Montgomery Wards(MTD) trail tractor(Now Murray Widebody LT)

You can get a manual tire changer from northern tools - im sure for a minimal fee you could have a local tire shop pull em off- i think its not if theyll explode- its if the tire will catch fire with all that heat.

Of course it's just internet hearsay, but what I read was about the heating of the air inside the tire. On the flip side, I have used starting fluid to reseat the bead on up to 40" tires before, which is fun. I have a tire spoon somewhere that makes it a lot easier. I pulled a 18" tire of an insanely rusty rim the other day just with a couple prybars. The rust was acting like glue. In other news I think I've found a solution to my rear wheel problem. I can get some 4-bolt ATV flanges, wheels, and some 22's(I think) with a little tread left. I'm thinking I can drill out the flanges to 3/4" and weld them to the shafts.

Thatll work even with little tread- the ATV tires are grippier then stockers anyway.

The starting fluid trick is just a quick hit of heat- welding would be sustained heat - i dont know if just letting the air out and removing the valve stem core would be allright - least it has somewhere to go.

Yeah I don't have any first hand experience with it, so I'll go for the safest way. Hopefully I get those parts and work on it this week, if so I'll snap some pics. I also came up with another thought I'd like to do. Build a beefier framework under the dash tied into the steering shaft. In videos I see guys driving putting a lot of force on the steering wheel when off camber. Here's a pic I found somewhere to show what I mean.

probably wouldnt hurt- thats something racers use because of the extreme forces they put on the tractors going in circles.

Even throwing my mod MTD around i havent noticed any real movement in the dash ( its plastic) - my murray- same thing ( well that was too unstable to throw around corners fast tho) . I suppose if you lean up and forward to climb a hill or something , youll want a sturdy base to the dash and not have it rip off in your hands.

Got some work done this evening. I had to cut one of the hubs off the ATV axle which required some delicate grinder work as I wanted to give the axle back to the guy who gave me all these parts. Then I welded some 3/4" sleeves on the backside of the hubes to help center them on the mower shafts. Then got them welded solid to the shafts and painted. I bolted up the ugly atv rims and tires but will break them down for paint and they'll need some tubes. Speaking of which, I have a couple tubes from some 20" lawnmower tires. Would they work inside of these 22x11.00 atv tires? They're both on 8" rims. Just trying to cut any possible corners. Anyway, here's the pics. I also took some pics of the new battery opening for the fullsize optima, the 3" extension to the dash, and the new steering wheel off the wards.

Looks cool- yeah that battery will be plenty for that tractor and run anything y want on it . Those tires still have alot of tread left on em.

A trick from a guy on YT said best way to paint rims is to mount them on the rims, break the beads loose on both sides , then tape off the wheel and paint- when the beads are popped back on- it looks like a factory job ( no ugly over spray on the tires).

You might want to bend over the metal a bit over the rear wheels- they look pretty close ( if you cut it, it could still pop a tire)- unless its just the angle of the picture making it look that way.

Those tubes shouldl work- theyll be a tad smaller - i wouldnt over inflate the wheels tho. Ive used tubes slightly bigger in smaller tires - i just inflated them so far - i did that on my mod MTD- with those short profile tires- was only way to have em seat the bead.

It seems to have pretty good clearance for the tires, probably enough for fingers when you get a little sideways. I don't plan on leaving it like that though. I'm going to have a rack to hold onto so m hands don't go anywhere near the tires. I'm also thinking I might trim the fenders up and attack some rubber to extend over the tires to stop some of the mud splash. Not sure when I'll get back to work on it again though. I didn't really have time yesterday, but was excited about finding a solution for the rear tires.

Id like to build a rack on the agway sometime - just for that atv look .

Even if you get some of that door edge material for the fender edges- itd be allright- i really nned to adjust my fenders or round em over on my mod MTD - theyre REALLY close to the tires- and ive been leaning over on the fenders in turns- its on my 'list to do' when i get back to work on it.

Got a little done before the sun hid and the temps dropped again. I drilled out the rims for the front to a smooth 3/4" instead of the 2 flats style. I did one older rim on the drill press and it took forever. This time I did 2 newer rims and didn't even have to dismount the tires. I used a step bit on a long extension and it went quick with just a hand drill. I've also been messing around with a seat bracket but haven't perfected that yet. In the pics it's too high and too far forward. 3 of the 4 tires leak, but I have tubes for them, just hate putting them in. It looks pretty good though, starting to look more like an all-terrain lawn tractor anyways.

Looks pretty cool- looks alot like fearlessfronts tractor. Those wheels look a little close to the axle- id do the bolt extension mod to place em out a bit more - depends how much rough stuff y get into , you might also want to reinforce the stock spindles.

One thing i like about the newer murrays is the built in bump stops and separate links to each spindle - i had a 99 widebody that i wanted to mod for speed- when i moved south i ended up junking it - i actually couldve brot it with me on one of my other trips down- ill find another one someday, unless something breaks on my mowing 99, then can mod that one.

