Newbie beginner hoping for some guidance.

(Mower model # etc. is below)
Hey all, I've just bought a Lawn Tractor to do a slightly modded Off-Road vehicle.  This will be used by two older people on a gravel road and a few acres of fairly level wooded lot.  

I've read quite a few hours on the forum, but most of it is way over my head.  I'm disabled, so can't do any of the work myself, will have to hire a neighbor or friend to do the actual mods.

I plan on getting off-road tires.  I'd like to install a gas pedal and maybe increase the speed slightly - eventually.  Maybe a few more minor mods.

My first concern is removing the mower deck.  That's simple enough, but I'm wondering what needs to be done along with removal.  I read that you should just cut off the supports?  Are there other complications to just removing the deck?

I can't seem to find anything specific about what needs to be done once the deck is off.  Is there a certain thread where I might find out more about this?  (I have searched but not found much other than that the supports should be sawed off if the mower won't be returned to grass cutting duty.)

I'm thinking:
1.  Get the deck off first, cut off the supports?  What should be cut off?
2.  Order tires once I learn which are best/cheapest for my needs?
3.  Figure out more mods once the deck is off and tires are on.

Any advice or tips?  It's appreciated!  Thanks in advance.

My Mower Info:
HUSQVARNA
(Hydro-Static; Automatic)
MODEL:  LOGTH2448T On the fender it says:  GTH2448T (Hydro-Static; Automatic)
ENGINE:  24HP Briggs INTEK V-TWIN Model # 446677-0470 E1

Welcome to the ATLTF! I wouldn't cut anything, no need! Lol. It's all bolted on so it can be removed bolt by bolt and piece by piece until it's all removed, you may want to leave the deck lift handle (and linkage) in place though as it could be repurposed to engage the brake or who knows what else!?

Honestly for the terrain you're taking about and the tractors usage a decent set of turf tires should work just fine, I've seen plenty of threads with guys running turfs and seem to really like them, no maybe they're not the best in the mud but other than that they do their job well so it wouldn't hurt to try what you have first.

There's always the option to cut some lugs out of turf tires, all the posts I've seen about it have had positive results. Here's some examples but really your imagination is the limit!  

Welcome! You have a hydrostatic transmission on this tractor, so there is no need to speed the tractor up or add a gas pedal. If you overdrive a hydrostatic transmission it will overheat and fail prematurely.

I say just remove the deck and try it that way.

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

Welcome! You have a hydrostatic transmission on this tractor, so there is no need to speed the tractor up or add a gas pedal. If you overdrive a hydrostatic transmission it will overheat and fail prematurely.

I say just remove the deck and try it that way.

Thanks Rustbucket. Dang, that's disappointing! The manual says 5mph is top speed. I couldn't even get it to 10mph without destroying the transmission?

Brianator wrote:

Welcome to the ATLTF! I wouldn't cut anything, no need! Lol. It's all bolted on so it can be removed bolt by bolt and piece by piece until it's all removed, you may want to leave the deck lift handle (and linkage) in place though as it could be repurposed to engage the brake or who knows what else!?

Honestly for the terrain you're taking about and the tractors usage a decent set of turf tires should work just fine, I've seen plenty of threads with guys running turfs and seem to really like them, no maybe they're not the best in the mud but other than that they do their job well so it wouldn't hurt to try what you have first.

Thanks Brianator!  I watched your video and read your build thread... impressive!  Favorite quote from your build thread:  "Also, diaphragm is really hard to spell..."  LOL!

Great advice, I'll unbolt everything and save the lift handle.  Very cool to repurpose the turf tires, but I may get tires anyhow, just because they look bada**!

Thank you, I appreciate your input and the pics...

Couple things here, first of all, welcome to the forums! Really cool to see some new members here, I was once one myself...
Second of all, that tractor sounds like a really nice grass cutting machine and is probably worth about at least 1500 bucks, depending on your location, I would sell it and buy a gear drive machine, you could save a couple bucks and not have to worry about blowing the hydro up. I use turf tires, they work fantastic on dirt and, well turf, obviously, however, they are completely useless in snow, and they really suck if you want to go through some mud.

