The MUT is dead, meet the replacement: Deere X750

With the purchase of the new JD, the MUT thread is officially dead. IE: no more work on the MUT.

The new tractor is a recent purchase and will take over the work of a couple tractors, including the duties that were intended for the "not quite finished" MUT.

The new tractor:

2018 JD X750.
31 hrs total, it's not even broken in yet.
3 Cylinder Yanmar diesel.
TuffTorq K90 hydrostatic transaxle. Tops out right around 8.5 mph, infinitely variable by the pedal control. you can barely crawl or run flat out with just pressing on the forward pedal. reverse is the same deal, but slightly lower speed.
Electronic gauges
cruise control
2 hyd circuits.
Curtis Hardcab (was made by Curtis for deer) with heater, wipers, lights etc.
47" PTO driven snowblower. Hydraulic lift and chute turn.
Front quick hitch.
Rear "click and go" attachment fittings.

It's roughly a 30 G rig, which I got for 15 G. I know that's waaaay more than most guys here can/will/want to spend on a tractor, but the wife wanted me to buy something that "just worked" so I wouldn't be cursing and screaming in the garage when the old "junk" breaks on me at the worst possible time (do things break at any other time?).

Story was a gent ordered it for snow clearing for his business. Then he had a stroke before he got much use on it (traded in at 15 hrs). The stroke forced him to close his business and he traded the tractor in at a local Kia dealership. I'm assuming he traded it in for a vehicle that better suited his new limitations. A year later I come along and they generally just wanted it gone at this point. Struck a deal at 15 g, loaded it on my trailer and brought it home.

First day sitting in the driveway:













Nice, but I needed it to do more than just clear snow.

Being a JD, you're pretty much roped into buying the stuff you need from JD, so screwed up my courage and header to the local JD dealer.

8200 bucks later, I have a 54" HC autoconnect deck on the way, a 54" snow blade, the angling kit for the front hitch (holds the plow), the powerflow head (basically a blower that takes the deck eject and blows the material back in to the bagger), the chute from the powerlfow head to the bagger and a 17 bushel 3 bag collection system.

That will all just be bolt on stuff.

I got to talking with the dealer and he said the bare tractor lists for 15,500 cad, that's without the deck. the cab I have on it lists for 6500, the hitch and various other extra bits and pieces on it (ie: wheel weights, chains, etc) come right in around the 1 g mark, total.  So that's tickling 27 grand, throw in the 15% sales tax (he bought it new) and that gets you right around 31 Grand. Seems the guy wasn't lying when he said he paid 30 grand for it.

The biggest issue I have with it is that I wanted a front loader. But JD doesn't make a loader for the new X700 series tractors.The Curtis cab also makes it impossible to mount one as it covers the area on the frame where it would mount and even if you could mount one, you wouldn't be able to open the doors.

So that leaves very few options for a loader. One option is the "scoop" type jobbies, but that's not really going to work for me either. You can move stuff around with them, but they only have about a 5-6 inch lift. That won't even allow me to dump soil in the beds in the yard. No bucket curl/dump either.

That leaves me with one option: what is known as a "Buford Bucket":



It mounts to the front frame so it doesn't infere with the Cab. The lift is about 48", which is plenty for my uses. It will do pretty much what a full loader will do, just at lower weights and lift heights. The MUT will donate all the hydraulic parts and the steel. But it will be a while before I start that build. Its still got 12 months of warranty on it and it will be busy dealing with snow this winter. Spring will likely see the start of the "Buford Bucket Build".

Watch this space for more.....

things pretty noice but i dont think its 15k nice the mutt was almost this you where so far along and close to having this but probably built better

Budget_gokart wrote:

things pretty noice but i dont think its 15k nice the mutt was almost this you where so far along and close to having this but probably  built better

the thing is, "expensive" is a matter of perspective. If comparing the price to lawn tractor (or even older used ones), you're making a false comparison.

This thing is not a lawn tractor, so that's an apples to oranges comparison. The X750 is classed as a "garden tractor" and my province classifies it as a "farm tractor". One look up close and you realize this thing is so far removed from a lawn tractor that the only thing they share is the ability to cut grass. Heck,just the transaxle alone in the X750 dwarfs most of the MUT. Comparing this thing to a lawn tractor would be like comparing a new F150 to a 1950's pressed metal toy car. Not even in the same galaxy, maybethe same universe, but 1000's of light years apart.

