I am in the process of building a couple mowers with a more conventional setup than the last project... The machines will be used in local dirt oval races, not sanctioned USLMRA rules. Many of the competitive mowers use near a 16" seat height and "old-school" Murray chassis pans.
Would it work to simply cut off the back of the pan, even with the lowest point of the rear fenders, and build a T-bucket style step notch chassis. I would run square tubing under the edges of the chassis front to rear, then have the rear framerails step up (Z) and actually become the rear fender mounts. The transaxle (conventional Peerless 5 and 6 speeds) could be hung below the fender mounts.
I feel this could be a light weight and strong setup compared to the pan chassis, but wouldn't have a chance of being legal in a real prepared class...
Any ideas or suggestions on lowering the rear of a transaxle mower?