Just my 2 dimes, (The new penny) take it or leave it, you could still have some fun on that rig (Lots of people swap hydros, it's just that your mileage may vary.), however I would definitely recommend selling it and buying a different rig.

TechnoChicken wrote:

Couple things here, first of all, welcome to the forums! Really cool to see some new members here, I was once one myself...
Second of all, that tractor sounds like a really nice grass cutting machine and is probably worth about at least 1500 bucks, depending on your location, I would sell it and buy a gear drive machine, you could save a couple bucks and not have to worry about blowing the hydro up. I use turf tires, they work fantastic on dirt and, well turf, obviously, however, they are completely useless in snow, and they really suck if you want to go through some mud.

Just my 2 dimes, (The new penny) take it or leave it, you could still have some fun on that rig (Lots of people swap hydros, it's just that your mileage may vary.), however I would definitely recommend selling it and buying a different rig.

TC: Wow man, thanks for the opinions, gut-wrenching as they may be. I paid 650 for it, but don't think I'd get much more out of it around here. It's clean, and seems to run well, but it's at least 15 years old. The Hour Meter reads 350, pretty low if it hasn't been disconnected.

Now that I've got the hard facts, I'll need to research:

Option 1: What's the largest tires it will take? Would that give me slightly more speed? (I read that larger tires give you a little bit more speed.)

Option 2: Swap Hydros? Sounds expensive. Will need to weigh cost/benefit on that one. I really only need to get this 5mph machine up as close as possible to 10mph or so.

Option 3: Abandon ship! Sell it and start over.

Option 4: It is what it is. Remove deck, add tires, drive it - reassess.

Thanks again for laying out the options. I appreciate it!

You can get away with as big as can fit, but may only gain 1 maybe 2 mph depending on how much difference.

That is correct, larger tires will give you more speed, however in order to get double the speed your tires need to be twice the size, so if you have 18" tires you would need 36" tires to go 10 mph.
The gear drive tractors, if a 24 hp machine with 350hrs (fairly low for a residential use tractor.) should be almost free, that 650 dollars could go to making your rig even better if that makes any sense. Swapping the hydro can be done, not sure if anyone's done it on those, I know @RCG has done it on a horizontal input trans but not sure if it would work on a vertical input trans. (I'm assuming you're talking about gearing swap inside the transmission?)

MightyRaze wrote:

You can get away with as big as can fit, but may only gain 1 maybe 2 mph depending on how much difference.

MightyRaze - First of all, let me congratulate you and the Website owners on a fantastic website! This is one of the most impressive I've ever seen. Very easy to navigate, set up perfectly and looks dynamite!

Yes, you and TechnoChicken saved me from going down the "buy big tires" dead-end road. Thanks, that saves me a lot of time researching and maybe making a really bad decision.

TechnoChicken wrote:

That is correct, larger tires will give you more speed, however in order to get double the speed your tires need to be twice the size, so if you have 18" tires you would need 36" tires to go 10 mph.
The gear drive tractors, if a 24 hp machine with 350hrs (fairly low for a residential use tractor.) should be almost free, that 650 dollars could go to making your rig even better if that makes any sense. Swapping the hydro can be done, not sure if anyone's done it on those, I know @RCG has done it on a horizontal input trans but not sure if it would work on a vertical input trans. (I'm assuming you're talking about gearing swap inside the transmission?)

Thanks TC. I now understand that tires are not the answer. Maybe there is no way to speed the Hydros up without getting into what would be for me, a "heavy" mod.

As far as swapping hydros or hydro gears, don't know anything about it yet, but "sounds" like too much for me to tackle.

And yes, I get it that abandoning ship on this machine is a legitimate option. I'm still weighing that idea vs just accepting it for what it would be if I just drop the deck and add off-road tires.

I appreciate your input, it definitely helps

Should you go the abandon ship and start over route... Here is some good info from our FAQ section!

How to pick a "Good Mud Mower"
Watch Doc Sprocket's guide to picking a good mud mower. 




I think I will pin this to the Homepage/Portal.  Should have been done long ago.

willeee wrote:

Thanks Brianator!  I watched your video and read your build thread... impressive!  Favorite quote from your build thread:  "Also, diaphragm is really hard to spell..."  LOL!

