I picked up a 2003 MTD mower from a lady that bought a new Cub Cadet and just wanted it hualed off. I asked her what was wrong with it and she said it needs a new deck. Well she wasn't lying about the deck, but the little "tractor" runs great. I've been looking for something fun and different to do with it, and I think I may follow your path. Can't wait to finish this series.
Just what ,I was lookin for ,totally insane, Excellent work , I have done a club car electric to gas conversion lot of fabracation and now on to my next project.I acquired two new riding mower frames and am thinking of picking up a need repair Suzuki 230 shaft drive 4 wheeler . I did not know how I was going to incorparate this onto my frame ,but after seeing this video ,I now have a blueprint , Thanks!
I was just seeing what you was doing then I saw I actually have this same tractor sitting out there with a hole in the block...Gonna have to do it to it
Awesome idea, what make and model is it! I just started a clean up job and there is over a hundred riding lawnmowers, and a barn full of push mowers! Going to keep everything at my place and sort through it!
I would love to see (veiw) this done with an early 1980's SEARS/ROPER GT with a 6-speed manual transmission! Usung a jack shaft would be required for the belt drive though...
Yeah so I'm thinking. If you cut the frame just behind the motor. flip the back half upside down n spin the rear Axl reinforce n weld the frame back together
To be honest, I haven’t got into that yet. From what I’ve heard, it should be packed with grease but I’ve also heard that some have heavy weight oil. I haven’t had any issues or heard any whining so far
Dig it... "The low mower drives a little slower". The low mower is a real goer". "Take a little trip, take a little trip, take a little trip with me"....
Well I’m gonna do this to my JD 111 that hasn’t had to have even the head off it. Runs like a champ and bought electronic ignition because it has just a bit of a miss. Plus surges a bit from lousy carb and always has but doesn’t smoke and always starts up until recently when the solenoid went out so have to put the new one in but the solenoids aren’t exactly like the old one. The old one has the two large battery poles then two of the small poles that went to the little separate rectangle black switch or whatever that is next to each other. Then on the old one has a small pole by itself on the side of the old solenoid. The only new solenoid I could find for it has the two large poles then the two small ones that are molded into the whole solenoid. So I have ends that go onto the small poles that slide onto the threads. I have 2 red ones then I have a purple one. Also a small wire I think coming from the starter that goes to one of the large battery poles since it did have a end on it large enough for the big poles. Has a link on it also that you can disconnect. I took this solenoid out a couple years ago and also lost my notes. Thinking maybe the purple goes to the ignition switch. I’m hoping also the solenoid ties in to the solenoid and ignition switch and why the electronic PTO would not work thinking since the solenoid was out. I used a car bypass button to start the mower and is when I tried the PTO which didn’t work. So bought a new switch since the pto switch was getting hard to use thinking that was it but still wouldn’t turn on with the new switch. Gee I’m a rambler and if anyone has any ideas where my two red wires for sure go to that are by the solenoid and what pole the purple wire goes on which has the 90 degree end on it like the two red wires that slide down on the poles threads. I’m not at all a electrical guy. Getting better and sure this is simple but don’t want to mess it up.
If you started with a 3 post solenoid, I would honestly just find another 3 post to make it easier on you. On a 3 post ignition, you have hot coming in from the battery on one big post, hot going out to the starter from the other big post, and the ignition signal from your key (most likely the purple wire) would slide onto the small third post. Three wire solenoids Ground through the solenoid body, so you need to make sure the body has continuity to the negative on your battery. I have zero experience with the electronic pto, but maybe somebody else will chime in with some insight 🤞
@@wybarprojects thank you very much for your help. Your mowers are my new dream. Thin 111 would be perfect of my 2015 Ariens 42 that I’ve had nothing but problems with the compression release. Hydro gas lock up that filled the whole engine with gas then fixed that and the cam broke off it appears because the exhaust valve does not move. I’m don’t with Briggs so I’d put something else in it. Briggs should redesign the cam compression release but have yet since they obviously do t care. I saw a video with a guy that smooths out the little tab that runs on the came and adds a rubber band type deal to it that makes it work as it was designed
I would say a riding mower without blades is pretty close to a mobility scooter, unless you're talking about going electric with batteries. In that case, I would basically just swap the rear transaxle for a live axle and run an electric motor through a PWM and potentiometer for throttle
No Way on the electrical motor. I was looking at keeping the gas power because the closest town is 45km away. Would be nice to get there and back on the same day. No I was thinking of stripping the mower parts and some how, keeping the mower engine and not put in a motorcycle engine (kind of defeats the purpose of using a riding lawnmower) and put on a cab on this thing. I was looking at what can be done to the engine and only found putting an exhaust system onto it. The suspension system info was either racing or off road (which is cool, but again seems like it defeats the purpose and buying an old atv would be better) and I want to fix it up with out doing that much work, for this 1 at least. The cab thing, I have no idea if if there ever was a hard top for them.@@wybarprojects
looks like the entire part of chassis that the front axle pivots on can be unbolted and flipped . if so , you might not have needed to modify the axle at all .
