The $1 Craftsman

[Pumper54]

Jakesmurray,

putting chains on the rear tires really help with the traction on hills and in soft ground. I had to put them on my Murray I use at the farm to get the traction I needed to go up the road leading back from the pond area. Have to put truck in 4 wheel drive to do it. ;-)

Tom

 

[jakesmurray]

Jakesmurray,

putting chains on the rear tires really help with the traction on hills and in soft ground. I had to put them on my Murray I use at the farm to get the traction I needed to go up the road leading back from the pond area. Have to put truck in 4 wheel drive to do it. ;-)

Tom

Thanks Tom! I hadn't really thought about chains, it's a great idea. Also, I've contemplated locking the rear differential, but I think I like the steering the way it is...

 

[Pumper54]

jakesmurray,

About 20 seconds on the net: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/peerless-maxtrac-snowblower-tire-chains-1-pair Not sure if you all have TSC up you way or not.
Tom

 

[jakesmurray]

Yep, we have TSC up here. Thanks for the link!

 

[Pumper54]

When you install chains on the tires I found that letting some air out of the tires helped a lot. Make sure the chains are even all around the tire and then inflate the tires properly. If you need to drive on hard surfaces make sure you don't tear them up. My mower at the farm only sees hard surfaces in the shed but I can see where there is some signs of wear on the concrete.

Tom

 

[jakesmurray]

When you install chains on the tires I found that letting some air out of the tires helped a lot. Make sure the chains are even all around the tire and then inflate the tires properly. If you need to drive on hard surfaces make sure you don't tear them up. My mower at the farm only sees hard surfaces in the shed but I can see where there is some signs of wear on the concrete.

Tom

Awesome, thanks for the tips... :thumbsup:

 

[sjoerdjohannes]

Wow, I wish I could find such cheap tractors here. Sometimes I see an old beat-up Wheel Horse without a working engine for like 300 bucks :thumbdown:

Nice job jakesmurray !

For the Yard Machine, what is the small handle for beside the steering wheel? It's visible in your first post.

 

[jakesmurray]

Wow, I wish I could find such cheap tractors here. Sometimes I see an old beat-up Wheel Horse without a working engine for like 300 bucks :thumbdown:

Nice job jakesmurray !

For the Yard Machine, what is the small handle for beside the steering wheel? It's visible in your first post.

Thanks!

That handle is for the shift-on-the-go mechanism that MTD uses. They call them speeds, but it actually just puts more/less tension on the belt to control speed...

 

[jakesmurray]

Well it's the last day of 2016, so let's update this thread. I've been working on this project the last couple of weeks. Until then, I hadn’t done anything to it since my last update back in August. My plan is to turn this thing into an off road mower. If you aren’t aware, you basically turn a lawn tractor into an ATV. There are guys on YouTube that do this. A guy by the name of Fearlessfront inspired me. So I am pulley swapping both the engine and trans pulleys (for more speed), adding a foot throttle, locking the transaxle, among other things. I had a local welder lock my transaxle. Basically you just weld the spider gears together. I got the pulleys swapped, now I just have to finalize the belt guards and maybe add an idler pulley to route the belt around the shifter. Once I do that, I have to figure out my new belt size. It will be smaller than before, since the pulleys are so much smaller. I’m running a 3” on the transaxle and a 5” on the engine. I should get about 20-25 mph in fifth gear. I have also begun installing the foot throttle, but still have to finalize it. It is just a brake lever from a dirt bike. I can’t wait to get this thing moving again. Stay tuned and happy new year to all! :thumbsup:

 

[Boobala]

Lookin good there ! I see Pumper 54 been checking this out too. He's into hot -roddin the mowers also.
Keep us informed .... good luck, .........and a Happy New Year to ALL ............... Boobala ..:cool2: