hello from new brunswick

hey guys. i just retired my 95 mtd yardman from its cutting dutys
and then saw some guys on youtube building mud tractors with these
things and i though. hey thats interesting! so here i am.
so far i striped all mowing stuff off the tractor.
and then i need to look in to possibley a belt or trans problem?

Depends on what transaxle it has. If it is a hydrostatic drive, you should start looking for a new transaxle or a whole tractor. if it is a varidrive, (FNR shifter and a speed shifter) then it will be ok as-is, but they aren't very durable and lots of opportunity for belt slip. And *these are very rare* if you have one with a peerless, pulley swap and go. My friend found an MTD Ranch King with a factory peerless 801, we looked on the MTD website and there isn't even a record of having built it.

Also, welcome!

Thanks. Again from YouTube research I see its what is called the FNR trans.
I think that's one of the less desirable trans for the hole mud thing?

Yes the transaxle is fairly weak, and with two belts and the variable drive pulley, it slips bad when its wet. I would look for a peerless MST or 900 series. They should fit the chassis without too much modification and just gut out the whole varidrive system and run one belt with a normal clutch. Fair amount of work, but if you can't find another or you want to do something a little different, its doable.

Redlinemotorsportts put a peerless in his MTD a few years ago, but I haven't heard of anyone else doing it. Anyone else?

I've definitely seen a few people convert from Vari-drive on this forum but I can't seem to find any of those threads now. I will have another look sometime.

I also would like to point out that if you can't get a Peerless, a Foote/Spicer would be nearly as good. I've looked into this a few times and there aren't really that many differences. The case is weaker though. It would at least be better than the Vari-drive and weak FNR trans.