It does look like that would be a quick and easy solution, but that would put all the weight of the front end on the spindle cotter pins instead of the spindle shoulder. At least that was my thought process
Instead of welding the rear brackets on, why not just drill new holes in the right places and mount them with the same bolts? The front mod pretty much required welding, but you weren't there yet, unless you had welding planned in advance. You don't plan on racing the conversion, so I'm wondering, why do it? Just curious, but great work so far.
Welding is at my core, so it’s just easier and faster for me to weld certain things than drill and bolt. I’m doing the conversion purely for the fun of the project and getting to play with it when it’s done. Thank you!
I think it would take a little bit more work on the rear axle, but I think the front end would be the same and the body might be slightly easier. The main reason for the current clearance is that’s where the pulleys lined up when I flipped the axle.
I suppose they’re still safe at the speeds I’m running. I haven’t put any air in them (I’m not even sure if there is air in them 😂) but they look pretty decent, not dry rotted or anything
Ok youve got a lot more fabrication to do, You've litterly turned it on its head, now Id like to see how you plan to mow grass with it, tow behind mower deck? Also I think you've overlooked the hood just a little its now pulled forward and lifted up a bit. Im sure you'll work it out Not sure id get that far into it. Going to be funny looking maybe a drag mower?
I don’t plan on mowing with it, this is just a fun project to test my abilities. The hood doesn’t line up perfect, but I think it came out alright. It’s definitely more work than I expected lol
Take that $4 and go buy two glass bottles of coke, head down to the local welding supply store, find the old guy that’s coming in by to grab some wire and tips, offer him one of the cokes and brag about the ‘69 you’re working on. Before you know it, you’ll have a new best friend and hopefully a decent welding machine to borrow
In all seriousness, it’s a bummer to hear about your situation and I’ve been there before. Just keep your head up and squirrel away some money until you can afford a decent used machine and you’ll be back in business. Good luck with the ‘69!
@@wybarprojects thanks man. It's cool. I've got it better than a lot of folks. I just saw that welder and remembered how nice my buddy's Miller welded years ago. And I don't HAVE to finish the '69, I've got another truck I can drive. It was just a huge bummer when the welder crapped out
I thought so too at first, but after flipping it over, you have to rotate it 180 degrees and it goes forward again th-cam.com/users/shortsynkx2HVngCE?si=EIcZpMA7uPi62QBf
In this video he flipped it but it’s still facing the front. If you spin it 180 the shifter will be facing the rear of the mower. I have one on the bench now and don’t understand.
I read that two different ways 😂 - I want so much to lower it because I thought it would be a fun project that isn’t covered much on YT - I want to lower it to such a low amount of clearance because that’s just where the belts happened to line up when I flipped the axle. I could go with slightly larger tires to rise the frame if I wanted to
I picked up a 2003 MTD mower from a lady that bought a new Cub Cadet and just wanted it hualed off. I asked her what was wrong with it and she said it needs a new deck. Well she wasn't lying about the deck, but the little "tractor" runs great. I've been looking for something fun and different to do with it, and I think I may follow your path. Can't wait to finish this series.
That’s awesome! I basically came across mine the same way.
Glad you're back w/this detail!...looking forward to the other parts of this series....
The best video I've seen for this type of project. Awesome.
Thank you very much!
