Well, I figured I'd post up the build of this mower. I'm a long time follower of this forum and I finally bit the bullet and built a machine of my own from learning all the tips and tricks of the many wonderful people here on Heymow. I have a long history of many builds from a crazy 1200cc street bike powered 4 wheeler, to drag cars, classic show cars and even a custom 4-wheel drive Chevy Nova! It's been a few years since I built anything and I had an itch....mower racing is something I've been wanting to do since the early 2000's, so....I did lots of research and I started with a BRAND NEW machine off the showroom floor. I kinda wanna keep it stock-ish looking because it has good potential to be a big part of advertisement for my outdoor power and repair (I'm a Cub Cadet and MTD dealer) A 2016 Cub Cadet XT2 with a Kawasaki 18hp twin. I don't have current plans for the motor just yet as I can't find performance parts support for it, but I do hope there will be one day....I'll just set that motor asside until I find a good use for it.
On to the build. This is what I started out with....brand spankin' new.....I don't think I even turned the blades on....
Pre tear down pic...
Took about an hour to tear it down. It's so nice to not have rusty bolts and greasy crap to deal with....
From here, I have a long way to get to that 4" limit....
Bare frame to start with. It looks a bit narrow but it's a full 13" across...
Got the front axle mount cut out and ready for an EC style setup....
Nice frame to work with....C channel frame isn't as rigid as you'd think tho. It's is pretty heavy gauge but with all the upper and lower cross braces from the factory removed, it's pretty darn flimsy....
Welded everything I thought would be ideal to have a weld on it. The engine plate was spot welded in only 4 places!
Once all welded up, I took some flat plate and welded it up on the inside of the frame to "box" in the frame....
Much stiffer now!!
Until next time!
~Joe