skippyelwell
Ultra Member
I was cleaning out the storage tent and was about to call the scrap guy to come and pick up an old Craftsman lawn tractor that has been sitting out there for years when it occurred to me I needed another project.
The mower owes me nothing, served us well for 20yrs, why not make it into a bush buggy?
Was not surprised to find hundreds of how to vids on Ytube.
Basically, strip off all the extra weight, stretch the wheel base, strengthen the steering components, swap the pulleys from the trans axle and engine, lower the seat, relocate the gas tank an battery.
I had to replace the hydrostatic trans axle with a manual 6 spd but they are cheap and plentiful on marketplace.
Since there is really only one company that makes most of the brands you see for sale, the 6spd bolted right up with no modifications.
This is what I started with,
I wanted to extend the front wheels for a little more stability so cut out the steering cross arm and cradle and welded them on to the front of the frame.
It was only after I completed it that I realized this contraption was going to move a lot faster than it use to so I had better incorporate some caster to keep the speed wobbles away.
I cut the frame and bent it to about 7 degrees of caster and welded plates inside and out side of the frame.
I have ordered some proper rod ends/Heim joints for the steering control rods, they will take the place of the farty little ball in socket joints the mower came with.
Next up was welding the the spider gears together to lock up the rear axle for better traction.
I forgot to take a pic of the finished axle but here is a generic web photo to give you an idea.
This is where I am at the moment, seat is lowered now and starting to work on the exhaust today, I don't want to breathe the exhaust so need to run a pipe to behind the seat.
I also need to fabricate a shelf for the battery and gas tank that will sit behind the seat.
The mower owes me nothing, served us well for 20yrs, why not make it into a bush buggy?
Was not surprised to find hundreds of how to vids on Ytube.
Basically, strip off all the extra weight, stretch the wheel base, strengthen the steering components, swap the pulleys from the trans axle and engine, lower the seat, relocate the gas tank an battery.
I had to replace the hydrostatic trans axle with a manual 6 spd but they are cheap and plentiful on marketplace.
Since there is really only one company that makes most of the brands you see for sale, the 6spd bolted right up with no modifications.
This is what I started with,
I wanted to extend the front wheels for a little more stability so cut out the steering cross arm and cradle and welded them on to the front of the frame.
It was only after I completed it that I realized this contraption was going to move a lot faster than it use to so I had better incorporate some caster to keep the speed wobbles away.
I cut the frame and bent it to about 7 degrees of caster and welded plates inside and out side of the frame.
I have ordered some proper rod ends/Heim joints for the steering control rods, they will take the place of the farty little ball in socket joints the mower came with.
Next up was welding the the spider gears together to lock up the rear axle for better traction.
I forgot to take a pic of the finished axle but here is a generic web photo to give you an idea.
This is where I am at the moment, seat is lowered now and starting to work on the exhaust today, I don't want to breathe the exhaust so need to run a pipe to behind the seat.
I also need to fabricate a shelf for the battery and gas tank that will sit behind the seat.