1997 Murray widebody trail mower

1997 Murray wrote:

I belive that someone asked how to hook up the throttle cable without the govener, so this is how I did it:

That might have been me.  I'll try it when I get a chance to. Thanks!

your welcom! i'm here to help if i can.

put belt retainers on it to keep the belt from falling off.

Got the electrical sorted out I think. I have a new idea for speeding up the transaxle. what if i swaped the final drive gears (the ones that transfer power to the axle from the shaft with the shift keys) if they are the same spilnes i may be able to swap them, if there is room in the case.I will update this next time i have a axle open.

adusted the breaks on my little murray, and loaded up some scrap in my truck so I can have some beer money lol. got to slot my rotor, gear it up with different gears (thanks TRB) and do a general overhaul on the tranny sometime soon.

got $55 for the scrap, could have saved a craftsman and two mtds from scrapper, but i didn't. rode the murray around, and tested the breaks. I locked up the rear tires from 30 mph, so the breaks are working fine.

ok well I will try to get a video today before the tranny upgrades (higher gear ratio inside tranny)

1997 Murray wrote:

ok well I will try to get a video today before the tranny upgrades (higher gear ratio inside tranny)

How about some video of you changing those gears as well???

I'll try! my camera is messed up right now thow.

a video ( i got a youtube last night)

ok i replaced the coil and the battery is gone i needed a bigger one anyways. I'm starting work soon, so i should get some cash soon. I also got new headlights. hey are ford contour fog lights.

sorry about the bad footage, my camera is junk.

I made belt retainers and drove it, need to speed it up soon. added a pull start by cutting a notch in my spacer pulley, and when the rope doesn't break (nylon paracord) it works great! I passed a lady on the road and she put out her thumb like she wanted a ride "she thinks my tractors sexy"

I changed the 5 speed into a 6 speed! pics to come soon.

i took off the exhaust and put on craftsman stile exhaust pipes with no muffler. and i put a 3" pulley on the tranny for more speed. I also put these 19" tires on the front:

so the wheels that the tires where on where rear wheeles with the keyway in them. fearlessfront used them, so I thoght it would be fine. however, on the first ride of 5 minuts they sized to the spindles.

ok so it has been confirmed.... this thing beat a polaris scrambler 4x4 up a hill. I started out about 50 feet behind him, too. my uncle even admitted it!

this now has new front tires from an mtd, and the coil went out. $20 later, another is in the mail. I hope this one lasts longer than 4 months.

made a bumper!

I am in the proCess of making one just like on fearlesses Murray for my grandpas mtd so he can push cars around

rear rack!



I have a boat gas tank on it now so I have 4.4 gallons fuel capacity, also tore it all apart and redid the pulley system. I drove it for about two hours yesterday before my belt disintegrated. my rear pulley was smashed and it makes the belt shake a lot cause it is uneven. so I am going to the hardware store and buying a new 3" pulley and 92" belt, and hopefully it will make my problems go away. also one of the pulleys was 1/2" lower, which made the belt twist over and over as it ran, so that didn't help things much. also painted my engine and made new badges.

For those of you who know about this, I need some ideas. I am planning to use a centrifugal clutch on my lawn tractor and run a chain instead of a belt, because I keep breaking them (to much power? 25 hp on a 1/2" belt with different pulleys so it is faster, I think that may be too much load for a belt to handle.) So I plan to use #40 roller chain instead. The original clutch (which is just a pulley that tightens the belt so it engages) will be torn out and a chain tensioner will go in its place, and I will have a centrifugal clutch on the engine for the clutch. I think it would stand up to the abuse, since I have a 6 speed transaxle, so I could start in first or second and then lift off the gas and shift. If anyone has any experience with centrifugal clutches and can tell me if that would stand up to that, please tell me. I will not be pulling with this. I shift without clutching now, and it is pretty easy. I plan on putting a round disk under the sprockets so it won't fall off.

I'm thinking this one maybe http://www.ebay.com/itm/GO-KART-MINI-BIKE-CENTRIFUGAL-CLUTCH-1-BORE-40-41-CHAIN-14-T-TORQUE-HEAVY-DUTY-/390885972118 but I need imput since I have never owened one or even seen one in person before.

I think they are rated for like 16-18HP and that may even be 2-stroke, 4-strokes is like half of that but itl' work if you remember to not slip it hot, so id say go for it and try it.

On my JD 210 im trying the belt type Hilliard Extreme clutch. Think that is rated for 18hp - 4 stroke, but that will smoke to and burn stuck if you drive it wrong. thats why a torque converter is more suited, and the standard mower clutch is genius in its own simplicity.

This is getting turned into a go cart, and donating the widebody-specific parts to this:



It is a puller/ trail mower and my brother will be using it most. It will have a peerless 920 5-speed, which is locked.