Yup, wasn't really planned but it's looking more and more like Fearless' widebody. Maybe I'll paint it a different color next spring.

The front tires are actually touching the beam that the spindles are mounted to, so some spacing is definitely in order. They aren't even attached there, just slid on to see. The plan is for 3/4" bolts and double nuts, then spacing it out at least 1" per side. That way I won't rub even if the tire flexes. I agree with you about the widebody frontends. It's one of the main reasons I ditched the wards and went with the murray. How exactly should I brace the spindles though, in the bent part with a gusset?

The front wheels didnt look like they were held on - was just curious. id run a triangular brace back to where the tie rod attaches- itll give some more support anyway. I would just weld a washer where you want the wheels to sit inboard ( proper spacing) - should be easy enough.

When i did the spindle extension bolts on my agway- i used some smaller bolts i found in a bucket- since my pop brot me some 3/4" bolts- might cut those originals off n weld on those new ones. My wheels did touch the footrests , since i added the stops, now it doesnt steer worth a hoot - LOL! Ill see what itll do when it eventually gets finished, maybe a slight lift would handle it.

I'd pant it olive drab green. for some reason that color fits that tractor.

The washer is a better and cheaper idea that a sleeve, thanks. I see where you are saying to gusset. I'll do all that with the spindles off the tractor. Should I do something about the top of the spindle while I have them off? I've heard people say the cotter pins might not be the strongest. Speaking of cotter pins just gave me a thought. Would cross drilling a hole and using a castle nut with cotter pin work as good as the double nut to hold the wheels on?

Msteele, I have a gallon of OD green I got from a military surplus store a few years ago. So that would be very doable.

If anything, replace cotter pins with those a hair pin ( the pin for decks/yard trailers) or lynch pin ( http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?category=&q=lynch+pins )- itll definitly better then a standard cotter pin.

A castle nut and hair pin would be okay for the wheels ( hair pin is just easier to remove) - a nylon locknut and pin would work just as well- im planning on the nylon locknuts and pinning the wheels on both the agway and wizard projects.

For better or worse, I'm always thinking. So here's my next thought. How about using a fullsize alternator with a v-belt pulley as one of the idler pulleys in the belt driveline? I have one of my idlers mounted right where the dash area is. I think I could mount the alt inside there and it would be tucked away and serve as an idler.

Depends- on a vehicle, the belt wraps about 1/2 way around the alternator pulley- if its serving as an idler , i dont think it would spin correctly. Not to mention itd have to be mounted to spin the alternator in the correct orientation as well.

Also having it mounted that low , if you run thru water, it might short it out. Id see about getting a pulley mounted to the top of the motor - id weld another nut to the flywheel nut and just bolt a pulley down to it and mount the alternator in the front or rear of the motor.

I didn't think about the contact for the belt. I think alts are pretty water resistant though. I know I've ran mine underwater before mounted to an engine in a truck. I don't even know if I'll need one since I'm running a huge battery, but it crossed my mind. On my tractor, the carb is in front and the gas tank in in back so there's now real nice way to mount it on top.

Well, I finally got around to mounting the seat. I made it with a lot of adjustment. Parts list is scrap bedframe and a door hinge, haha.

that thing is looking great man

Yea that thing is awsome

Thanks guys. Yesterday I added a gas pedal, though not hooked up to the engine since it isn't in the mower yet. Today I got some tools from Harbor Freight, mostly engine building related tools. The opposed twin was hard to start so I figure at the very least a good cleaning of the carb and maybe pull the heads. Finally got a compression gauge so I'll test each cylinder before and after. Might even go wild and shave the eyebrows and do some porting. Really depends on if the valves need work though. I also picked up another bicycle brake cable, same as I used for the gas pedal. This one I want to try and hook up to the stock brake, to make it seperate from the clutch pedal.

okay this may be a stupid question but how do you get the rims off of the rear drive axle on an early 80's montgomery ward 10hp? i am going to be changing my tires to cross treads and it is a huge pain to change tires off of the rims while the rims are still on the tractor.

I couldn't tell you since I still have not got mine off. I pulled the axle, to junk the rest of that mower, and pulled the tires off the rims. The axle with rims is sitting in the corner of my garage still. I've heard that once you finally get them off, sanding the shafts and lots of anti sieze is a great idea.

MTD's are the worst wheels to take off - theyre held on by a press fit between the wheel and the axle.

I used a can of PB blaster, a steering wheel puller and a large hammer - best way is to remove the trans from the tractor. if that doesnt work, you might need some heat from the back side of the wheel to loosen it up.

Since i planned on taking my wheels off again , i used a grinder and lightly ( cant stress how light- otherwise the wheels will wobble) ground the axle off and never seized the heck out of it - they slide on and off by hand now. Heres my mod MTD thread:

http://atltf.forumotion.com/t37-mild-mod-mtd


It wasnt easy.