Li'l Red 1

Much to your dismay.... I think I will be going back to the round hood on L'il Red.  This isn't set in stone, but I am considering a Utility Build with the 85 Murray GT I have for next year.  We'll see how this will unfold for next year.

Soon as I figure out some details, I'll start a new thread.  Not sure if it would be 2019 Build-Off worthy.  

MightyRaze wrote:

Much to your dismay.... I think I will be going back to the round hood on L'il Red.  This isn't set in stone, but I am considering a Utility Build with the 85 Murray GT I have for next year.  We'll see how this will unfold for next year.

Soon as I figure out some details, I'll start a new thread.  Not sure if it would be 2019 Build-Off worthy.  

would the round hood fit the gt, just wondering, who knows, if it will you might like it

It could be made to fit.

I wish you would keep the hood or find another cool one somewhere to swap onto it

That's great news about the gas tank situation.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

I wish you would keep the hood or find another cool one somewhere to swap onto it

That's great news about the gas tank situation.

Unfortunately it sprung another leak.  I got frustrated and purchased a "new" tank.  


Funny thing about that.
Briggs and Stratton purchased Murray back in 2004 I believe.  This Murray is a 98 model before B&S.  You go to the Murray site and they say don't support products prior to 2005.  I purchased the tank from a retailer in TX and it comes from Briggs and Stratton.  ?!?!  LOL go figure.

Per the round hood... I hope to incorporate some changes over time that will give it a more pleasant appearance.  Stay tuned.  Nothing immediate, but I have some ideas.

OOooooo.... scored an upgrade. Pix later.

I would build the Hood-less GT 2k19!!

I finally found me one. $35 Bucks. Turns freely and hardly looks used .  Looks pulled and stored .

what's that? a 820?

Crazy_Carl wrote:

what's that? a 820?

Yes Sir.  I hope to 820 Doc Lock it this winter sometime.  It does look a bit more beefy than my MST. Also, with that tall shift rod, I can keep my fender shifter.

Did some quick pricing of a live axle and those are cheaper than I thought. I also hope to get some "Real" tires for it.



My father in law has a drill press so I can fix the bull gear. I have the bits.

I kinda cringe at the thought of using a drill press for something like that, but I suppose for our purposes it would be within tolerance. Nice find! Wonder if yours has the wonky length axles like my murray variant did.

Glad to see you got 'er Mighty!

I'm liking where these plans are headed, haha.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

I kinda cringe at the thought of using a drill press for something like that, but I suppose for our purposes it would be within tolerance. Nice find! Wonder if yours has the wonky length axles like my murray variant did.

Better than a hand drill LOL
Probably so... It has a murray aura about it.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Glad to see you got 'er Mighty!

I'm liking where these plans are headed, haha.

That makes 2 of us.

SWEET!!!! Jealous! Build it!

It appears to be a 6 speed   Not sure which version as it is missing the sticker. One wheel slid right off. The other appears to need some coaxing .

Wheels slid right off.  That is a good thing.  Also found the model plate on the front.  820-037.  That shows a 5 speed.  It shifts pretty easily and all gears work. I thought I clicked 6 forward. I may have clicked 2nd twice.  Spins really smooth!

Sweet! Gonna be an awesome upgrade for Lil Red for sure!

Oh.. and for @Richierichoverdrive.  It does match up for a murray and the right side is about 2 inches longer out the case than the left.


I also noticed last night that my left rear tire the tube's valve stem is ripped out?  What?!  Not sure how I did that.

MightyRaze wrote:

I also noticed last night that my left rear tire the tube's valve stem is ripped out?  What?!  Not sure how I did that.

Valve stem got tore out.  New tube installed.

Just hard to show how much Kal grew for the build off. At one time it was smaller than Li'l Red. 

Kal really looks like a "full size" all terrain tractor there.  Lil looks like a light rally machine.  It's handy to have both.

Valve stems are pretty common victims of offroading. They like to pop off tubes especially, darn things.

Yeah, pretty common.  Funny thing is... this is one of those metal stems that you can bolt to the rim. 

Oh well, new tube is in. New fuel tank is intalled. Also installed is new fuel line as the previous was the culprit for some of the leakage.  Additionally, I installed a dash mounted fuel shutoff like all my other tractors.

Input pulley came off with a little pressure, heat and a dash of cold water.  Oh and a single whack of a small 1lb hammer.



Next will be opening this bad boy.  Just looking at the bolts, I can tell how much better built this thing is.

Got it split open.  Only 2 bolts busted but they came out with very little coaxing.  I'll get some new ones later when I button it back up.

All gears are in A1 shape and no input pulley play.



After having my MST open and comparing it to this.  It's pretty obvious the 820 is a much stronger trans.