Craftsman stretched, lifted, pickup junk....

I like the Rider Idea, 2 things to consider though.

1, watch out covering up the engine fan or dropping junk down it.
2, some kind of counter weight. While the bed down should be fine, depending how far it sticks back, if you make it dump, you may be popping wheelies to do so.

The other idea seems like a lot of work, but may be fun to do.

Here are a couple other ideas as food for thought.

Maybe something like this, but maybe not so elaborate.


Or do something like this guy's wrecker, but add the bed.

@mightyraze wrote:

I'm really digging the concept of the Pickup build.  It just seems so "Useful".

yeah its not for looks here, we have 10 acres in rural bucks county pa, we are turning it into a horse farm, so building tons of fence and building a barn.....  So I haul allot of gear & I really want to find a bigger seat so the wife and I can get back and forth to the end of the property together...






So I really need this junk to do a little bit of everything....I do have some trails in the woods too where i usually grab a beer and go riding...




Anyway for those of you on the east coast, know right now it is single digits with negative wind chill, need a few days off before some more work gets done....Ive been looking all over for some rear tires & rims for the build. I can find allot of tires but having a hard time finding 10" or 12" rims for some reason, might have to hit the junk yard, anyone have any good sources?

Pretty short on mower junk yards in my area of kansas, so can't help yea sadly . Look for hydro john deeres, they have 10 to 12 inch rears on 3/4 inch axles .

Ah you are in KS. If so part there is supposed to be a mower salvage half way between Tulsa and Kansas line in Oklahoma. I've tried to call them but they didn't seem friendly.

I know your salvageless pain. We have a Texan, Oklahoman, and Kansan on the regular posting list.

@biggasmowers wrote:

Pretty short on mower junk yards in my area of kansas, so can't help yea sadly . Look for hydro john deeres, they have 10 to 12 inch rears on 3/4 inch axles .

ha we have a decent mower yard here in pa... new ringgold ez pull is one of my favorite places...


anyway got some plowing done today.....

@mightyraze wrote:

Ah you are in KS.   If so part there is supposed to be a mower salvage half way between Tulsa and Kansas line in Oklahoma. I've tried to call them but they didn't seem friendly.

I know your salvageless pain. We have a Texan, Oklahoman, and Kansan on the regular posting list.

Yup in central Kansas, whats the salvage yards name ? i will look it up because i really need some mst's or 820's

I think it was like "JR's" north of Tulsa. Like I said, I tried to call up a couple times and never got an answer to my need at the time.

Huh, sometimes mower parts dealers aren't very agreeable, i once went to a mower shop asking if they had any parts mowers with peerless's that had bearings and the guy said that there was never any mower transaxles that came with bearings or had bearings. I have not gone back since then cause i dont think he knows much 'bout mowers. He got kinda mad too lol .


I like the cub with the snow plow btw.

so i picked up some tires for the project today..... 25x10-12 for the rears... don't think i will use these on the front, they are too wide (but look awesome), so still looking & looking for 12" rims... I doubt i would be able to steer with these in the front, happy with the rears though...

UGH I replaced the ignition switch because I wasn't getting 12v from it but the solenoid is jacked up too, sometimes it wont even let me try to cross the terminals, it just does nothing..  I just want to drive it one time before I hack the frame in half....

I am also working on a modified hd front axle design, and I might end up running the big tires in the front.

It could be the battery or a bad starter thats causing your starting issues.

Yeah, may not have all it's "amps" anymore.  Especially in the cold.

ALso look at your grounds

@biggasmowers wrote:

It could be the battery or a bad starter thats causing your starting issues.

yeah its a new battery, with my jump box hooked up to it. Sometimes I key on and get 12v (white wire at solenoid) sometimes I don't. Even when I do, the solenoid sometimes clicks but wont activate starter. So I ordered another one.

Check your ground to the keyswitch as well. Little disturbing sometimes you get 12v sometimes not from the key.

Still have safetys?