The MUT, even if finished to exactly as how I wanted it, can't hold a candle to this thing. The X750 is heads and shoulders over the MUT right out of the box.

You're paying for a superior machine with 100 times the capability. Hence the price.

Gotta pay to play.....

well i get that but gave you something to think about and engineer better then other ideas but now you have something better i guess

Budget_gokart wrote:

well i get that but gave you something to think about and engineer better then other ideas but now you have something better i guess

Oh, the MUT build was pretty easy for me. Relatively low demand project as far as construction and engineering goes.

I build much more complicated things on a regular basis....hardest thing about building the MUT was just the endless labor and the stupid amount of money and time it sucked up. Welding time is never wasted though, it's always good to have an excuse to practice those skills regularly.

Which also raises another significant point: In 5-10 years should I become too broken to keep doing the lawn work (or I die), this rig is so user friendly that my wife (ten years younger) can keep using it.

Or, should we decide to get rid of it, I'll get back a significant chunk of the 26-odd grand this thing will cost me when done. These rigs just hold their value for decades. Even 1980's era 400 series JD's are still worth thousands, assuming you can even find one for sale that's not completely worn out.

Try to sell an average lawn tractor in 5-10 years and you'll be lucky if you don't have to pay someone to take it away.

is there anything you can do to spare the mut from being completely cut up i think the way the body is done is really cool like swap transmissions and make it a tow truck or something

Nice Deere. That should more than handle anything you can throw at it.

That heated cab though is making me jealous…the fun in snow blowing is coming back in the house and picking the slush off your face, hair, hat, neck…well you get the idea

The one Achilles heel on those tractors is the polycarbonate hoods…don’t know if the 700s are better but the x300s if you so much as give it a cold look it will simply shatter. No rust though I guess so it’s a trade off.

I second @Budget_gokart in that I also hope to see the MUT see some kind of life after this. Your machine though, I won’t tell you what to do.

Well, anyone is welcome to buy it it they want. But I'n in NOva Scotia so that pretty much eliminates anyone on this board taking it.

I have no use for it. I don't "off road"lawn tractors so no sense keeping it for that. And really, we bought the JD to consolidate a couple machines in to one, so keeping the MUT around runs directly against that. And even if I did keep it, I literally have no use for it. It will just be more junk hanging around taking up space that I don't have.

I suppose if someone wanted the tins that would be easy enough and swapping them on to another chassis is a piece of cake. But again, NS Canada, shipping is going to be very expensive.

No, it's got to go. Either broken down for scrap/parts, or sold outright to someone.

But no-one is going to pay what I have into it, or even close to it. Which kinda brings me back to tearing it down for parts and steel...

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

The one Achilles heel on those tractors is the polycarbonate hoods…don’t know if the 700s are better but the x300s if you so much as give it a cold look it will simply shatter. No rust though I guess so it’s a trade off.

Nope, it's plastic. They're all plastic these days. The plastic on this hood is very thick though, maybe an 1/8-1/4" thick. Makes sense because this tractor is built to work...hard. Lawn tractors (more accurately termed ride on mowers) don't need much "robustness", so everything is generally built as light as possible (saves $$ in production).

All this one has to do is keep the rain, snow and sun off the engine. It's going to live a pretty sheltered life all the way around. It's only going to work my yard/driveway and it's going to live in a heated garage when not working. If the hood does get broken, it's going to have to be a pretty unusual accident.....

why not build a toy out of it one of your threads you planned to make a toy but it seems you gave up on that idea if you finished your idea for the other one but using mutt then your work wouldnt be wasted mut is a work of art also it would be much more stable then the other one woulda been

Have you been sleeping in the garage? I'd spoon that sweetheart and keep her warm at night lol. That is one very sweet Deer! I agree that a Deer in that class is an investment in a quality workhorse and most certainly an entirely different animal from lawn and garden tractors.

Also a vote for re-purposing MUT. Unless you find someone in need who deserves a donation or cheap sale.

Budget_gokart wrote:

why not build a toy out of it one of your threads you planned to make a toy but it seems you gave up on that idea if you finished your idea for the other one but using mutt then your work wouldnt be wasted mut is a work of art also it would be much more stable then the other one woulda been

Well, I don't really need another "toy".

Taking up space right now:
2016 F150 crew cab long box 4x4
2014 Chrysler town and country mini van
2009 Mini Cooper Clubman
1988 Corvette Z52 convertible
1983 Mustang T-Top 302 5 speed
1989 FJ1200
1983 Yamaha Venture
1985 Argo
12' aluminum boat

And a bunch of yard equipment (snowblower, chipper, push mower, lawn aerator, generator, etc) on top of all that cra....errr, stuff. Add on top of that I pretty much have a full metal shop sharing space in the attached garage.

