Mild Mod MTD

I had some time after work to tinker on the 91 MTD that ill be mild modding- took a step forward n back at the same time i guess- LOL!

Since the motor is off it- i dragged it in the shed, flipped it on its side and started removing all the deck brackets , also pulled the trans out to find the pulley was rusty as hell- i see why the guy didnt want to finish working on it- also a bit of the back frame has a couple rust holes in it as well- its still supported in the front of the trans and the back two bolts are good- good enough for this beater.

I took a pulley off the bolens trans ( its like 4" in diameter) to find out even why it worked for the guy- he used a deck pulley with some splined adapter that wasnt even attached to the pulley! ( hes an idiot yeah) - so i did it proper n welded the adapter to the small pulley - no slippin here!

So i got another trans out to find out its got 1" of slop in the axle end- great. I couldnt get the other pulley off because of the rust- ill haveta try again tomm maybe to get it loose n pull that other crappy trans out.

Great start to an 'easy project' .

I plan on using a 5" engine pulley and the 4" trans- should net some speed.

Sweet! Is it gonna be a go fast machine? Or is she gonna pull off road duty? Maybe somewhere in between? It'll be fun to have something you can pound around the yard and get some aggression out!

I have a bucket full of old mowerdeck mounting brackets, they're very usefull! And usally made of pretty thick steel.

I did some more progress today on it- ( no pics- ack! ill have to get some the next time) i dragged the original trans back to the shed, but wasnt pleased with the tall 20" stock tires- so grabbed a pry bar and pulled both the tires off the stock rims ( pretty easy actually)- so i was looking for a shorter profile 8" tire in my spare pile- came across 2 16x6.50-8 tires on rims- so using my manual tire changer, i pulled those tires off the rims- looking at the MTD trans- i figured id at least try to pull those rims off- believe it or not, with about a 1/2 hour of working on them , those stock 91 rims came off! I nearly fell over- so i put the one tire on the MTD rim and..... its not as wide as the original. Luckily the one 'new' tire had a tube- so i filled it up and stretched the tire to the rim- ill need another tube for the other one- i couldnt get that one to seat- even using a ratchet strap.

The wheels will be tons shorter then the originals- which will give it a lower look. Another plus is i used my 1/2" drive breaker bar n loosened that rusty nut holding the original pulley on- the new one is tons smaller- i might need to get a new smaller belt for the back- ill haveta see when i get to that part.

I plan on sanding those stock axles down and super cleaning the rims where the axles go in, never seizing the crap out of em so theyll come back off easier next time.

I suppose its purpose will be a lil bit of everything from zipping around, maybe some trail riding , even yard duty- im hoping itll go pretty quick.

Im going to drill the trans for grease fittings in the axle- drill a hole for the gear oil...stuff like that-

More updates! Stopped at TSC today and bot a tube for the other tire and put it on and aired it up. Also snagged some pics and a short video as well- heres the pics of the progress:

Pulley i welded to work on the transaxle:


Tire difference between old n new:


Bare bones MTD transaxle:


Frankenstiens monster......


Finished wheels:


Itll still need alot of work, probably will need a couple new belts, then all it needs is the 14.5HP OHV briggs on/hooked up and its ready for a spin.

It was funny- it ddint occur to me about the width until i put em on and went - " Ooops...Ill make em fit..." . The tubes are actually bigger then need be - if i used the small tire size, i dont think the tires would bulge to the rim , so i got slightly bigger .

I thought it looked sorta cool using those narrower tires- haveta see when i put the trans back in- i might be able to get away with a couple straight zerks- wont know till i get the trans open- might even put a zerk where the main drive gear is as well- overbord on grease is better then locking it up- specially if i do some rough break in time with it.

The good thing is once somethings modded- then its pretty much open to new upgrades - an idea that i thought about was to use the vari pulley AND a manual transmission and see what gearing that would come up with - i have a heavy duty trans ( preferred by racers ) in my shed out of my junked 70's simplicity - been needing an excuse to use it sometime.

Im still throwing the idea of putting the old rusty 96 back together , and slapping a motor on the other 94 as well as getting the ex mod 94 back running ..... i dunno- might be making too much work for myself probably......

I'd like to see you do the vari drive manual trans combo. It would be sick! I have the parts to do it, but I barley get any time to work on the craftsman, let alone start something new. I'd love to see it in action! It would be very versitle.

Maybe ill postone the wheelhorse build and do the MTD with the vari drive and manual trans after the 91 is done- im interested to see whatll happen as well.

