New MTD project

Well, i started a small side project, i'm building a mild mod MTD like someone else did!

I already got the pain in the butt wheels and pulley off, i put a 3.5" pulley on the back and lowered the front end.

The mower is for my friend who is sick of not having his own to ride, and he likes the idea of the veridrive cause i let him ride one of my regular 5speed mowers and he had a hard time shifting it so i hope he'll do better with this one.

Being that i'm only doing a 3.5" pulley should i take the trans apart and greese it all up or put gear oil in? this is my first time doing any mods to an MTD so any help would be great.

I should have a video of it up in the next few days, i'll post the link.

Yepper- that be me. Im still going to try either redoing that modifed pulley or look for a slightly larger then i had- issue i had was the belt hit the shift lever and it was eating belts like crazy- mostly because the trans pulley wasnt at the same hieght as the varible pulley.

With a 6" engine ( 14.5HP engine) pulley and a 4" trans pulley - it hauled! Man that thing was fast. With the stock rear pulley now its slowed down some. Id suggest putting grease zerks in it - even socking grease to mine it still whines pretty good.

All i did to lower the front was cut the metal axle swivel rings off and drill 2 new holes in the existing frame holes - bolted right in. Now it steers on a dime, altho the tires will hit the grille ( i need to weld some stops in the spindles).

I put some lower profile tires off a RER on it- that lowered the back a couple inches- i also bolted the seat to the chassis for a lower seating position.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Yepper- that be me. Im still going to try either redoing that modifed pulley or look for a slightly larger then i had- issue i had was the belt hit the shift lever and it was eating belts like crazy- mostly because the trans pulley wasnt at the same hieght as the varible pulley.

With a 6" engine ( 14.5HP engine) pulley and a 4" trans pulley - it hauled! Man that thing was fast. With the stock rear pulley now its slowed down some. Id suggest putting grease zerks in it - even socking grease to mine it still whines pretty good.

All i did to lower the front was cut the metal axle swivel rings off and drill 2 new holes in the existing frame holes - bolted right in. Now it steers on a dime, altho the tires will hit the grille ( i need to weld some stops in the spindles).

I put some lower profile tires off a RER on it- that lowered the back a couple inches- i also bolted the seat to the chassis for a lower seating position.

So a 3.5 pulley will work on the back?
Cause i can either do a 6" or the 3.5", i'm probably just going to leave the front pulley stock.
It doesent have to go any faster then 20mph but faster is always ok with me!

THanks for your help!

3.5 incher should be fine, but definatly put gear oil and grease fittings if you can, these MTD f/n/r trannies arent renowned for their strength!

Chunk wrote:

3.5 incher should be fine, but definatly put gear oil and grease fittings if you can, these MTD f/n/r trannies arent renowned for their strength!

Yeah i will, and i know about them not being very strong.
It's only just for riding nice and easy around the back yard and maybe a little bit of trail but nothing bad.

I cant wait to see what you come up with! I really like MTDs, despite all their flaws and cheap designs

Chunk wrote:

I cant wait to see what you come up with! I really like MTDs, despite all their flaws and cheap designs

Can't agree more, this one is an eary 90's so it's not as cheap as the new ones.
I my self can't wait to test the vari-drive setup out and see how it works, i'm hopeing
it will shift smooth.

I like that fact that you get 6 forward AND reverse gears, that would come in handy if you were stuck.

FearlessFront wrote:

I like that fact that you get 6 forward AND reverse gears, that would come in handy if you were stuck.

doesn't your buddy's mtd have vari-drive?

Roboman79 : "So a 3.5 pulley will work on the back?
Cause i can either do a 6" or the 3.5", i'm probably just going to leave the front pulley stock.
It doesent have to go any faster then 20mph but faster is always ok with me! geek

THanks for your help! "


No problem- i was building mine on the cheep with stuff i had around , just to mess with , and also not really trying to weld stuff to it - case i ever want to make it a mower again some year. The really neat thing about mine is it feel like im piloting a big wheel - y know those 3 wheeled plastic trikes with the large front wheel - the handling is awsome , can whip it right around , lean right in on corners- im glad i lowered the seat to the chassis and got those lower profile tires on it. Thats mine in my profile pic <<<<<<

That modifed pulley ( think its like a 4-5" ) made it seriously fly- least till the rear belt shredded- went thru 4 belts lasting about 15 minutes each - when i had the grinder out today i cut the adapter on it shorter, ill see if that works.

Like i mentioned the other issue is with a smaller pulley - it gets closer to the transaxle shift lever - i might make a custom lever - ill see what happens .

Id use the 6" for now and see how fast it goes .


The vari drive is just like a shift on the fly- no clutching- just make sure the center part of the variable pulley moves up and down. I always had mine in 6th , pop the clutch and haul arse!