@mightyraze wrote:

Check your ground to the keyswitch as well.  Little disturbing sometimes you get 12v sometimes not from the key.

Still have safetys?

yes for now, definitely gonna remove them, when I figure that out. Will see what the results are with the new solenoid tomorrow... Today the carb is leaking while it is sitting... appears to be leaking out of the bowl I think, I guess I need to take it apart & install a shut off.

I wouldn’t install a fuel shutoff just yet. You likely have a problem with your needle and seat or your float has a pinhole leak which makes the float fill up with gas and not float anymore. Doc Sprocket has a great video about needles and seats.

Even if the carb functions normally, a fuel shutoff is good insurance

@Crazy_Carl wrote:

I wouldn’t install a fuel shutoff just yet.  You likely have a problem with your needle and seat or your float has a pinhole leak which makes the float fill up with gas and not float anymore.  Doc Sprocket has a great video about needles and seats.

If the carb is leaking while sitting he could simply have a bad bowl gasket or a bad fuel bowl bolt gasket. if this engine has the same carb as mine did then the gasket on the bowl can crack and disintegrate into the bowl( just like most carbs can) and allow gas to leak.

I like installing fuel shut offs and filters for good measure too. They make servicing the carb easier.

If the bowl gasket goes bad, you'd see gas on your float bowl after driving around because the gas is sloshing around and some would leak out. If your bowl is leaking while the tractor is just sitting there, there is likely something keeping that needle valve from working properly. Or perhaps the seal on the main jet which holds the bowl up to the carb is missing/ bad or not tight enough.

Yeah, I recommend one too.  Mine saved my hide the other day when the bowl fell off the carb and started dumping gas ALL OVER the 1,000-degree exhaust.

I'll second that.

@Crazy_Carl wrote:

I like installing fuel shut offs and filters for good measure too.  They make servicing the carb easier.  

If the bowl gasket goes bad, you'd see gas on your float bowl after driving around because the gas is sloshing around and some would leak out.  If your bowl is leaking while the tractor is just sitting there, there is likely something keeping that needle valve from working properly. Or perhaps the seal on the main jet which holds the bowl up to the carb is missing/ bad or not tight enough.

Yes, on that carb its just a bolt that holds on the carb bowl, there are no holes in it. And if the fuel tank is higher than the carb ,which it is on these models because of no fuel pump, it will leak out of either of the bowl seals/gaskets if they are loose or bad . if the needle was open because of the float being heavy, the engine would only have excessive gas in the cylinder when sitting it could fill the cylinder up with fuel, not leaking on the floor.

I totally agree. That's not good for an engine if that much gas gets in the cylinder. Once the engine is started a lot of the excess fuel get pushed past the rings and into the oil. That's not good.

I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what mrshaft696 finds wrong or does to fix it.

This is where efi would be nice on a mower lol

@Crazy_Carl wrote:

I totally agree.  That's not good for an engine if that much gas gets in the cylinder.   Once the engine is started a lot of the excess fuel get pushed past the rings and into the oil.  That's not good.

I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what mrshaft696 finds wrong or does to fix it.

Haha right on, I ordered a carb kit, which includes all the gaskets & needle things.  I didn't want to pull it off and inspect it until I tested the new solenoid that should be arriving today. When I take it off I want to clean it really good, and I know the gaskets are gonna get messed up ....& I want to try and run it one more time before the weekend.  I only have a trickle of gas in the tank so it stopped making a mess.


Last night I mostly stripped down my donor frame, allot of stuff attached to it.... I plan on stretching the middle section of the tractor around 2ft.  What do you guys think I will need for a belt to run to my transaxle? Do they sell belts long enough to make it all the way back?  Or will I have to run a pair of stacked pulleys to extend back that far?



This is sort of the parts I might use to set up my direct steer.  The shaft is a steering shaft from my Cherokee , it has a u joint at each end but I guess I only need it at the one end.  Also I am going to cut off that triangle thing with the gear teeth & just use it as a pitman arm & rig something for the steering shaft to turn it.