Come to think of it, might need to use either the disassembled 85 chassis or the current mild mod - using the fender shift is out possibly - id have to see clearances - id like to use my 96 MTD chassis for that ( since it is all stripped) - ill haveta see when i get to it.

Definitly some custom mounts would need to be made for the trans, the trans might have to sit lower in the chassis actually for the pulleys to line up- maybe a good excuse for a lifted offroader? Two for one deal? LOL!

Finally got some time in the shed again today- i cracked open the transmission and checked it out, actually had some normal grease in it. I had planned on adding gear oil to it, but instead i added a few good squirts of lucas oil, and added the zerk fittings :



After looking the case over i noticed two breather vents in the bottom of the axle tubes- so i drilled those out, threaded em and stuck the zerks in- easy access underneath the axle and theyre pretty well protected too ( could always add a piece of metal over them)- the 3rd i added to the left top of that sticker on the case in the pic- i checked clearances and fit perfect- i did have to lightly grind off the zerks in the axle case tho- the axle touched them and i didnt want to cut a groove in the axles fearing i may break them roughousing the tractor around.

Heres the pieces i needed to actually do the process:



left to right - locktite blue, 1/4" zerk fitting ,1/4" tap ( inserted into the drill motor) , and slightly smaller drill bit .

I took the broken trans out, was putting the redone old one in and....the pinon shaft comes out...the lil clip came off the end- so took it ALL back apart and fixed it, then put the trans in the tractor.

To cure the sticky axle ends i lightly ground the axles down just ever so slightly and never seized the hell out of em!

I still need to get the proper rear belt- cant seem to find one around ..... pretty soon itll be ready to roll!

Great Idea putting one on the ring gear. Did you seal it up anyway? I'm gonna try this on the peerless that came with the tecumseh craftsman. Unless it's oil filled. This looks like it will go a long way to increasing the tranny's longevity. Any idea what size that drill bit was?

id have to look at what size the bit was- the tap will make the hole slightly bigger anyway.

I didnt use any sealant on the case- it has a small lip- since i wasnt using gear oil i figured id leave it,if the case halves are flat id use RTV for a gasket material - altho when i cracked the case open after greasing it, some of the grease went into the lil hollow pockets to the side of the axle - ill have to slowly rotate the axle when i fill it n see. I used Lucas oil grease, Lucas oil wheel bering grease and squirted a generous amount of lucas oil additive in it to make it nice n sticky. Oddly the original grease didnt look that bad- a few darker areas- but mostly looked just like regular wheel bering grease ( what little there was). I thought of adding another fitting near the input shaft - but there didnt seem to be any room ( where it wouldnt interfere ) - at least where i could reach it w/o removing the trans- now i think about it, could probably reach it from the battery tray area.....ah well- ill see how this works.

I trial fit the axle/diff unit in the case and saw there was a nice gap in there to sock the grease in.

Oddly enough i came up with the idea of adding zerks when i had the deck off the GT6000 on the 86 GTII- i was like " how do i keep those mandrels from seizing? " - so drilled n tapped em - hopefully some grease will work its way into the berings n save me several hundred dollors in mandrel replacements.

Im thinking ill add a few to the 97 mower n maybe my others as well - at least in the gear area.......that 97 howls like a banshee....

update! I had a lil time in the shed today- so did some work on the MTD. It now on all its wheels- i mesured the ground clearance - its at like 9 3/4" - while stock height is at 10 1/4" - just a tad lower.

I slightly modded the fenders ( hence using the stockers ) to sit lower and bolted the seat directly to the frame to be less top heavy and easier to run it harder.

Now that the seat is bolted to the frame, i guess ill need to mount the battery on the hitch area - ill most likely extend the hitch- who knows right?

Heres a few pics:







Obviously its not finished - i still have some work to do on it - the 14.5HP OHV briggs is on, but not bolted down- i did find a belt tho for the back - now ill need to find one for the front.

Ill probably use the stock throttle for now, least for a test run- then make a foot pedal- still have to adjust the hood a bit as well- and just jump the motor for an inital first run.

I should also mention- even as far back as the seat is- its still kinda tight sitting on it- ill probably add some strengthing straps to support the seat back a tad more and hold those fenders straighter.

After some runs, i might lower the front spindles- ill see- it seems to still have a slight rearward rake- keep y posted on progress.

Lookin good! I was wondering when you would update us! It looks complete... But I imadgine it'll never be done, like all my stuff. I gotta figure out the battery situation with my crawler also... I donno where I'm gonna put it. Theres just not enough space. I was thinking of getting an atv battery, it's much smaller but more $$ I don't want to spend.
I guess I'll wait and see what you come up with!

