MTD Off Road Build

Just joined up here as the other tractor fourm isnt into much about modding and all that lol.

Well i got this Mtd for free the old man said they bought a new one,but this runs good and mowes. Well 1st day deck got tossed as it was all rotted.
I got the engine running then relized the motor was flopping around haha. Tightened the 3 of 4 bolts as the 1 ear on the motor was stripped.
Went and pb blaster the pullys and any moving parts. The bads headlight out/battery dont hold a charge/tons of play in the front wheels/needs carb cleaned&filter. Other then that its good. Been a few days now and going decent pulled tractor out back and friends snowmobile out front to sell and no probs other then traction lol.

Anyways Things i plan on doing to it.
New Battery & upgrade
Fix headlight
Foot throttle
swap engine pully
More front axle travel
atv or ag tire upgrade
front push bar
Rear bump bar
full skid belly pan
IM currently trying to find a bigger engine do to this one leaking oil/and i belive it has a random motor noise and knock lol







More updates to come ,Tomarrow going to a local small engine repair shop to see abt buing my friend a tractor and i might get some more stuff


And just a reminder to everyone ALLWAYS USE PRECAUTION when working!!! I got lazy this september and lost my thumb from amputation from the knuckel up,working on a snowmobile engine and it sux when its you work hand. So Becarefull!!

if you are looking for ideas for a pan, you might try this
this is a belly pan I put on an old MTD . I used thin gauge galvanized and made it a 2 piece with an over lap in the middle to let the water out.

it looks really cool man

Yea thats just like what i want to do,dont have to worry about sticks or $h!t getting in the pullys and belts lol im going to try and only put 4 good size metel screws in each side so it won't be to bad getting onn and off.

Yeah my stock mowing Mastercut MTD bit me a couple years back - tightening the blades on the deck and my hand slipped - sliced a nice gash across 2 fingers - needed 7 stitches - doc was like " do this to hide the scar " - im like " Heck no- thats a trophy scar , coulda cut my finger off -Im leaving the scar to remind me" - i wear heavy leather gloves when dealing with mower blades and stuff thatll cut easy.

yea you think it could never happen to u but it can and it can be from the things u would never expect either.


update: havnt been messing with the mtd much as im helping my friend with his wizard he just got its a wizard hydro drive with a 14.5 ohv briggs and statton motor
having some problems with the motor right now but if he cant afford the parts im taking it for $20 and ill try fixing the motor for my mtd

Well got about 7in today and after driveway was plowed messed with the mtd abit. couldnt move and slow as hell so i think its time for modds!!
I just bought a 84? agway same frame and rear fenders as mine but its the one with the shifter on the side 7spd and has the 11hp industrial commercial engine,well its rought the pullays are froze and nose banged up. so im going to use it i think for parts. I got a few questions not too sure about
1st is my mtd has the plain 11hp B&S engine the agway is 11hp B&S industrial commercial is there a difference? Also the rear end how are those far as strength and reliability?


Heres some pics of the agway

Well as far as I've seen with my 11's is the plain ones lack a cast iron sleeve compared to the I/C's. And those F-N-R rear ends snap in half if used hard. In my experience anyway! I use my stuff pretty hard though.

ok i wasnt to sure and what are the good rear ends for these tractors?

those little SOTG's make good go fast mowers. you can work the handle like a hydro to get the speed you need without using the clutch. I have one that runs about 20mph. if you run the handle right, it will pull a wheelie at 10.
just dont try to do wheelies from a dead stop by dumping the clutch. they will only take it a few times before they snap the axle housing. never used mine on the trail much. didnt work too good in the mud pit.. belt will get wet and slip. (that was the reason for the belly pan) a hell of a lot of fun in the snow though.
make sure you gease the hell out of the variable pulley. they have needle bearing and not much room for grease. if you do a pulley swap, the bearings get real hot. keep the slide clean and oiled too

yea well im thinking im going to use this as a parts rig what ive seen so far it at least 2 of the pullys are seized up tight. so im going to see how engine runs an use for a spare for mine and im going to see about swaping some things over.

