(2001) Murray Widebody LT - Bowser

I'd really like to put a front bumper on this tractor, but right now it would have to be easily removable until I can afford a larger trailer to haul 2 mowers.  Considering TDR is about 6'8" in length, I'd need something in the 12'-16' range.  Trailer prices down here are crazy.

Trailers are crazy here too. Anything over 16 foot is a minimum of $1500. I ended up buying a 17 foot frame of an old camper and did some work on it to suit my needs and still am. The camper frame is a little weak for vehicles but it would make a great trailer for mowers. I bet if you could find an old cheap camper and demolished it you could probably have it ready to haul in a matter of 2 or 3 weeks at the rate you finish projects lol.

Yeah, I've kept an eye out for those too.  Last I saw was 30' for around 900.  blah!

MightyRaze wrote:

I'd really like to put a front bumper on this tractor, but right now it would have to be easily removable

What if the mount had 2 bolts on each side so you could remove one from each side, loosen the other 2 and swing it down out of the way while in transport?

I don't know about down there but around me I see ragged pop up tent trailers being given away for free sometimes, once they're stripped down they are an excellent platform to make into a toy hauler for cheap!

Brianator wrote:

MightyRaze wrote:

I'd really like to put a front bumper on this tractor, but right now it would have to be easily removable

What if the mount had 2 bolts on each side so you could remove one from each side, loosen the other 2 and swing it down out of the way while in transport?

I don't know about down there but around me I see ragged pop up tent trailers being given away for free sometimes, once they're stripped down they are an excellent platform to make into a toy hauler for cheap!

I was also thinking about the 2 bolts to swivel and maybe a couple pins that could be removed to drop it down.

No, not so frequent here.

OK, here is a new one.  How to make the belt on Bowser not be so grabby on declutching.  The belt on Bowser has always been ..  nothing, nothing, full grab.  One of the biggest reasons I put fluid in the front tires.  I thought it was belt sag, but I eliminated that last time.  Not sure what to really look into next.  I have I think 5 inch pulley's front and back.  Maybe a 6 on the front.

I think I am going to go back to a stock pulley on the transaxle on Bowser.  Keep the larger on the engine so it still has some good travel speed, but I'm going to put the creep back in the crawl.  Also take out the extra idler to clear the shifter since it will not be needed anymore.  See if that helps in the shift dept.  Reviewing footage from our stroud lake visit, the gears above 2nd she looses a little control after about an hour.  I also need to figure out why it is having issues turning left at times, but not when turning right.  That one has me, as it does turn the wheels but the tractor rakes more when turning left.  Just not all the time.  

Alignment?
Some weird belt torque on the frame?  
Bent Frame?
Crooked or loose transaxle?

Who knows.

Brianator wrote:

I can't believe you're able to ride around in tshirts this time of year, it's craziness! Lol. That's weird with the steering,  a chipped/damaged tooth on the steering gear perhaps?

Not today!  It's in the 30's right now. 

No, the mechanicals for the steering on Bowser is fine.  The tires turn left, it just rakes WAY more often than it does when turning right.  Maybe it's the way we are sitting, air pressures...who knows.  I am still going to go back to factory size on the transaxle to see how that works out.

By "rake" are you talking about when the inside tire oversteers?

@Brianator

I am probably using the wrong terminology.  I am talking about when you steer and it continues straight.  Due to locked rear end.  Bowser does that when turning left 50% of the time.  Not so much when turning right.

Tires are fluid filled.

MightyRaze wrote:

@Brianator

I am probably using the wrong terminology.  I am talking about when you steer and it continues straight.  Due to locked rear end.  Bowser does that when turning left 50% of the time.  Not so much when turning right.

Tires are fluid filled.

I guess I mean the front tires are pushing in the corners.  Not rake.  It's not a hotrod. 