Great advice, I'll unbolt everything and save the lift handle.  Very cool to repurpose the turf tires, but I may get tires anyhow, just because they look bada**!

Thank you, I appreciate your input and the pics...

Lol thank you and no problem! I have alot of time into the Mud Duck and much more to go still but I'll get there eventually! I'd go with option # 4 personally, if you can find some slightly larger tires it will speed you up a little, not much but every bit counts. You shouldn't pulley swap a hydro (too drastic of a change) but you can increase the governed speed of the engine a little bit safely to get some extra speed but we're only talking about a couple hundred rpms extra and you'll need to monitor the tempuratre of the hydro. Those hand held infrared thermometers are great for that stuff and they're cheap, get a baseline reading stock after some playing around so you have a reference to fall back on.

Brianator wrote:

willeee wrote:

Thanks Brianator!  I watched your video and read your build thread... impressive!  Favorite quote from your build thread:  "Also, diaphragm is really hard to spell..."  LOL!

Great advice, I'll unbolt everything and save the lift handle.  Very cool to repurpose the turf tires, but I may get tires anyhow, just because they look bada**!

Thank you, I appreciate your input and the pics...

Lol thank you and no problem! I have alot of time into the Mud Duck and much more to go still but I'll get there eventually! I'd go with option # 4 personally, if you can find some slightly larger tires it will speed you up a little, not much but every bit counts. You shouldn't pulley swap a hydro (too drastic of a change) but you can increase the governed speed of the engine a little bit safely to get some extra speed but we're only talking about a couple hundred rpms extra and you'll need to monitor the tempuratre of the hydro. Those hand held infrared thermometers are great for that stuff and they're cheap, get a baseline reading stock after some playing around so you have a reference to fall back on.

Brianator: Yep, even though I watched a lot of YouTube videos, I missed the Major Point about Hydro's not working well for Off Road use, at least on the issue of speed increase. But hey, my requirements are very minimal. I just want to be able to put-put around a little. The speed increase is not a "need", just a "want", haha.

That's another great idea about the Infrared Thermometer, I have one, they are indeed handy. Yes, I can get a baseline temp as you suggest and maybe tweak the speed just a bit. Thanks for that!

I am extremely grateful to you and the other people that took the time to help me out with suggestions and tips. I could have easily blown that Hydro!

Keep the Mud Duck rollin' !!!

So here is another's perspective.
Don't do anything with the current tractor, except for driving it.
Find a cheaper(or free) geared tractor and build it, then sell your current tractor.

In the long run, you will want to lock the axle for traction and safety. MUCH easier in a geared trans. Steering and brakes will be the next big hurdle. Wheel horses have great steering from the factory. If you get a craftsman, try to get the second gen steering.

Brakes are either stock and crap or aftermarket and $$$$ as I'm finding out with my current builds for my fiance and I.

So, you actually CAN pulley swap a hydro without blowing it up. Not much but a little. For instance, if the engine pulley is a 4.5 inch pulley, (from my experience) you can safely go up to a 6 without really hurting it as long as you keep the cooling fins fairly clean and it has a good cooling fan on it. I did that on my original Murray and it lasted the 6 months I had it like that. Didn’t increase the speed much, but with some larger tires, you might get what you’re looking for. So yes, it can be done, but the real question is, is it worth it.

As far as brakes, steering and locking it go, if you just have flat land and aren’t gonna be pushing it hard or offroading it and you’re just using as a little getting around rig, none of those upgrades will be necessary. If you aren’t offroading with it then locking it will actually cause you problems and tear up your yard if you have good tires.


All that said, if I was in your place, I still agree with everyone else and sell it and get one that already is missing the deck or is rotted out and is cheap and gear driven. You’ll come out with a better rig and probably even some cash on top to throw at it.

And on your hunt for a gear drive tractor, stay away from anything with a drive pedal, or a 7 speed. Those are MTDs and are wayyyy harder to modify and less reliable than a regular gear drive tractor. So if you’re a beginner, an MTD is definitely not a good option. Brainator, Nevadablue and some others would have differing opinions about MTDs, but they need to remember, they are not beginners and have some solid knowledge on how to run them that most people don’t have lol.

