1990 AGWAY work/off road tractor

I traded a buddy of mine a hydro static for this and have very many plans for its future. it is an 1990 AGWAY 12/28

THINGS TO COME:
-full carb rebuild
-pulley swap (going to use mower pulley)
-1156 LED light bulbs to fit stock sockets
-stack exhaust
-bigger tires (want 22-23s)

yes, I know it has the variable pulley set up but i have no problem with it for now because it it better than my old hydro.
also I got rid of the 15.5hp opposed twin i used to have for this 12hp (twin sucked in to much gas for my wallet haha)
But this is how she sits as of this weekend


https://i.servimg.com/u/f10/18/00/03/52/img_2012.jpg




https://i.servimg.com/u/f10/18/00/03/52/img_2013.jpg

nice lookin machine

Nice rig its just like the one im using for parts it was compleate untill i got to it the other night lol,im using foot rest/fenders/center body-frame part







Jw where ur located?

Thanks! and yeah it will be better after I lock the transaxle! got the original turf saver tires/rims off today at my dads work had to heat em up for a while and use an air hammer to get them off haha next to come is the tire chains and to lock the rear end because im getting a welder for christmas! Im located in central NY in a city called cortland

Just another thing to show, this tractor came from the junk yard and it came with this awesome homemade tow hitch! the receiver thats on it in the picture is my friends but i have a ball in the center hole on the plate and this thing is strong as hell! I just wish it was removable haha

Nice project you have there!! I'm also working on making a stack and have a 4 page post about it in the engine section if you wanna check it out. I'm just getting ideas so far. And that tow hitch is awesome, i bet it'd pull a truck out of the mud haha

TennesseeCowboy wrote:

Nice project you have there!! I'm also working on making a stack and have a 4 page post about it in the engine section if you wanna check it out. I'm just getting ideas so far. And that tow hitch is awesome, i bet it'd pull a truck out of the mud haha

Hahah thanks man! yeah ill definitly go check that out! i want to make one that still has a muffler or baffle just so it doesnt risk my chance of burning my valves

Yeah, i'm just experimenting with ideas right now. I want a tractor sound to it lol

TennesseeCowboy wrote:

Yeah, i'm just experimenting with ideas right now. I want a tractor sound to it lol

Same here haha I wish it sounded as cool as my old 15.5 opposed twin! now that sounded like a Harley

Well guys here in central New York snow is finally here! today I strapped two small cement blocks to the rear of the tractor for added traction. I will take these off when towing wood because I'm guessing the weight of the trailer/wood will be good enough. also in the picture you can see the new rear tires i have on there for winter. ill be putting chains on these in the next day or so hopefully and use them for winter and when warmer weather comes around ill add some 22-23 inch tires on her!! still debating on locking the rear end. what do you guys think? Ill have an 80amp gas-less mig welder pretty soon but I'm unsure if the welds would be strong enough. is there that big of a change when you lock the rear diff? any responses would be appreciated

I own a few MTD's - the transaxle has a splined pulley - so youll need to use something similar or make some sort of adapter. - pulley cant be higher then the existing one or itll eat belts.

Youll want to add grease fittings to the case of the transaxle- the stock grease wont cut it - drill , then tap the case and put some threaded zerk fittings in from underneath( to be able to acess them). I did that with a couple of my tractors and made a world of difference.

I have a stock 97 Mastercut, the PO's adjusted the high speed linkage and even with stock pulleys goes way too fast for mowing - it had an issue with stopping ( crawled when brake was on) also but that had to do with the neutral setting of the variable pulley.

I swapped pulleys on another MTD, didnt do a thing for any extra speed - the high speed linkage needs to be tweeked in order to do anything.

I used to live up in NY - i dont miss the snow.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

I own a few MTD's - the transaxle has a splined pulley - so youll need to use something similar or make some sort of adapter. - pulley cant be higher then the existing one or itll eat belts.

