Lawn Tractors Modified For Off-Roading
Ryley Kesslar of Kelowna, B.C., builds custom-fabricated off-road mowers that he highlights on Instagram and YouTube. “We take them out rock crawling, snow wheeling, racing, drifting, mud bogging and more,” Kesslar says. “We’re taking lawnmowers to a whole new level. There are lots of videos of us riding, along with some build videos, tutorials, and how-tos. We’re excited to show people what their 30-year-old rusty lawnmower can do if you put some time into it.”
Kesslar found his passion for restoration early in life. “This all started when I was 15 and wanted something I could practice ‘driving’ on. A lawnmower was an obvious choice,” he explains. “So, I bought one and watched a couple of videos on YouTube for pulley swapping it for more speed. While doing that, I noticed some videos about making them into off-road rigs. It was nothing crazy, but I watched guys putting off-road tires on the mowers and welding the transaxles to work in the mud. I was hooked.”
Getting started on his own projects took a little more patience. “I’d spent all my money buying the mower and couldn’t afford tires or a welder. So, I pulley swapped it for more speed and mounted a plow on it to plow snow to make money.” This strategy proved effective. “Jump ahead a few years, and I got into 4x4 trucks and loved the idea of rock crawling. Late one night with a buddy, we started scrolling YouTube. Lo and behold, the old videos I’d found of off-road mowers popped up.”
That was all the encouragement Kesslar needed to dive back into the hobby. “The next day, my buddies and I went out and bought three mowers. Since then, we’ve been building, modifying and riding the hell out of them.”
The hobby resonates with a larger audience, as Kesslar has amassed 232,000 followers on Instagram and 18,000 subscribers on YouTube. “Right now, we don’t make these mowers to sell, as we just don’t have enough good candidates for builds. But we’d like to in the future. We build almost every part of these things from scratch, so we’ve learned a lot about what works. Eventually, we’d like to sell kits and parts so followers can build a mower with OKOM parts.”
Kesslar explains that the build process remains similar between tractors. “We start with older models. Usually, anything before 1985 is good,” he says. “We typically pick the mowers up for free or cheap. We always begin with a manual transaxle tractor with 1-in. axle shafts. They often come with bigger motors and better steering systems. A huge portion of what we do is having a lock transaxle either by welding or building a custom locker (both rear wheels will always spin). We also change pulley ratio and make them faster.” Typically, the engine has a bigger pulley and a smaller pulley on the transaxle.
“Common swaps are 7-in. front and 5-in. rear,” he explains. “With this, we build custom front axles and steering systems, put bigger ATV tires on, then add a foot throttle and governor bypass. And, most importantly, add hydraulic hand brakes with custom disk rotors. With new tires, pulleys, steering racks, bearings, belts, brakes, etc., we spend about $1,500 to $2,000 CAD.”
The modifications tend to vary after this point. “We do a lot more than this to our personal mowers and the ones featured on the channel,” says Kesslar. “We love customizing these rigs into something people have never seen before.”
Overall, Kesslar has found this restoration hobby rewarding and appreciates how it creates connections with viewers. “I’m very proud of the yellow mower and the grey/black mower magnum. And I’m proud of my crew, Tony, Nick and Gaby. But overall, we want our viewers to know that there’s a lot you can learn from a mower. It’s a lesson in small engine mechanics, welding, fabrication, wiring, gear ratios, etc. So, take that 30-year-old tractor out of the weeds and clean it up. Check out our YouTube channel to see how we build and modify ours.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, OK Off-Road Mowers (YouTube and Instagram: @okoffroadmowers).
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Lawn Tractors Modified For Off-Roading MOWERS Ryley Kesslar of Kelowna B C builds custom-fabricated off-road mowers that he highlights on Instagram and YouTube “We take them out rock crawling snow wheeling racing drifting mud bogging and more ” Kesslar says “We’re taking lawnmowers to a whole new level There are lots of videos of us riding along with some build videos tutorials and how-tos We’re excited to show people what their 30-year-old rusty lawnmower can do if you put some time into it ” Kesslar found his passion for restoration early in life “This all started when I was 15 and wanted something I could practice ‘driving’ on A lawnmower was an obvious choice ” he explains “So I bought one and watched a couple of videos on YouTube for pulley swapping it for more speed While doing that I noticed some videos about making them into off-road rigs It was nothing crazy but I watched guys putting off-road tires on the mowers and welding the transaxles to work in the mud I was hooked ” Getting started on his own projects took a little more patience “I’d spent all my money buying the mower and couldn’t afford tires or a welder So I pulley swapped it for more speed and mounted a plow on it to plow snow to make money ” This strategy proved effective “Jump ahead a few years and I got into 4x4 trucks and loved the idea of rock crawling Late one night with a buddy we started scrolling YouTube Lo and behold the old videos I’d found of off-road mowers popped up ” That was all the encouragement Kesslar needed to dive back into the hobby “The next day my buddies and I went out and bought three mowers Since then we’ve been building modifying and riding the hell out of them ” The hobby resonates with a larger audience as Kesslar has amassed 232 000 followers on Instagram and 18 000 subscribers on YouTube “Right now we don’t make these mowers to sell as we just don’t have enough good candidates for builds But we’d like to in the future We build almost every part of these things from scratch so we’ve learned a lot about what works Eventually we’d like to sell kits and parts so followers can build a mower with OKOM parts ” Kesslar explains that the build process remains similar between tractors “We start with older models Usually anything before 1985 is good ” he says “We typically pick the mowers up for free or cheap We always begin with a manual transaxle tractor with 1-in axle shafts They often come with bigger motors and better steering systems A huge portion of what we do is having a lock transaxle either by welding or building a custom locker both rear wheels will always spin We also change pulley ratio and make them faster ” Typically the engine has a bigger pulley and a smaller pulley on the transaxle “Common swaps are 7-in front and 5-in rear ” he explains “With this we build custom front axles and steering systems put bigger ATV tires on then add a foot throttle and governor bypass And most importantly add hydraulic hand brakes with custom disk rotors With new tires pulleys steering racks bearings belts brakes etc we spend about $1 500 to $2 000 CAD ” The modifications tend to vary after this point “We do a lot more than this to our personal mowers and the ones featured on the channel ” says Kesslar “We love customizing these rigs into something people have never seen before ” Overall Kesslar has found this restoration hobby rewarding and appreciates how it creates connections with viewers “I’m very proud of the yellow mower and the grey/black mower magnum And I’m proud of my crew Tony Nick and Gaby But overall we want our viewers to know that there’s a lot you can learn from a mower It’s a lesson in small engine mechanics welding fabrication wiring gear ratios etc So take that 30-year-old tractor out of the weeds and clean it up Check out our YouTube channel to see how we build and modify ours ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup OK Off-Road Mowers YouTube and Instagram: @okoffroadmowers
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