Anyway, hope my 2 cents helps a little.

I would definitely agree with @Murraymountain that you don't need a locker, mainly for the reasons he stated, but any extra brakes on a hydro are completely unnecessary, anyone who's ever run a hydro for any period of time will quickly realize that the hydros brake themselves, you just let the pedal back a little down a hill or whatever and that will bring you to a pretty quick stop.

As for the gear drive tractors, what @Murraymountain was talking about, I don't think those are even categorized as gear drive tractors, I normally call them vari-drives (or something far more profane).
In general there are 3 types of trannys.
[Easy swapping]
-Gear drives
-Vari-drives
-Hydros
[Harder swapping]

Hope that makes sense, as always that's just my 2 dimes, I could very well be wrong, correct me if such is the case

@Murraymountain Sure you CAN pulley swap a hydro but increasing the engines governed speed by a couple hundred rpms will do the same thing but for free so I don't see the point in spending all the extra time and money, unless you have the parts laying around and want to experiment.

And yes @TechnoChicken the MTDs he's reffering to are Vari-Drive which I agree are much harder to pulley swap because the belts need to be the exact right length(s) or it won't function properly PLUS the proper belts are 11/16" and they're only available in very certain sizes. Others have offroaded their Vari-Drive even mudding them and haven't had any issues that a regular belt drive wouldn't, some guys have pulley swapped them and run 5/8" belts with no issues also so really it's all a matter of opinion I guess. One thing I really like about the Vari-Drive is that you can have it in top speed (7 on most) and control the speed with the clutch/brake pedal, as you push it down it drops the speeds so you can quickly slow down and then speed back up if you want!

As for hydros and offroading... I've been doing alot of testing with the Mud Duck the last few days, speed runs, climbing obstacles and stuff and it's working flawlessly! My neighbors tractor (which was a freebie) is also a hydro, we finally got it home today and did some testing with it and it's also working really well even with the open diff, it is a large heavy tractor though! (Craftsman DGT6000).

So many seem against hydros but they're actually very robust! If they're in good working order, maintained and cleaned regularly to keep them cool then they're going to last! No you're not going to do 30mph without damaging it but if you have modest goals of trail cruising and crawling over/around obstacles then they're actually better than gear driven, I can tell you personally that you have a heck of alot more control when crawling over things and can go from forward to reverse really quick! You want to go FAST, get a ATV or off road go kart! Lol.

I think alot of people that have bashed on anything that's not a gear drive are just scared of things that are different that they don't understand. There's so many different configurations and each one has it's strengths and weaknesses so @willeee I say have fun with your tractor and if it doesn't meet your expectations THEN consider selling or trading it!

Well said  @Brianator

gimpyrobb wrote:

So here is another's perspective.
Don't do anything with the current tractor, except for driving it.
Find a cheaper(or free) geared tractor and build it, then sell your current tractor.

In the long run, you will want to lock the axle for traction and safety. MUCH easier in a geared trans. Steering and brakes will be the next big hurdle. Wheel horses have great steering from the factory. If you get a craftsman, try to get the second gen steering.

Brakes are either stock and crap or aftermarket and $$$$ as I'm finding out with my current builds for my fiance and I.

Thank you Robb for your perspective and ideas, it's much appreciated! After much consideration, I've decided to sell - "Abandon Ship!" If you're interested in my reasoning, please see my reply below.

Murraymountain wrote:

So, you actually CAN pulley swap a hydro without blowing it up. Not much but a little. For instance, if the engine pulley is a 4.5 inch pulley, (from my experience) you can safely go up to a 6 without really hurting it as long as you keep the cooling fins fairly clean and it has a good cooling fan on it. I did that on my original Murray and it lasted the 6 months I had it like that. Didn’t increase the speed much, but with some larger tires, you might get what you’re looking for. So yes, it can be done, but the real question is, is it worth it.

