, my plans are a very small lift, as in, just enough lift for my tires off my ifted mower to fit in the fender well, so probably only about 3 inches, im also thinking of doing coilover front suspension, but aint sure, its going to get a back rack, and hitch, a front bumper/brushguard, and wanting to put a winch on it, thinking of putting a small light bar up front, in the stock headlight assembly, rear tires are going to be 27x12x12, fronts are going to be 24x8x12, im thinking of doing the doc locker 2.0, just because i like the idea of a actual solid rear axle,and if i do a live axle i can get a wider wheel base, well enough of me rambling, here are a couple pics

Nice, I've got a 19.5 hp opposed that I took off a craftsman about the same body style as yours.

Looks like a good start Glad to see you back at it

That hood looks like it needs a set of lights under where the originals were, and then that bit opened up like a hood scoop...

I'm going to Mount a single row light bar in it, maybe lol

Sounds cool! What are the plans for the front suspension? Four link, three link etc?

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Sounds cool! What are the plans for the front suspension? Four link, three link etc?

probably a wishbone set up

Oh cool! Looking forward to seeing it come to life.

So, car battery, good idea or bad ?

Good idea, as long as it's 12v. I've used them on tractors, ones with oppys especially. Had a Cub 1110 Hydro with an 11hp vertical Briggs that had room for a car battery stock! It was pretty overkill but the battery never died!

I mean I know it won't mess nothing up, I've ran em beforr, I'm just asking for opinions, I have a little experience with these things lol :'D

A quality mower battery should be just as good as a car battery. Smaller, and not near as heavy..

If you have the space, go for a car battery but if you have restricted battery space, go for a mower battery.

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have no internet, so I can't upload pics, I ended up doing a 4 in lift, on the rear, which is done, waiting on the shocks from dirtyd to do the front lift, thinking of stretching the frame a bit honestly, idk for sure yet though, I've got to finish rewiring it soon to, I've also got to make or buy a 6 inch pulley for the front, I've got one, but it is 3/4 drive, I need 1' drive. Any questions just ask

How did you do the lift?

Inquiring minds want to know. LOL

I cut the lift off my old lifted mower, and drilled bolt holes to match the stock tranny mount bolts

cool build

so, might be back at it with this build, depends on time and money, my lil girl was just born last week, but right now im without a job soooo

richie thomas wrote:

so, might be back at it with this build, depends on time and money, my lil girl was just born last week, but right now im without a job soooo

CONGTATULATIONS on the li'l Girl!  She'll have you wrapped around your finger before you know it. I have 2 girls (13 and 11) 

Hopefully the job situation is short and a new opportunity comes quickly!  Good Luck man!

Heya brother! congrats, and it's good to hear from you!

Congrads on the baby!!

still got to get the front lift done and get the engine parts i need, and it will be mobile

What size tires? They look mean.

27x12x12 lol they look so much bigger on this build then they did on the lifter mower, had to put a lift on it to clear them