Just what ,I was lookin for ,totally insane, Excellent work , I have done a club car electric to gas conversion lot of fabracation and now on to my next project.I acquired two new riding mower frames and am thinking of picking up a need repair Suzuki 230 shaft drive 4 wheeler . I did not know how I was going to incorparate this onto my frame ,but after seeing this video ,I now have a blueprint , Thanks!
I'm about to start a similar project. Video is very thorough man!
That’s awesome! And thank you!
I was just seeing what you was doing then I saw I actually have this same tractor sitting out there with a hole in the block...Gonna have to do it to it
Great work ,always interesting watching new ideas,thanks for the inspiration man
Thank you very much!
I just flipped my complete assembly over and relocated the engine plate and I was done in a hour!
Nice! I wish I could say the same 😂
put a support brace across the back behind/on top of the transaxle, without one the axle will flex and blow up the rear end
It still uses the original 5th mounting point, I just didn’t get to it in this video
Great stuff man, awesome video and good explanation.
I think I'm going to give it a go lol thanks for the video man
Gonna hamper the fun when you figure out what flipping the rear axle does with the gears.
I’ve heard both sides of that argument so I figured I would put it to the test and figure it out for myself. If it blows, I’ll make a new plan
@@wybarprojectsso what was the verdict?
Awesome idea, what make and model is it! I just started a clean up job and there is over a hundred riding lawnmowers, and a barn full of push mowers! Going to keep everything at my place and sort through it!
Nice! Mine is a Murray LT1000 Widebody
Whens the next video in the series coming out ? I literally watched every episode back to back . Great content !
Thank you very much!! I'm working on finishing editing the latest video now and I'm trying to get it out this Sunday
Best build I've watched.
Thanx lots help
Cool video, inspires a project with my son. Thanks! I'd hate to be your pocket knife 😂
Thank you! That’s so cool to hear
That’s my shop knife 😂
Lol! Super funny edit bud! Enjoyed it! Also posting the music us cool man! Everyone appreciates that. Take care.
I would love to see (veiw) this done with an early 1980's SEARS/ROPER GT with a 6-speed manual transmission!
Usung a jack shaft would be required for the belt drive though...
Yeah so I'm thinking. If you cut the frame just behind the motor. flip the back half upside down n spin the rear Axl reinforce n weld the frame back together
Great video and job on this cool mower. Do you by chance live in Washington or Oregon?
Thank you! No, I live in south Texas but I thoroughly enjoy visiting the PNW when I can
Think you need gusset for the diff brackets
What welder are you using It sounds very delightful
It moans sometimes 😂 it’s a Millermatic 135 from a few decades ago
Good content
Is there any issues with lubrication or anything like that? I’m not sure how these tractor rear ends work but is there like oil or anything in there?
To be honest, I haven’t got into that yet. From what I’ve heard, it should be packed with grease but I’ve also heard that some have heavy weight oil. I haven’t had any issues or heard any whining so far
The trans is a Tuff Torq K46, pretty sure. They use motor oil from factory and they have a breather on the top side so that may leak a little.
Dig it... "The low mower drives a little slower". The low mower is a real goer". "Take a little trip, take a little trip, take a little trip with me"....
You really should add support to the rear axle mounts.
cool video but why over engineer flipped knuckles
Well I’m gonna do this to my JD 111 that hasn’t had to have even the head off it. Runs like a champ and bought electronic ignition because it has just a bit of a miss. Plus surges a bit from lousy carb and always has but doesn’t smoke and always starts up until recently when the solenoid went out so have to put the new one in but the solenoids aren’t exactly like the old one. The old one has the two large battery poles then two of the small poles that went to the little separate rectangle black switch or whatever that is next to each other. Then on the old one has a small pole by itself on the side of the old solenoid. The only new solenoid I could find for it has the two large poles then the two small ones that are molded into the whole solenoid. So I have ends that go onto the small poles that slide onto the threads. I have 2 red ones then I have a purple one. Also a small wire I think coming from the starter that goes to one of the large battery poles since it did have a end on it large enough for the big poles. Has a link on it also that you can disconnect. I took this solenoid out a couple years ago and also lost my notes. Thinking maybe the purple goes to the ignition switch. I’m hoping also the solenoid ties in to the solenoid and ignition switch and why the electronic PTO would not work thinking since the solenoid was out. I used a car bypass button to start the mower and is when I tried the PTO which didn’t work. So bought a new switch since the pto switch was getting hard to use thinking that was it but still wouldn’t turn on with the new switch. Gee I’m a rambler and if anyone has any ideas where my two red wires for sure go to that are by the solenoid and what pole the purple wire goes on which has the 90 degree end on it like the two red wires that slide down on the poles threads. I’m not at all a electrical guy. Getting better and sure this is simple but don’t want to mess it up.