As far as brakes, steering and locking it go, if you just have flat land and aren’t gonna be pushing it hard or offroading it and you’re just using as a little getting around rig, none of those upgrades will be necessary. If you aren’t offroading with it then locking it will actually cause you problems and tear up your yard if you have good tires.


All that said, if I was in your place, I still agree with everyone else and sell it and get one that already is missing the deck or is rotted out and is cheap and gear driven. You’ll come out with a better rig and probably even some cash on top to throw at it.

And on your hunt for a gear drive tractor, stay away from anything with a drive pedal, or a 7 speed. Those are MTDs and are wayyyy harder to modify and less reliable than a regular gear drive tractor. So if you’re a beginner, an MTD is definitely not a good option. Brainator, Nevadablue and some others would have differing opinions about MTDs, but they need to remember, they are not beginners and have some solid knowledge on how to run them that most people don’t have lol.

Anyway, hope my 2 cents helps a little.

Thank you Murraymountain! for more great options and detail! What a learning experience this has been. I've decided to sell - "Abandon Ship!" If you're interested in my reasoning, please see my reply below.

Trying to delete this post.

TechnoChicken wrote:

I would definitely agree with @Murraymountain that you don't need a locker, mainly for the reasons he stated, but any extra brakes on a hydro are completely unnecessary, anyone who's ever run a hydro for any period of time will quickly realize that the hydros brake themselves, you just let the pedal back a little down a hill or whatever and that will bring you to a pretty quick stop.

As for the gear drive tractors, what @Murraymountain was talking about, I don't think those are even categorized as gear drive tractors, I normally call them vari-drives (or something far more profane).
In general there are 3 types of trannys.
[Easy swapping]
-Gear drives
-Vari-drives
-Hydros
[Harder swapping]

Hope that makes sense, as always that's just my 2 dimes, I could very well be wrong, correct me if such is the case

Thanks once again TechnoChicken! Great info, I'm learning! I appreciate your great info. I've decided to sell the Hydro - "Abandon Ship!" If you're interested in my reasoning, please see my reply below.

Deleting this post.

Brianator wrote:

@Murraymountain Sure you CAN pulley swap a hydro but increasing the engines governed speed by a couple hundred rpms will do the same thing but for free so I don't see the point in spending all the extra time and money, unless you have the parts laying around and want to experiment.

And yes @TechnoChicken the MTDs he's reffering to are Vari-Drive which I agree are much harder to pulley swap because the belts need to be the exact right length(s) or it won't function properly PLUS the proper belts are 11/16" and they're only available in very certain sizes. Others have offroaded their Vari-Drive even mudding them and haven't had any issues that a regular belt drive wouldn't, some guys have pulley swapped them and run 5/8" belts with no issues also so really it's all a matter of opinion I guess. One thing I really like about the Vari-Drive is that you can have it in top speed (7 on most) and control the speed with the clutch/brake pedal, as you push it down it drops the speeds so you can quickly slow down and then speed back up if you want!

As for hydros and offroading... I've been doing alot of testing with the Mud Duck the last few days, speed runs, climbing obstacles and stuff and it's working flawlessly! My neighbors tractor (which was a freebie) is also a hydro, we finally got it home today and did some testing with it and it's also working really well even with the open diff, it is a large heavy tractor though! (Craftsman DGT6000).

So many seem against hydros but they're actually very robust! If they're in good working order, maintained and cleaned regularly to keep them cool then they're going to last! No you're not going to do 30mph without damaging it but if you have modest goals of trail cruising and crawling over/around obstacles then they're actually better than gear driven, I can tell you personally that you have a heck of alot more control when crawling over things and can go from forward to reverse really quick! You want to go FAST, get a ATV or off road go kart! Lol.

I think alot of people that have bashed on anything that's not a gear drive are just scared of things that are different that they don't understand. There's so many different configurations and each one has it's strengths and weaknesses so @willeee I say have fun with your tractor and if it doesn't meet your expectations THEN consider selling or trading it!

Thank you once again Brianator!  You (and Mud Duck) got this thread rollin'!  Thanks for your valuable input, it's been one heck of an education for this Absolute Beginner.  I've decided to sell - "Abandon Ship!"  If you're interested in my reasoning, please see my reply below.