Another new NY'er....also lead here by Fearlessfront

Hello Everyone,

I was directed to this forum by Fearlessfront. I've been a subscriber to his youtube channel for a while now and finally decided to get started with my off-road lawn mower project.

I have a 2003 Murray tractor that was our old lawn mower for many years. About 4 years ago, after the deck rotted out I decided I wanted to make it into an awesome off-road machine. It's honestly been sitting ever since waiting to be worked on. I've picked up a lot of welding experience since then, which is what I knew I would need to do something like this.

The Murray starts runs and drives now, with the exception of having no brakes and a dirty carb. I am actually going to swap the 13.5hp Briggs into another mower that I need for full time mowing duty. I then plan on swapping in a 21hp opposed twin, at least for now. I hope it will help weigh down the front a little. Eventually I'd love to find a more modern V-twin motor for it. Hopefully I will get to do a little lift, pulley swap, some good tires, transaxle posi lock, definitely a foot gas pedal conversion, and a few things here and there. should make for a cool project and fun machine.

I look forward to browsing the forums and being part of this community.

Pictures of my project mower below:

https://imgur.com/a/8Vc3K

Welcome to the forum! Nice looking mower, cant wait to see some work done on it. There are a few NY members here. If you have any questions pm one of us or go in chat to see if you can ask anyone there.

camomanusa wrote:

Welcome to the forum! Nice looking mower, cant wait to see some work done on it. There are a few NY members here. If you have any questions pm one of us or go in chat to see if you can ask anyone there.

Thanks! I am looking forward to getting the modding under way also. Would def like to try to get together with some other NY mower modders for a ride or something as well!

I'm here! Welcome fellow New Yorker, I'm from the middle-northern part of the fingerlakes. Glad you could make it! Those Murray's are very suitable for modding, nice choice.

Hey guys. I am going to be trying to post some updates today or tomorrow. Should I post them here or in the Tractor Project Builds subforum?

I finally got the Murray running with the 21hp oppy!!! Got a lot of tuning, modding and work to do, but it definitely runs and drives right now. It's going to be a beast I hope. Did some testing around the yard and it just creeps through what ever I throw at it so far.

My 13.5 motor swap to the craftsman for cutting grass was a complete failure. The motor had a valve issue and I blew a valve through the head after like 5 minutes. I have carnage pics to share of that as well. At least the oppy swap went as planned.

Welcome to the forum

My 13.5 motor swap to the craftsman for cutting grass was a complete failure. The motor had a valve issue and I blew a valve through the head after like 5 minutes. I have carnage pics to share of that as well. At least the oppy swap went as planned.[/quote]

LOL, that is just what happened to my 14.5, after about the same time, too. anyways, welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the madness. Just let me worn you. Once you get started into mower modding its like a drug you wont more an more then like a desease you cant get rid of. But hay it works for me. Nice murray one of my grass cutters is the same mower just mine is the LT model.

CornShuck4CE wrote:

Welcome to the madness. Just let me worn you. Once you get started into mower modding its like a drug you wont more an more then like a desease you cant get rid of. But hay it works for me. Nice murray one of my grass cutters is the same mower just mine is the LT model.

Thanks everyone. I am already getting addicted! I have ridden ATV's with a number of my buddies for years, but never had my own. Even though I am at the point where I can buy an ATV and ride with them, I think it would be cooler to "make" my own ATV.

My goal is to be able to get the Murray to a point where I can hang with them on their rides for the most part. They don't go too crazy, so it shouldn't be that difficult to do. I am just hoping the 21 oppy is solid enough and reliable enough. I don't really have any experience working with them. Any tips?

Cornshuck4ce, do you happen to have a part # or model # that might be able to help me locate one of the bigger gas tanks for my Murray? I notice yours has a much larger tank that mine, and it looks like it would fit in mine too. Mine has a tiny tank and I know with the 21hp its going to suck it down.

1997 Murray, did you swap a oppy into your Murray also? Did you have any issues with the brake saftey switch not working right when you swapped motors? The one on my Murray worked fine on the 13.5 engine but after swapped it would just shut off the 21hp when i let off the brake. For now I just zip tied the switch, but id like to either fix it or eliminate it completely.

I had a few other oppy questions but I will ask them when I upload my build pics, etc.

yes i swapped in a 16 hp opposed twin, but i got rid of the safety switches long before the engine swap. how about this: cut the wires to the switch and strip off the coating, then find the coler of the wire going to the starter solinoid and conect them. (i think they are orange) and leave the other ones unconected ( cut them off a little ways up so they are out of the way once you get it figure it out.

hey guys. I was able to upload and post my build thread, etc! check it out!

https://www.atltf.com/t3898-my-2003-murray-select-all-terrain-tractor-build#52532