If you started with a 3 post solenoid, I would honestly just find another 3 post to make it easier on you. On a 3 post ignition, you have hot coming in from the battery on one big post, hot going out to the starter from the other big post, and the ignition signal from your key (most likely the purple wire) would slide onto the small third post. Three wire solenoids Ground through the solenoid body, so you need to make sure the body has continuity to the negative on your battery. I have zero experience with the electronic pto, but maybe somebody else will chime in with some insight 🤞
@@wybarprojects thank you very much for your help. Your mowers are my new dream. Thin 111 would be perfect of my 2015 Ariens 42 that I’ve had nothing but problems with the compression release. Hydro gas lock up that filled the whole engine with gas then fixed that and the cam broke off it appears because the exhaust valve does not move. I’m don’t with Briggs so I’d put something else in it. Briggs should redesign the cam compression release but have yet since they obviously do t care. I saw a video with a guy that smooths out the little tab that runs on the came and adds a rubber band type deal to it that makes it work as it was designed
First Comment, I wanna do sometime with an old mower one of these days..... Cool channel... I subscribed
Thank you!!
How did you determine the height the pulley needed to be
Air bags……..and nice wheels……😂🎉
I need that gas tank for a project, I’m working on, lol
Question: What Should you do to an old riding lawn mower to make it into a powered mobility scooter?
I would say a riding mower without blades is pretty close to a mobility scooter, unless you're talking about going electric with batteries. In that case, I would basically just swap the rear transaxle for a live axle and run an electric motor through a PWM and potentiometer for throttle
No Way on the electrical motor. I was looking at keeping the gas power because the closest town is 45km away. Would be nice to get there and back on the same day. No I was thinking of stripping the mower parts and some how, keeping the mower engine and not put in a motorcycle engine (kind of defeats the purpose of using a riding lawnmower) and put on a cab on this thing. I was looking at what can be done to the engine and only found putting an exhaust system onto it. The suspension system info was either racing or off road (which is cool, but again seems like it defeats the purpose and buying an old atv would be better) and I want to fix it up with out doing that much work, for this 1 at least. The cab thing, I have no idea if if there ever was a hard top for them.@@wybarprojects
looks like the entire part of chassis that the front axle pivots on can be unbolted and flipped . if so , you might not have needed to modify the axle at all .
It does look like that would be a quick and easy solution, but that would put all the weight of the front end on the spindle cotter pins instead of the spindle shoulder. At least that was my thought process
Instead of welding the rear brackets on, why not just drill new holes in the right places and mount them with the same bolts? The front mod pretty much required welding, but you weren't there yet, unless you had welding planned in advance. You don't plan on racing the conversion, so I'm wondering, why do it? Just curious, but great work so far.
Welding is at my core, so it’s just easier and faster for me to weld certain things than drill and bolt. I’m doing the conversion purely for the fun of the project and getting to play with it when it’s done.
Thank you!
@@wybarprojects Thanks. I like it when I get replies to questions. It's really not all that common and shows me you care.
😎👍
Would you need to adjust it more to have 2-4 inch ground clearance and if so would it make the build more different and or difficult
I think it would take a little bit more work on the rear axle, but I think the front end would be the same and the body might be slightly easier.
The main reason for the current clearance is that’s where the pulleys lined up when I flipped the axle.
flipping frame upsidedown looks like it would have worked too
awesome - following.
Are the mower tires still safe to run
I suppose they’re still safe at the speeds I’m running. I haven’t put any air in them (I’m not even sure if there is air in them 😂) but they look pretty decent, not dry rotted or anything
Ok youve got a lot more fabrication to do,
You've litterly turned it on its head, now
Id like to see how you plan to mow grass with it, tow behind mower deck?
