Improving Traction on a Murray Wide Body

I am new to these forums, and looking for help to improve the traction on my 20HP twin v Murray wide body mower.
This has a B&S 20HP twin cylinder V motor IC/Plus comercial grade and a hydro transmission with a 46" cutting deck.
This mower is actualy used for mowing however I live on the side of a Mt and the 5acres that I cut is on a steep slope which is always damp or wet, I have problems with traction and in some places that are dry thankfully the slope is so steep that while cutting and going up I cannot go at full speed as it is too much for the motor I am thinking that the hydro might be the cause for this.

I will upload some info and a photo of the Mower latter, but are there any ideas on gaining some traction?
Should I attempt to find a manual transaxle?

Generaly I find the motor to be very strong and it wants to go but the mower just wont grip.

Bigger knobbyer tires on the back should help.

noledroByrreK wrote:

Bigger knobbyer tires on the back should help.

but as a safety prcaution weight in the front might be nescesary. i dont know of any reasin a maual trans could hurt but, its probably not nescesary

Well larger tires wouldn't work well with the mowing deck. I have a murray auto that I mow with also, and while my slopes aren't as severe I can relate. I doubt you would want to lock the diff, if that's even possible on the auto, since it would reduce your turning radius. I do run chains on mine and plan to make some wheel weights which should help with traction. But more weight isn't going to do you any good if you are already bogging the motor down. Mine only has a 16.5 hp single cylinder and I can;t remember it ever not being enough power. Not sure how the hydro transaxle works, perhaps a manual would help as you could hold it in a lower gear.

Thanks for the replies so far, at the moment I am thinking of a small super charger for a little bit more power and going with better tires filled with liquied and wheel wights, also more articulation would help as alot of problems are uneaven ground.

The manual transaxle might also reduce the power strain on the motor?

As for diff locking I have a friend here who might be able to make a solinoide controled locker for the diff.

any other ideas to get more power and traction?

any one here try forced induction say arround 3 to 6 PSI?

Hydro trannys are more for flat yards- you might be better off with a manual transmission. I find unless you do internal mods to a v twin ( rockers, ect) - the factory builds them so underpowered stock , then trying to run the hydro and deck- its taking alot of the power from the motor. Messing with power helpers might destroy the motor, blow head gaskets- newer motors arent built as good as old ones. I might try n change the drive pulley to a slightly larger one.

Tire traction is depending on how much you want to chew your yard up - you can go AG tires , use tire chains, ive also seen spike areators that wrap around the wheels- bet youd get a whole lot of traction with these and do minimal damage:


You might want to get some sort of weight set for the front- dont want to be flipping wheelies going up a mountain. Any way to mow horizontally across it? I used to mow the front hill ( was really steep) at my folks place horizontally- id lean way off tward the hill - i never had any motor issues or stalling.

Thanks for the reply you are right about the 20hp motor it is under powered however it has a cast iron block and sleevs so if better internals are not too expensive i might get more power as i have a smal charger that could be made to give it a few psi.

The spikes would be a good idea except for all the rocks just below the surface and some big flat ones arround the place.

I cant mow side ways as even when leaning it will roll over and i can say thata the murray wide body is heavy when its siting on top of you.

So far I have installed more wight in the rear which is helping for the traction but without the power in some places i have to turn the blades off go up the hill turn them on and mow down hill, often the back wheels lock up trying to slow me down when i try this so the yard gets riped anyway at the moment.

I have been looking at better tyres and good amounts of weight in tthe back to solve the problem but than the motor cant handle it.

So i guess if you guys have a sugestion on good all round tyres that wont rip the lawn up like ag tyres i will try that first with limited weight and go from there what do you guys think?

I had that same problem dude. I picked up some tractor tires at tractor supply. Now Make sure you put some tubes in them because if you are on uneven ground it can brake the side beads and give you a flat tire. You also need a manual. that is a must. The ag tires really helped me out. If you were closer to NY I would sell you my old pair.

For more power get a bigger pulley in the back. It would require some work but it is not that hard to replace the rear one. It will have more torque but less speed.

Cant swap trans pullies on a hydro trans- theyre based on pressures, not gears - change the pullies on a hydro and y risk destroying it.

I have a new problem now the steering is out i have one wheel pointing inwards can the murray ultra wide body have adjustments on the steering or is one of the steering rods likely bent?

Sounds like something bent or broke- id pull the deck off to get a good look underneath and youll also need to look under the gas tank/behind the motor. My widebody murrays have steel stops built right into the spindles so theyll only go so far.

I would say one of your steering arms are bent. I have that problem with one of my tractors sometimes. The stock linkages cant handle major off-roading very well.