Murray 11/36 11hp. How to reinforce the Frame?

Hello, i have a murray 11/36 and i want to modify the frame for offroading. How and where should i weld/reinforce something, and ...how?



The pictures should explain what my plan is. what do yall think of my plan? good or nah. When i finish one side imma do the same thing to the other side of course. that should reinforce the frmae good enough I think. THE WOOD IS JUST FOR SHOWING PURPOSES.IMMA USE REAL STEEL LATER INSTEAD OF WOOD OFC.

Thanks to all pepole replying and for your ideas. (Im from Germany so my English is not the best)

The best way to reinforce the stamped "pan frames" is to do as so underneath, or something similar to. You could use angle iron or even bed frame rails instead of box tube, this is how the race guys do it.

@Brianator Okay thanks, im still gonna buy 30x20x3mm box tube to reinforce the frame because its pretty cheap here and looks good. The tractor/frame picture you sent me is a racing lawnmower and i want to build a offroad lawntractor, does the frame of an offroad mower need to be more reinforced? I dont want i to bend/break tho.

Yes it is a racing mower and I chose that pic because it was the best example I could find, in the offroad world similar reinforcements are made as can been seen around here by browsing some build threads. Keep in mind the racers are also ridiculously hard on their machines and need to stop the frame from flexing so what you see is really good.

You can also add a cross or x brace in the rear section to help. If you think you're going to be really rough with yours I would recommend reinforcing your dash/steering column as well. Problem with the "pan frames" is they tend to have alot of flex to start off with.

Hey @Murraymountain and @MightyRaze you guys are the Murray experts here, can you offer @MoTiJo some advice as well please!?

@Brianator Thanks for your tipps. The steering collum on my mower isnt realy that stable. Im also going to reinforce that but i know how becuase i have seen a vid about how i can reinforce it. My murray has a peerless 700 gearbox, so that means it has a chain driven axle. Imma get kart bearings for the axle. The bearing-Blocks are going to be screwed onto some steel that i weill weld under/in the frame. thats aslo going to lift the back a bit, wich is not bad. Right now the diff-axle is beeing held by platic bushings that are worn down. I also have a question that has to do something with the transmission but imma post this question in the transmission/transaxle thread.

Brianator wrote:

Hey @Murraymountain and @MightyRaze you guys are the Murray experts here, can you offer @MoTiJo some advice as well please!?

What you showed is basically what I have seen.  I've also seen angle used.  Boxed would probably take more flex out.

I'm more familiar with Murray C channels.

The expert on those frames would probably be @redzz02 but he's not around much anymore.

I'm on the same page as  @MightyRaze here. Only done any modifying to a stamped frame Murray once and never really did any frame mods. But yeah from what I've seen done on stamped frames, the reinforcements in the pic posted are what I would think is best. Even for offroading. So  @Brianator is definitely giving good advice there.


If you think your plan would be beneficial for strength, I would say go for it. The only flaw I see right off the bat, is the mount points in the back. That plate you want to mount to is extremely flimsy and isn't gonna hold up. I would try to make a 90 degree turn downward at the back there and mount to the reinforcement that will be on the underside of the frame if you do that first.

@Murraymountain I know that the back plate is really flimsy. If imma reinforce the frame on that point i have to reinforce it with welding - not that big of a deal. Im gonna go with the normal reinforcement. Welding a "frame" out of box steel tube (30x20x3mm) under the original stamped frame. I hope that this holds up well. If i notice any problems im gonna also reinforce it with the plan that i have.

Hello guys,
Is it okay if i use 20x20x3mm box tube Steel and weld a 'Frame' under my normal Lawntractors frame? Or should i use 30x20x3mm rectangular steel tube?
I want my frame not to bend/flex and be strong to handle some good offroad terrain. The steel should also not be too heavy. The frame is a "pan" frame i think (i dont know how you call these kind of frames...)

Thanks for your Help/Advise!

[mod]I've merged your post into this topic of yours to keep all info together[/mod]

Really it's just personal preference, both should work well but the 20x20 will provide more clearance without sacrificing much strength but that's just my opinion.