I have monday off and tomm afternoon to possibly tinker- should be in good shape then. I REALLY want to get it done before they consider paving the road- its all beat to crap now after 2 days of rain- perfect chance to test out some 'rough' terrain- maybe hit a puddle or two left....


I debated for a few mins to either use the bolens clip or the spare 85 clip - then sed "hell- ill use the original hood" - then since i had to cut the rear fenders, i figured id use the already rusted fenders it came with- i hacked up quite a bit of the fenders actually, but used almost all the factory holes ( like it really matters) . Like i mentioned some final adjusting will be needed, and the other bits as well before i can call " stage 1" done.

Ill probably just make a holder for a larger battery n be done with it- for its first few runs ill just start it and run w/o it - i dont like small batteries anymore- they just die too quickly.

Chunk : the gas tank is under the dash- theres not enough room to mount it in front of the motor either. Since im planning on getting car batteries now - itll make more sense to mount it in the back - can unhook it and go to the next one.

On the wheelhorse ill put it under the dash tho- the gas tank will go in the back, since the 18.5 twin has a fuel pump.

Ill see if i can find some lower profile tires in my extra wheels pile- im not changing the front axle setup just yet- i want to see what itll do 'stock' first- as a 'stage 2" ill most likely lower the whole thing more and change the front axle/homebuilt spindles /direct steer. the rake isnt as extreme actually- the rear fenders sit weirder when i lowered em to the chassis.


Its a lil weird with the seat lower- i feel like im sitting on a big wheel trike , like when i was little - the steering wheel sets up so much higher. If i lowered that id have to cut a piece out n reweld it. Its a tight fit for my 6' hieght as well. Since i probably wont use it a whole lot- i can deal with it.

is there not a spot under the seat. you could always cut out a hole with a grinder and put a flower pot or sumthin

Arild365 : Not anymore, since i lowered the seat n stuff- that took a good 2-3" out - have maybe 4" to the top of the pulley.


Its official, it runs- after some working on it today ( and destroying two belts) i took its first laps around the yard with it - it still needs some tweeking.

I had to take the carb apart because the year old stale gas in it had made the needle valve stick in the bore, fired it up and the front belt burnt off, then had to take the vari pulley off to get the new front belt on- fired it up and it ran ( somewhat with a chug) and...... top speed is maybe 20mph- if that- it was quick- not fast. With that grease in there it hardly made any gear noise, altho when i burnt the back belt off it had a lil noise.

It handled very well for a mostly stock tractor, steered great- altho the brakes leave something to be desired- have to pop it in drive n hold on- so that needs adressing. ill try adjusting them again before i put some other setup on- i had an idea of looking in a junkyard for a really small car's hydraulic brakes - the rotor, caliper, hub and brake booster n put that on a tractor.

Maybe after some tweeks ill find it better.

Yeah thats the problem with a trans- y might need to put em on both sides to stop it efficiently - but then again, you locked your trans.

Does your neighbor still have that junk samuri? Perfect for disc brake parts!

I spent some more time in the shed- looked for another rear drive belt n couldnt find one short enough- so ill need to buy one- i need to fill my gas cans anyway- all 3 are finally empty ( amzingly after a whole year!) - so i found out some pin head put a super strong spring on the wrong part of the '91's vari drive - i moved that- seems to have more flex now. After that ( n busting a knuckle on it) i parked it outside, covered it up and decided to drag the runners out n fire em up- couple batteries were discharged- needed to fill up some tires- almost all fired right up and ran around great- i was disapointed in my 84 dynamark- tried to fire it up and gas started pouring out of the bottom of the carb- time for some maintence. Ill check the oil - probably change it.

I really need to get some sort of floor in that temp shed- tractors are still getting dirty , plus need to modify the temp shed again.....

Update: I found a belt - a lil longer so had to make another idler pulley , but after changing a spring location on the veri pulley ( the way someone had it wouldnt allow it to flex and move properly) and a couple other tweeks - it seemed faster yet this time......till the belt fell off the trans. So now i know it works , is a lil faster yet ( and i adjusted the brakes so it does stop) - ill pull the motor off and mount some belt retainers for the front n back pulleys- straighten out the rear belt setup and work on a foot throttle for it. the engine still needs some tweeking - doesnt really sound right to me actually- maybe ill swap carbs or something.


I have noticed even just using grease, it seeps out some areas still- ah well - ill sock some grease to it again when i do more tweeks