AND....you can chuck in a whole bunch of shelves with literally thousands of car, bike, truck and assorted parts and pieces.

Nah, I don't have the space or need for another toy hanging around.

I suppose I could always take the VF750F engine stuff I have lying around and make some kind of super fast roller skate type Tractor/go kart combination, but again: don't have the space or time for another project.

Nope. The MUT has just got to go.....

Dr Bob wrote:

Have you been sleeping in the garage? I'd spoon that sweetheart and keep her warm at night lol. That is one very sweet Deer!

Nah, i'm not that far gone. I have snuck out in the night once or twice to sneak a peak at it though.....

Toying with some designs for a front loader for the x750.

I think I might have settled on one:



Red is the subframe, yellow is the lift arms and green is the Hyd Cylinders.

Since the cab takes up the space where a mount would go for something like a Deere 45 loader, I had to come up with a "work around". So I looked backwards from the 45 and found the 44 used a subframe that bolts to the front and rear of the tractor frame:



This allows me to get a hard mount point up and away from the cab. It means a little shorter lift arms, but it looks a lot better than a Buford Bucket hanging off the front crossmember. Hopefully it will also spread the loads across the entire frame instead of a point load on the front of the tractor.....

Time to start planning and buying parts.

First up is a place to put switches and assorted goodies on the operator station. But JD made sure that, while somewhat stylish, the design of the dash area doesn't lend itself very well to nicely integrated switches and such. So An over head console/panel is the best option to add items.

First to be ordered is a 4 way camera system:



Plan is to use the screen setup in the bottom right corner:



So I have rearview mirror setup for the sides, front view to help hook up things to the front quick hitch and a rear looking backup camera. Not having to turn around in the seat so much is a big bonus for me as I've had a broken neck and back in my past.

Still lots of space available overhead, so some switches are in order. first, generic on/off ones:



Needed some on/off/on switches:



Also some momentary ones:



Switches are green ‘cause it IS a JD after all…..

Still lots of space overhead, time and temps in/out would be useful, so:



figured I needed to balance the sides a bit more. An inclinometer could be useful, so:



The Gps speed, direction etc aren't really useful in a small tractor, but it was only a few dollars more than just an inclinometer, so why not have some fancy dials and numbers changing while driving? LOL!

The wiper is just an on/off switch, which drives me nuts! a delay circuit is needed:



Only cost about 20 bucks for the kit. wiper is still only one speed, but it's adjustable from 0-30 seconds delay. Just about right for snow blowing in the driveway.

The panel itself I'll bang out of some 1/8" sheet aluminum. Between the plasma, bender and tig, I should be able to make it look somewhat "professional".

MTF…..

I must say this isn't exactly a budget build... but you got to go all out sometime right?

I like that gauge setup. I used to run my old GPS on my Honda quad so I had a speedometer/odometer.

Little more fitting pieces to see how close I am:




the lift cylinders were originally the bucket curl cylinders.

The long cylinders in front were orginally the lift cylinders.

The geometry change means theres no way the long cylinders will fit in the lift space. Fortunately, the curl cylinders are a near perfect match for the space available. But it looks like the shorter stroke is foing to limit me to about a 4’ lift. Thats good enough for my intended uses.

The longer cylinders in curl position will need a different mounting, but the length will ensure full dump will be easy to achieve. Thats a “qwiktach” plate on the front so I have lots of real estate for figuring out the best cylinder mounting.

I suppose I could buy another set of 24” cylinders, but thats another 400-ish bucks I’d rather not spend….

Well, good news and bad.

bad first: the 8” stroke cylinders will fit the space, but 8” of stroke means about 12-16” of lift. I need a longer cylinder, but no space to put one.

Good: I can design a new tower piece feon 1-4” sheet and that will allow me to “sink” the ram mount into the plates. This means the 16” stroke cylinders should fit, or at least be close enough to “massage” the mount points to work right.

its not that big a deal as I expected to have to make new towers. As a small side bonus, it allows me to design a new mounting scheme to install/remove the loader.I’m thinking maybe something like on the masseys.

Love what you're doing here, I read through the MUT thread a couple weeks ago and I have to say that is some excellent fabrication skills you have!

I couldn't find it, can you throw up a link?

Thanks