I was looking at your Agway, its identical to an old MTD/Mastercraft I have for parts, except mine is a 16/42. Sold the trans for 40$ and used the Twin 16 in my Yardman racer, both tractors were free! I really like the frame setup on these for racing, they are light and very easy to work on and mod, also they handle quite well.

yea i like my montgomery ward the most prob do to round headlights and yea the frames match same fenders/dash/steering just the agway pedal is on the left the mtd is on the right. The mtd is going to be my multi tractor decent speed/off road.

I have one of those also - mine was free and beat to sh@t with a blown motor - after debating what to do with it, im going to build a go kart out of it - i bot a 1" straight axle, pillow blocks ( im changing to square ones from oval ones) - debating on wether to use my 5HP horizontal honda or 6.5 greyhound horizontal - already have a go kart clutch , itll be chain drive to the axle , im putting a drum brake setup on it - ill use 6" rims , have hubs front and back , itll be real low as well with lowering and custom built spindles - ill have to experement with sprocket sizes to get the most from the small motor.

Im building it with reinforcement to make it strong for a future horizontal twin install - the small motors are just for inital running/messing with.

Im using a 2003 bolens chassis for a rat rod tractor - itll be fast, low, big motor and using the rusty sheetmetal off my old 69 wheelhorse - i want to start that thing soon as well.

well messed with the mtd a bit pulled the rear end out along with the hood&nose. Pulled the front pully off. Still got to pull a few un needed brackets off then to tsc to get rear pully and a belt. Will be changing the oil and spark plug and get a battery.

I want to mod up front axle for mre flex. and im still looking for tires it sux,i need to fin a set of hubs!

I bot some small kart hubs from northern tools - its possible to adapt them to a set of wheels:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_52526_52526

I have a set of bering hubs for the front and the ones from the link posted for the back.

will those fit a atv rim tho? and that looks like it'll work perfect for a key way axle. I got a golf cart front end out back im gunna go today and see if i can make them fit.

go to motosport.com they have some atv hubs for like 30$ but they have crappy welds so you will have to weld em better. if you get them look at the review on it a guy redid them with welds and said it works great now

Well i went and got a 5in pulley for rear, i pulled the transaxle apart 2day pulled axle and cleaned all the gears and that now to get it welded. Picked up some gear oil wich ill be using in it. cant seem to find out what transaxle i got iknow its a peerless 5spd.
Some pics

I'm not sure on the model number of your trans but its one of the older boxy ones. I ran a few of them and they outlasted any of the Foote or Spicer transaxles. They hold more oil and run cooler, and the axle bearings are a big plus. Also the true diff carrier is great! Altho one of my friends did throw a couple spiders through the case of one of these one time, only one I ever saw blow up. Doing donuts in the snow with a 40mph machine lol.

Its a 813B ,yea i like the bearings on the outer axles and the 2 rubber seals insted of one .
Now i just got to weld it up,just deciding if i want to weld it with my welder or get it done by someone.

How do you plan on doing the posi? There are so many ways. I've had some disasters lol...

im not sure yet im thinking the way Fearlessfront did in his video. I havnt heard anything good about welding the gears directly to each other so im not doing that.

Those keyway hubs fit a 1" axle unfortunately - theyre designed for use with bolt on sprockets and smaller wheels - they have larger hubs that work with golf kart rims , but theyre like $40 each and keyed hubs are also for 1" axles - i have a set of each actually .

Sometimes i think itd be easier to just build a custom set.

I wouldnt fill the transmission past half full ( otherwise will build up pressure inside) , youll need to seal the case halfs with a oil resistant RTV - while its apart id also drill and tap a drain and fill hole ( if it doesnt have one) or a vent - id use the heaviest gear oil you can find .

FWIW 00 grease is a good alternative to gear oil. It won't seep out from around the bushings or find its way onto the brake like oil has a tendency to.