When the ground is slick and the mud is thick, it’s high time to take your ATV and haul it out to the nearest mud patch. These two amateur engineers from Maine scoff at the notion of buying quads, motorcycles, or UTVs, and instead pick door #4: mud mowers.

Made from lawnmowers that you can buy from a catalog, the one our hero, Neil, uses is a 15.5hp, six-speed Craftsman example. It came with no brakes and a clumsy motor, but thanks to some ingenuity and metal fabrication, Neil was able to transform it into the “ultimate off-road vehicle” for charging through the forest.

Altering much of the Craftsman involved quite a few hours: The transmission pulley had to be fabricated into a smaller size to make way for the shifter; the transmission itself had to be locked to make the mower more tractive; and the measly tires had to be swapped out for larger, 22-inch rubber to handle the deep sections.

Neal even managed to build his own winch kit for the Craftsman, complete with a skid plate to cover the muffler.

His associate brought along a diesel-powered model, dubbed the “Beast” for the video above. As great and agile as Neal’s was, the Beast was more than capable of hauling itself out of a rut when the fist-pumping technique was deployed.

It proved a fun day for the duo, with only a blown pulley to repair on the Craftsman. Knowing Neal’s skill set though, it was likely nothing more than a flesh wound for the green lawnmower was involved.

We look forward to watching some more “how to” videos on his channel when he gets his next mud mower purchased. Until then, we’ll just follow him on Facebook.