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

That sucks. Should be easy enough to pick up a couple 8inch rear rims though

Yepper- those are MTD rims - could probably cut the center out of the MTD wheels and make an adapter .

Best part about those widebody murrays - have a full c channel frame- body just bolts to it - i had planned on making one a modifed , but i ended up moving and unfortunately i junked it ( i coulda brot it down actually) .

Itll make a good offroad or fast mod.

The more I look over the murray, the more I'm leaning towards it being the trail tractor. It has very little rust, is a manual, and everything is in working order mechanically. While the wards/mtd is a rust bucket, everything is bent, it's veridrive. If the murray motor won't run I'll swap the wards twin in.

I pulled the murray transaxle this evening and set it on the bench. I'll pull it apart, weld it, and maybe add some zerks. Not sure where to place the fittings though. As for the wheels, I had an idea. I got some 3/4" keyed collars from tractor supply. They're some kind of big tractor coupler. Anyway, I checked and they fit the axle shafts. so I'm going to weld them to the wheel centers and drill out the "D" shaped MTD style rim. Should be good enough for a lawnmower.

I'd see if you can slap that twin in the Murray anyway would be cool to see one with a twin.

Yeah, might as well go with the Murray then. Not sure exactly what you mean with the wheels, but sounds like you've got it covered. Need more photos now!

Twin will fit- i have a 99 murray widebody hydro with a big 17HP opposed twin - so should have the bolt pattern for it.

I put my zerks in the bottom of the transaxle case near the axle ends and in the back near the ring gear on my MTD - easier for greasing w/o taking panels off or in awkward positions near impossible to reach. I just give each one a few healthy squirts every other time i run it.

Sounds good then. The 11hp "craftsman" might run and would be enough power but I really like the idea of the opposed twin. Another plus to the murray is easily changed pulleys. For the zerks in the transaxle, I wasn't sure if they could be placed in the same place as the MTD axle or not. I guess I'll know for sure once I crack it open. One fitting per axle shaft, one on the ring gear, and how about one on the input shaft? The transaxle is fairly easy to get to all around under the murray so a fitting on the top shouldn't be hard. Oh yeah, not sure if I said it, but thanks so much for all the info, this site is great.

Dangeroustoy, did the stock exhaust fit under the murray hood on the opposed twin also?

The input shaft oculd be tricky. THere are little roller bearings inside it, so unless you can take them out, drilling dead inbetween them will be tricky. Hence why I didnt do one on mine.
Definatly go for the oppsed twin, even if its just for the wicked sound

Maybe drill above or below the bearings? I think I got one of those big boxes of grease fittings from harbor freight, but have yet to find it in the garage. I love harbor freight, you get a whole box of 100(or so) fittings for what a pack of 5 costs at the auto store. Wish they sold ATV tires.

My stock 17HP opposed has the exhaust that goes straight down to a large muffler and out the side under the hood.

With those grease fittings- i cracked the MTD trans open and looked for spots that didnt interfere with anything - i figured a couple greaase fittings were better then no grease at all- oil is better- but leaks out too easy unless you run all seals. I looked for a place on the input shaft as well to put a zerk- i couldnt find anywhere that didnt contact something.

Yeah i want to order one of those giant boxes of zerks sometime - i already used up my box of 20 on the MTD and my stock mower mandrels . Northern tools has atv tires and other assorted tires .

Glad to help with the info - i also see it as a learning curve as well- seeing what others have done to their tractors.

Got the transaxle finished up this evening. Welded up, greased, and zerk fittings on the shafts and bull gear. I wasn't sure of where else to add a fitting. Also think I may have a solution to a rust frozen pulley. I'll run it past you guys and you tell me if it's a feasible plan. I got a 5" pulley off the mowing deck of the murray but it's got some splined center deal. So I was thinking I could drill holes through both pulleys and bolt the small one on top of the original large one. Then I'd space the transaxle down the appropriate distance.

Awesome Murray! I donno about adding the zerks though. If it's like my Murray, then it has an oil filled trans, and a tough one at that! I like the wide body design, very light and rigid! You can bounce those tractors over alot of shit! Trust me!

And they have the best steering of any offroading tractor.

Well I wasn't 100% sure either. But I didn't want to pull the transaxle apart twice so I went ahead and did it. It's greased up though. Is it possible to mix grease and oil? I can always add some oil in without splitting the case.

You can add them together- i used lucas oil additive in my 94 murrays trans - thing whirred like crazy, but i never had any issues with it. Id add a super thick gear oil- thin stuff would just leak out.

My dynamarks and craftsmans have the 'true' oil filled transmissions- plugs in the top and drain plugs.

I got 3 tractors with those heaavy gear oil filled trannys. Theyre awesome.

The pulley idea sounds good. I'd go for it, worst comes to worst, you'll have to go out and buy one instead. Cant wait to see it, WE NEED MORE PICS!

Doubt I'll have any pics soon. Next week or two will be pretty busy. I did completely strip the murray chassis yesterday though. Doubt anyone wants to see a pile of parts so pics will wait for progress, haha.

I know I said no pics, but weather allowed me to work on the tractor a couple hours. I bolted the new transaxle pulley to the old one and trimmed the old one down to size. I also pulled off the front tires and put the rear 20's on just for fun. Looks pretty cool and not too far off since the tires I plan to use are 18's.

Pulley came out well. That looks beasting that Murray! What size rears will it be getting?

Those are the rears at least for a while. They are 20's and I have the rear tires off the Wards to run on the front which are 18's. I'm happy with the pulley. It isn't perfect, but the clutch should make up for it not being exactly centered.

Only problem with that is the clutch pedal might bounce a bit as it drives. My front pulley was slightly off centre, but the very little of that goes up to the clutch thankfully. IF it had I would probably end up ripping it apart and makinga new pulley!

That's always an option if it becomes a problem. I can cut the old pully down the side and it should release after some hammer is applied. Then I'd just buy a pulley to fit it. This is cheaper though, so if it works, all the better.

That looks awsome with the rear wheels in front- i like that style of murray, havent found one cheep enough tho ...

I like the looks of it too, especially that sloped hood line.

Did a little work on this today. Stripped it down to the frame and put the transaxle back in. Belt is way too long and I have no spares the correct length. I'm thinking I might add an extra idler pulley like Fearlessfront did on his Murray. Also picked up a goofy plastic chair I might use for the seat. Of course it's bright yellow, making my ride look like Ronald McDonald's all terrain mower. So while I was out there I painted all the sheetmetal black.

Dont laugh- most racers use seats similar - those are probably go kart bucket seats. Any progress is good progress

Aye, with a little padding that will be a great seat for offroad, means you wont slip off on a hill.
Looking good so far

Chunk: i decided to try a seat pan for my mutant MTD - seems actually comfortable , even w/o the foam - I just made sure the bolts dont go into the seat area- LOL