Need some help with craftsman mods, new to this

Hi gang,
I need some advice and suggestions before I dive into this. I have a 15.5 hp 6 speed craftsman model 917.272353 tractor with a Briggs &Stratton engine and (I think) a peerless transaxle.

I live on some very hilly terrain in the woods and need to be able to haul firewood, maple sap and similar things around through the woods and up hills. Larger tires with a lot more grip front and back are a top priority along with maybe locking the transaxle. Right now I can bearly steer with snow on the ground and turf tires! I do have chains on the back, but the front is a nightmare. Current front tires are 15x6-6. I have a mig and can weld steel but not aluminium.

Any help you can offer is appreciated because I really have no idea where to start or even where to find tires with some grip in the right size.

Thanks !
Cabby

Well first off, welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you got an alright tractor to start with, the engine must be an OHV Briggs single is it?

As for the front tires, unfortunately you don't have much choice, as there aren't that many available for a 6" rim. But some snowblower tires would probably work fine, a lot of those are on a 6" rim.

Don't forget to post some pictures!

The snowblower tires will help, and you can get chains for those tires as well, but that is just how vehicles with giant rear tires and tiny front tires turn in the slop. All my mud mowers and my big red international are all the same in the snow, the fronts are just kind of like rudders.

Looks to me you have a green or grey craftsman LT1000?

Welcome!

As mentioned above snow tires would help.  I also saw where you would like more rear traction as well and mentioned locking.  Keep in mind, locking will make turning much harder as well.  Before locking, maybe try a more aggressive tire.  Since you are going in and out of woods, look for maybe a 6 ply ATV or Ag tire.  Anything is better than a turf saver for traction.

I wonder what size your spindles are. If they are 3/4", it's very easy to acquire 8" front rims, then you can run an 18 or 20 inch front tire which gives you better ride quality and better ground clearance. 8" rims are a breeze to mount tires on compared to 6" rims.

Depending on how sloppy and steep your hills are, you might get away with just running ITP mud lites, swamp witch, or kenda execs without locking the diff. Locking the diff gives you great traction in extreme conditions, but kills handling, turning radius, and maneuverability. So if you're using your tractor for work in the woods and you have to turn around a lot in tight places I'd shy away from locking the diff.

Thanks gang for the advice. I believe I have 3/4 inch spindles, I will check after hauling in today’s maple sap. Switching to 8” rims sounds like the way to go.  Can anyone recommend specific rims?  I am worried about getting wheels with the wrong offset or with hubs too long or short for The spindles.   Here are a couple photos of what I’m working with.



[url=https://servimg.com/view/20045430/2]

Most front rims don't have a crazy amount of offset, but there are some thag do. I'd try and get some that have a relatively close offset to your 6" rims just so there aren't any clearance issues. Might be able to get some off a Craftsman GT or something.

Mine came off a John Deere Sabre GT. They were a perfect fit on my craftsman. Just see what you can find off a GT with 3/4 inch spindles

The tires I have on my John Deere in my profile picture have 8" rims, bearings, and they're metric, so the height it somewhere in the neighborhood of 19". The rims you can get off any dump cart, or you can buy them at Tractor Supply or Harbor Freight. The tires that come on them originally won't hold up to dropping a rock on them, they're junk. Othewise, the bearings and tubes are pretty nice. The bearings did wear out after a while, and I replaced them with higher quality ones I bought for about $0.75 each on Amazon.
Link to the tires.
The link automatically has the quantity set to four for some reason, LOL. They're $19.54 each. You could do the whole thing for about $60. I actually have these tires on multiple tractors and they all work great.

If you do have the smaller spindle, many times you can just knock out the bearing inside the hub to fit your bigger wheel.  Most wheels have the same inner diameter for bearings.

Thanks for the link to the tires, those seem like they would do the trick. I assume i need to increase the diameter in the back by the same amount to keep the thing level? I'm gonna start fishing around for rims.... i hadn't thought about swapping the bearings. Next time I get a chance I'll pop a wheel off , take out a bearing and measure.