Motorcycles, Snowmobiles, Go-Carts, ATV's and Golf Carts - sewped up lawn tractor (need help)

i have a 82 craftsmans (917 255812) i swapped the front 3 inch pulley with a 5 inch pulley, and swapped the rear 8 inch pulley with a 2 inch pulley, and changed the stock 90 1/4 belt witha 84 inch belt, and now it wont move, the front pulley just spins on the belt, i also relocated the tension spring to beef that up a little, is ther any other adjustments i cant make, the belt does not feel that loose and the trans is good and the brakes are not locked up as everything was in good working order before tore it up. how tight should the belt be? the new pulleys are cast aluminum opposed to the stock steel, will that make a difference? i cant get any help anywhere, i'm stumped :wall:

The belt has to be good and tight when engaged......otherwise it'll just slip and burn the belt.

I'm with V8. The belt might need to be tighter. Either work on your tensioner or get a shorter belt.

I would not use cast aluminum pulleys if you have removed the govenor, but you are probably OK if you still have the govenor on the engine. Cast aluminum pulleys are generally poor quality and can come apart at high racing rpm's sending chunks of metal flying. I would rather see you use steel or machined billet aluminum pulleys. They are much stronger and able to withstand the strong cetrifugal/centripital forces and vibration.

it needs a belt tensioner on it definetly. next try a smaller belt id go about an inch smaller it it has a tensioner on it. next what do you have for tires? thats about all i can think of as of right now. give us an update.

Can a lawn tractor take that abuse on the trans, axels etc. There are hundreds of mowers here on the coast with rotten decks cheap that would make good projects. I would hate to trash one a day.

I could take my tractor through the gravel pit, bottom it out on rocks, drive it into stumps, and even jump dirt piles and not break it. But if you shift from forward to reverse without stopping it will ruin the gears, thats the only way mine broke. And they can handle the speed because mine went about 40mph and never hurt it, until i jammed it into reverse full speed.

i swapped the rear 2 inch pulley to a 3 inch pulley, and repositioned the idler and it goes about 30-35 mph, the best thing is the neighbors lookin at me saying WTF? LOL, i think its great, lawn tractors rock! i still have some bugs to werk out like a hand trottle and seperate foot brake, i did not remove the governer and dont plan to. i think ther the stock turf savers on the back but ther old and dry rotted and need to be replaced, i will be doing those things within the next few weeks and swap'n the front 5 inch pulley to a 6 inch, that should really turn some heads, LOL

Hi, Sounds good. 30 to 35 mph should turn some heads.
Keep everyone posted on your progress.

Best regards, Jeff Z.:coffee: :gmorning:

just a little tip ill give you while i can still drop my two cents in go for a foot gas pedal not a hand one because its easy to loose control of the mower and that def. aint a good thing both hands on the wheel is the best tip i can give because i think youve learned the rest

I have a craftsman lt2000 hydrostatic mower. Can I speed it up by simply replacing the pullies? Or does this not work on the hydrostat models? Any help appreciated.

Hell yea....................

Just browsing through here & saw this thread. I guess i've never thought about it before, but I have an extra 18 hp Yard Man with a pos deck laying around. If I could make it go 30 + freakin' mph i'll do it !!! I live in the city........this would be awesome........advice, advice, advice!!!!!!!

Just in time for winter...........What do I need to do???

(also a hydro)

read the thread.

Obviously did,
Will it work w/ a hydro ?? Are there specs on what to change on different mower models ?? Any advice for this model ?? Reposition the idler to where ?? Read the question ......