Youll want to add grease fittings to the case of the transaxle- the stock grease wont cut it - drill , then tap the case and put some threaded zerk fittings in from underneath( to be able to acess them). I did that with a couple of my tractors and made a world of difference.

I have a stock 97 Mastercut, the PO's adjusted the high speed linkage and even with stock pulleys goes way too fast for mowing - it had an issue with stopping ( crawled when brake was on) also but that had to do with the neutral setting of the variable pulley.

I swapped pulleys on another MTD, didnt do a thing for any extra speed - the high speed linkage needs to be tweeked in order to do anything.

I used to live up in NY - i dont miss the snow.

thanks for the info! yeah i own two snowmobiles so i love the snow haha but im stilll debateing if i want to keep this chassis or buy another tractor and get a manual trans. also mine crawls when i have the clutch all the way in, its so annoying! today it made me so mad because it wouldnt shift into neutral on a small hill!

Theworktractor wrote:

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

I own a few MTD's - the transaxle has a splined pulley - so youll need to use something similar or make some sort of adapter. - pulley cant be higher then the existing one or itll eat belts.

Youll want to add grease fittings to the case of the transaxle- the stock grease wont cut it - drill , then tap the case and put some threaded zerk fittings in from underneath( to be able to acess them). I did that with a couple of my tractors and made a world of difference.

I have a stock 97 Mastercut, the PO's adjusted the high speed linkage and even with stock pulleys goes way too fast for mowing - it had an issue with stopping ( crawled when brake was on) also but that had to do with the neutral setting of the variable pulley.

I swapped pulleys on another MTD, didnt do a thing for any extra speed - the high speed linkage needs to be tweeked in order to do anything.

I used to live up in NY - i dont miss the snow.

thanks for the info! yeah i own two snowmobiles so i love the snow haha but im stilll debateing if i want to keep this chassis or buy another tractor and get a manual trans. also mine crawls when i have the clutch all the way in, its so annoying! today it made me so mad because it wouldnt shift into neutral on a small hill!

Those single speed transaxles and variable clutch system sucks. Just buy a new (or get one off a donor tractor) geared transaxle and redo the clutch (Fearless has a tutorial) Id definitely keep the body though, those 90s tractors just look so much better than what comes out nowadays.

Yours is a nice looking machine. I really like that rear receiver.

Thanks! yeahh i deffinitly want to change the drive system up! what is that video called? id like to watch that and yeah haha thats mostly why i want to keep modding it is because the tow hitch and the body style most older tractors like it around here end up getting scrapped-luckily i saved this before it did haha

Theworktractor wrote:

Thanks! yeahh i deffinitly want to change the drive system up! what is that video called? id like to watch that and yeah haha thats mostly why i want to keep modding it is because the tow hitch and the body style most older tractors like it around here end up getting scrapped-luckily i saved this before it did haha

Boom



and boom.

Doug Fackler wrote:

Theworktractor wrote:

Thanks! yeahh i deffinitly want to change the drive system up! what is that video called? id like to watch that and yeah haha thats mostly why i want to keep modding it is because the tow hitch and the body style most older tractors like it around here end up getting scrapped-luckily i saved this before it did haha

Boom



and boom.

Thanks! and I watched your videos! great build and good job with thats dash! kinda makes me want to build a racer again haha

Appreciate it! Im getting a little better at speaking, so my future videos shouldnt be as bad. Just keep tuned into my channel and my progress thread, ill update both as I get working.

Tractor racers use that clutch setup- it wont slip as much and has better response.

When i made vids on YT - i found it hard to think things thru when i spoke - most times i re did the videos a bunch of times.

Doug Fackler wrote:

Appreciate it! Im getting a little better at speaking, so my future videos shouldnt be as bad. Just keep tuned into my channel and my progress thread, ill update both as I get working.