FearlessFront wrote:

I like that fact that you get 6 forward AND reverse gears, that would come in handy if you were stuck.

Yeah so i'm hopeing for about 20mph so that would be crazy to go that fast in reverse.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Roboman79 : "So a 3.5 pulley will work on the back?
Cause i can either do a 6" or the 3.5", i'm probably just going to leave the front pulley stock.
It doesent have to go any faster then 20mph but faster is always ok with me! geek

THanks for your help! "


No problem- i was building mine on the cheep with stuff i had around , just to mess with , and also not really trying to weld stuff to it - case i ever want to make it a mower again some year. The really neat thing about mine is it feel like im piloting a big wheel - y know those 3 wheeled plastic trikes with the large front wheel - the handling is awsome , can whip it right around , lean right in on corners- im glad i lowered the seat to the chassis and got those lower profile tires on it. Thats mine in my profile pic <<<<<<

That modifed pulley ( think its like a 4-5" ) made it seriously fly- least till the rear belt shredded- went thru 4 belts lasting about 15 minutes each - when i had the grinder out today i cut the adapter on it shorter, ill see if that works.

Like i mentioned the other issue is with a smaller pulley - it gets closer to the transaxle shift lever - i might make a custom lever - ill see what happens .

Id use the 6" for now and see how fast it goes .


The vari drive is just like a shift on the fly- no clutching- just make sure the center part of the variable pulley moves up and down. I always had mine in 6th , pop the clutch and haul arse!

Ok i'll try the 6" first, it had a 8.5" on it stock so as for the belt if i go with a 2.5" smaller pulley that goes for the belt size too rite?

indianaboy93 wrote:

FearlessFront wrote:

I like that fact that you get 6 forward AND reverse gears, that would come in handy if you were stuck.

doesn't your buddy's mtd have vari-drive?

Yes it does. Still works too, and you've seen how we treat that thing. Although he has 1" axles.
The steering on the other hand.... not so good...

My alko steerign is pretty tough. WHen I tested the clutch (which didnt work!) I went straight into a fence at about 10/15mph, left tyre first. Didnt even damage it!

Roboman79: you want a little slack in the rear belt and front belt- why it comes with a tensioner to make up for the different speeds. So yeah youll need a slightly smaller belt.

The funny thing is i have a 97 mastercut- 14.5HP motor, stock pulleys, functioning varible pulley, and the thing is SUPER fast stock - i use it to mow now .

Chunk: Reminds me of my first few test runs on my murray- thing wouldnt stop ( was interesting screeming down the road and hope it stops before the end ) and soon as i popped the clutch the front would go skyward. I blocked off reverse so i could find neutral easier. Also did that on my MTD.

Update: I got my belt!
And i put the 3.5" pulley on and put some gear oil in her and put the tranny back in.
Sorry for not having a video but i want to do some other stuff before i make one.

Id still drill n tap it for zerks- i put one in each axle and one near the main drive gear - socked it full of grease and still whines some.....

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Id still drill n tap it for zerks- i put one in each axle and one near the main drive gear - socked it full of grease and still whines some.....

Ok i'll do that too, I'll probably be taking it back out once i know it works ok and i'll do the zerks then.

Yeah i put oil in a MTD trans and it leaked out all over- figured the grease would stay in there longer.

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

Yeah i put oil in a MTD trans and it leaked out all over- figured the grease would stay in there longer.

HAha, funny you said that, rite after i put oil in mine about 1/4 of it leaked out.

So i guess i'll be running the best grease i can.

Did you totally seal the tranny with RTV sealant? Only place mine leaks now it the axle ends that the gears ride on. Its below half now anyway, so it wont leak much more. Its always gonna be an issue. I wanna run heavier grease in mine, still cant help but think its not enough! And mine will only do about 20mph!

Chunk wrote:

Did you totally seal the tranny with RTV sealant? Only place mine leaks now it the axle ends that the gears ride on. Its below half now anyway, so it wont leak much more. Its always gonna be an issue. I wanna run heavier grease in mine, still cant help but think its not enough! And mine will only do about 20mph!

No i didn't seal it cause i ran out of RTV, but i didn't put much in it, not even half full.

I used some bath caulk i had on the wizard trans when i had that one apart - it leaked right out the axle ends/brake stub- and it was half full.

I figured with such a small area inside , grease would be the way to go. Every couple times i ride it i sock some grease in it. Actually im planning on doing that to couple other MTD's i have- plain jane mowers.

Updates, Got a craftsman front axle in the MTD yesterday all that i have to do next is make a tierod and install my 20hp briggs opposed in it and hook it all up.

NEED PICTURES!

Sounds like you've got alot of work done, really cant wait to see it, especially that twin