Murray Hydro Widebody

First off, the model sticker is missing so I don't know what year it is.  I'm guessing around 1999ish.

The engine pulley is loose and only held on by the belt.  I removed the pulley bolt and it easily slides up and down.  Some surface rust underneath, nothing too bad.  Looks to be pretty solid. It has all the provision holes for a geared trans. That is great!

Here is the kicker.  Do you see what I see? @murraymountain may see it. 2 things in particular.





I'll tell ya tomorrow late morning here what I see.

Yup, sure do! Want me to name 'em or let someone else have a go at it? lol

So I'm a little confuzled here... is this tractor going to be a build or a parts tractor?

Murraymountain wrote:

Yup, sure do! Want me to name 'em or let someone else have a go at it? lol

So I'm a little confuzled here... is this tractor going to be a build or a parts tractor?

Go ahead and name them.   This tractor will be a little of both probably.

1, factory idler that allows the belt to be ran by the steering shaft without needing to pull it for belt changes. 2, factory double pulley clutch.

Also, did you say the hydro was bad in this tractor, or is that still TBD?

Murraymountain wrote:

1, factory idler that allows the belt to be ran by the steering shaft without needing to pull it for belt changes. 2, factory double pulley clutch.

Also, did you say the hydro was bad in this tractor, or is that still TBD?

Like I figured.  You nailed both of them.
Factory double clutch is fine, but that bracket with idler to move the belt around the steering is pretty big.  Although with a larger engine pulley may be an issue. LOL.








It (hydro) is still to be determined.  I think the initial issue I seen, is a rusted-up brake.

If the trans is good and you don't do anything with it, we might be able to work something out whenever we end up at Haspin at the same time or something... I need an extra trans in case I screw one of Ole Blue's up

Murraymountain wrote:

If the trans is good and you don't do anything with it, we might be able to work something out whenever we end up at Haspin at the same time or something... I need an extra trans in case I screw one of Ole Blue's up

I know Haspin isn't in the cards for me this year. We have other obligations that will keep us tied down for the months of June and July. :-( 2024 we have tentative plans. I'll hang onto it should it work.

OK, stripped down quite a bit. It's going down to rails eventually. I'm stopping for now. Front half of the frame is excellent shape. Back where the transaxle is... well it's had a dose of battery acid it wanted to bathe in. When I get it to rails, I'll see how bad it really is.

Hydro trans. I put the drill to it. After a few seconds it seemed to come to life. Now there is no hesitation and seems to work very well. Should I not need it in the next year, I don't see any reason to hand it off @murraymountain. It'll just be a matter of life not throwing curveballs to keep that from happening.

As I suspected, running a larger engine pulley will affect the steering bypass idler and the steering shaft. The double pulley clutch mechanism appears to to be WAY better designed and sturdy than I thought it would be.

The 17.5 engine. It's free and no water in the oil. I suspect a broken governor though. There was a suspicious spring added that would take up governor slack.

After comparing pictures.  The frame does not have previsions for the geared transaxle.  Also, it is in SUPER bad shape where the trans bolts up.




There are provisions on Li'l Red for the double pulley clutch it appears.  I think right now, I'll continue to tear down for parts.