Gothca, I know that as "pushing". The front tires look good and grippy so maybe adding even more weight up front and or rasing the rear end to move the weight bias forward would help? The Akerman looks "steep" so to speak (as do most tractors'), maybe you'll be able to play with the toe and get a level of correction? I'm not opposed to running a little toe in on a lower speed rig it makes it tighter turning and more responsive, it would also reduce the Akerman effect at full lock. 2 out of 3 are pretty easy to test anyhow! Lol

Right now, I am prepping for a pulley swap return for now. (grey pulley in pic is not the replacement, it's a 633 pulley ) Noticed this 205 has started leaking now around the brake like the 206 did.  Oh well, sending it for now.  Other than that, transaxle appears fine.  Maybe a small leak out the right shaft too.  Nothing from either that would drip on the ground at this point. 

Nice, that machine is in great condition, what difference do you notice in the handleing of your machines with oppys vs this one with the single?

As far as physical handling, only thing I can possibly think of is engine weight.  That's why I loaded the front tires on this one. 

Far as power, this engine for being stock is a little spicy.  It doesn't seem to struggle when properly used.  

Huh... been a while since this one was updated.  I see posts since, but the daughter rolled this tractor pretty good and no evidence of it.  Pretty solid tractor!

Anyway, I mentioned going back to stock pulleys with this thing... NAH!

I did get a new steel front pulley for it because I am having a belt has too much grip issue.  Imagine that....   Anyway, it was finally installed today.



It's about 1/4 inch smaller than the previous and it has help very little, but I'll take very little over nothing.

Put all my other projects on hold for a bit to fix Bowser today.  I was still trying to fix the belt grab issue.  I was backing off the clutch spring a bit when I noticed the well known third mount was busted on the frame.  Not completely, but enough that it was sagging pretty good.

Teardown...


The cracked place in the frame...


Bend in the wheel where I hit a boulder driving it up the hill after my daughter flipped it...




Got it all welded back up...


A little insurance for the future.  I was going to do this when I built it, but forgot about doing it.  Braces on both sides.



While at it, I noticed the front hood braces were bent too.



I went ahead and straightened them too. 

All-on-all a pretty busy day.  Tomorrow is testing.

good eye, catching those issues with the tractor. So the braces you added, were never there originally? So it’s an add-on you did on both sides?

Yes, the transaxle even has the holes for front braces.  Just a couple of deck hangers from a mower.  @Murraymountain I'm sure knows all about this mount instead of the missing braces on the Murray.  I believe he talked about it once not too long ago. 

Here is a 205 foreground and a 206 background that have the mount hole but is unused on the Murray widebody.



I did this brace long ago with Li'l Red.  820's have 2 provision holes instead of 1 like the MST.

Good call on those braces. I still need to do it to Alfredo. And yeah I just covered this issue in the building a Widebody video.


@Crazy_Carl If I’m not mistaken, the older model Widebodies used this style that Bowser had. Newer ones come with a bracket like what Mighty just made from factory on one side. Hydro models have the bracket too. The bolt through the frame is an awful design for the exact reason you see here on Bowser. They crack even on the ones that never see offroad use. If you don’t take care of it will eventually split the frame clean in half. The MM I believe had a factory bracket on it when I got it, whereas Alfredo is this style which leads me to believe the MM is a newer year model than Alfredo. Bowser is probably an earlier Widebody.

Re-shakedown after repairs went well yesterday. This morning I woke to a puddle under the trans dripping from the brake shaft. Aye, not one thing it is another.

My brake shafts always leaked a little bit. That's why I cut the one off of mutt and put in a plain closed end bearing, since I wasn't using the stock brake location. I have extra shafts anyway if I ever wanna go back to a trans brake.

Do you have the innner O ring on that needle bearing?

Bowser has an MST-205.  It has an oil seal I believe with a brass bushing.  It would have been nice for it to leak before I had it out earlier this week,  Splitting the case is bad enough.

Ah, ok, figured you’d have gone to an 820.

Yeah, splitting the case is whatever, I just hate having to scrape out all the silicone to seal it back up.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Ah, ok, figured you’d have gone to an 820.

Yeah, splitting the case is whatever, I just hate having to scrape out all the silicone to seal it back up.

I think this weekend, the 820 is coming out of Li'l Red and into Bowser.  I don't hardly get Red out anymore.

The MST205 I fear has done the same thing as the 206 did and shattered that brass bearing on the brake.  Won't know till later.  I don't feel like busting it open again to find out right away.  I'll just stick the mst in Red.