Also I think you've overlooked the hood just a little its now pulled forward and lifted up a bit. Im sure you'll work it out
Not sure id get that far into it.
Going to be funny looking maybe a drag mower?
I don’t plan on mowing with it, this is just a fun project to test my abilities.
The hood doesn’t line up perfect, but I think it came out alright. It’s definitely more work than I expected lol
What size is that rear tire ? I'm in the middle of a building and trying to find a tire I like..
I'm sorry for the late response! They're 18x9.50-8
@wybarprojects that's ok I get it life's busy! I just ordered that size tire for my build hopefully be rolling in two weeks.
What happens when you run aground on a pebble in the street?
It comes to a stop very quickly and things tend to break 🤣
Given the thin frame, I would recommend that you either fabricate a new one with ¹/⁸" C-Channel, or box it in with tin foil...
I wish I had a Millermatic 135. My Harbor Freight junker crapped out and now I can't finish my '69 C10 shortbed conversion. And I have $4 to my name
Take that $4 and go buy two glass bottles of coke, head down to the local welding supply store, find the old guy that’s coming in by to grab some wire and tips, offer him one of the cokes and brag about the ‘69 you’re working on. Before you know it, you’ll have a new best friend and hopefully a decent welding machine to borrow
In all seriousness, it’s a bummer to hear about your situation and I’ve been there before. Just keep your head up and squirrel away some money until you can afford a decent used machine and you’ll be back in business.
Good luck with the ‘69!
@@wybarprojects thanks man. It's cool. I've got it better than a lot of folks. I just saw that welder and remembered how nice my buddy's Miller welded years ago. And I don't HAVE to finish the '69, I've got another truck I can drive. It was just a huge bummer when the welder crapped out
Instead of cutting the back end off it looked like you could have unbolted it and flipped that part over also and re bolted it to the frame .
On the front axel, could you have just spun it 180° ?🤔
Yes, but then the stress and weight would all be sitting on the cotter pins for the spindles as opposed to the shoulder on the spindle
Couldn’t you have Z’ed the frame right before the differential?
So the transmission will work upside down and not leak???????
So far, yes!
leave it as is after the rear lowering. turn it into a gasser dragster hahaa
Time to slam my mower ;D
Dooo iiiiit! 😂
2:30 You could almost just remove the engine, flip the entire chassis over, reinstall the engine and be done!
I did have that thought, but I don’t think it would be as easy as it sounds
I don't like to get hung up on cigarette butts
I want to make my lawn mower street legal.
Depending on where you live, it probably wouldn’t be too hard 😂
That poor pocket knife.
If you don't want to drag the ground on you better air them tires up as hard you can get
Why could you not just flip the frame n spin the Axl?? I'm racking my peanut can trying to see why it won't work. But I'm not seeing a why not
It works just fine. Done it plenty of times
@jeremyparadise2780 I the manor that I'm asking about?
Flipping the rear end wouldn’t that make it turn the wrong direction
I thought so too at first, but after flipping it over, you have to rotate it 180 degrees and it goes forward again th-cam.com/users/shortsynkx2HVngCE?si=EIcZpMA7uPi62QBf
In this video he flipped it but it’s still facing the front. If you spin it 180 the shifter will be facing the rear of the mower. I have one on the bench now and don’t understand.
@@busaofscbusaofsc8633 I did have to reconfigure my shift linkages, but I do still move the shifter forward to go up gears and back to go down/reverse
@@wybarprojects so it was flipped but not 180 degrees. If it was 180 the shifter would be pointing to the rear of the mower
Why?
I thought it would be fun/interesting and I didn’t see many other builds like it
Why you wanna lower your mower so much?
I read that two different ways 😂
- I want so much to lower it because I thought it would be a fun project that isn’t covered much on YT
- I want to lower it to such a low amount of clearance because that’s just where the belts happened to line up when I flipped the axle. I could go with slightly larger tires to rise the frame if I wanted to
Not sure why, but it’s super Kool. 🫵🏼💯🆒🇺🇸
Thank you!!
Nice work man keep up the good work Please 🪙🪙🪙 Good luck 🍀 man!!!
You got it! and thank you!