No problem! i literally watched all of them so im caught up haha cant wait for an update! but you deffinitly could use some better lighting in there its kinda hard to see

Well guys today I got some accessory work done. I got some aftermarket fog lights from my dad for Christmas which i though was a good idea because i do alot of night riding. the brand of them are platinum burners. its just a cheap walmart brand but hey, there going on a tractor either way. the stock light sockets were pretty much stock and i couldnt find them anywhere so i just mounted the lights above the stock location haha still looks alright and man they make a huge difference compared to the one stock light i had on there. next thing i think im gonna to do is pull the transmission and lock it i just need to go buy some mig wire for my new welder. still deciding what to do with this if i should put a manual trans in it and cob that up, find a new chassis made for a manual trans, OR run this tranny on here locked for a while until I buy another tractor. let me know with any ideas you guys have because i do read your replys and take all ideas into consideration! also, If I did decide to find a manual trans for it, what problems would i run into like the alignment of the belt, shifting linkages, breaks, etc.. getting parts is fairly easy for me because my strange neighbor old man jack "collects" these lawn tractors, mostly older ones, and has 100+ up north at his other house but the only hard thing about it is getting him to let go of some of the stuff to sell like he will sell me a non-running tractor for 40 bucks, but thats because thats how much he gets for scrapping them. BUT anyways let me know with any suggestions, comments, or ideas for me because I hate getting my tractor talked down on because it has a variable pulley lol






The lights



mounted up above factory lights

I need to get some lights for mine when im done. If you havent noticed, I blacked out the lens for the lights. Partially because it looks better (I have a clear lens), but I want to low mount some bright LEDs under the grilled for "low beams".

You can lock a single speed no problem, the spider gears are really the same. Its just really messy and tedious cause you dont want contaminants in the case like burrs from welding or anything.

Definitely look at getting a geared transmission. They arent truly manual like a car, they just have a variable drive. But since they run on a single belt it can be more tense and you will get a lot less slippage if the pulleys ever get wet. Get one, then lock that up and redo your clutch (using the provided videos).

EDIT: You should hook up an ON-OFF-ON switch and make it so the stock lights can run as "low beams". lol

I got my dad the round style of the light you got for his f-350 they work great in the fog!

My 94 murray has a shift on the go trans - its an interesting setup , when the handle is moved in, it automatically activates the clutch , so you can shift w/o clutching - its a regular peerless 6 speed transmission underneath.

I planned on rebuilding my murray, but more i think about it, more i might end up hacking the shift on go setup out and weld it in a parts craftsman chassis - be easier to lower it that way then refigure the murray setup, then mount the murray sheetmetal on it.

Doug Fackler wrote:

I need to get some lights for mine when im done. If you havent noticed, I blacked out the lens for the lights. Partially because it looks better (I have a clear lens), but I want to low mount some bright LEDs under the grilled for "low beams".

You can lock a single speed no problem, the spider gears are really the same. Its just really messy and tedious cause you dont want contaminants in the case like burrs from welding or anything.

Definitely look at getting a geared transmission. They arent truly manual like a car, they just have a variable drive. But since they run on a single belt it can be more tense and you will get a lot less slippage if the pulleys ever get wet. Get one, then lock that up and redo your clutch (using the provided videos).

EDIT: You should hook up an ON-OFF-ON switch and make it so the stock lights can run as "low beams". lol

haha that would be a great idea with the low beams! i think i will lock it and if i dont like it ill get a new trans or do the idead with keeping the body and putting it on another tractor.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

My 94 murray has a shift on the go trans - its an interesting setup , when the handle is moved in, it automatically activates the clutch , so you can shift w/o clutching - its a regular peerless 6 speed transmission underneath.

I planned on rebuilding my murray, but more i think about it, more i might end up hacking the shift on go setup out and weld it in a parts craftsman chassis - be easier to lower it that way then refigure the murray setup, then mount the murray sheetmetal on it.

Do you know how i can adjust my clutch? when ever I have it all the way pressed in it still likes to move like its not loosening enough and the belt is still gripping. also when it is on i find it hard to get into neutral or even shifting at all some times!