MTD Ranch King

Well the other day I gave my grandparents $75. And asked them to go but a mtd
tractor I found on craigslist. So today while I was at school they went and got
it for me... (They are awesome!) and it has a 12hp Briggs flat head and a
transaxle unknown... It has one just unsure what kind... Will post pictures when
I get it out of my grandpas truck... Still have no idea of what I want to do to it... I'm thinking a utility tractor/ mudder... But still not sure

here are some more pictures of it... still cant figure out what year it is...



here are some numbers i found on the transaxle... on the bottom

standard run-of-the-mill MTD FNR/vari drive, nothing special. best part about that is the engine

willis923 wrote:

standard run-of-the-mill MTD FNR/vari drive, nothing special. best part about that is the engine

ok so it would not be a good idea to mud/ make into a utility tractor?

would it be bad? no. would it take alot of work- to make a GOOD tractor? yes. MTD frames flex, and are made really thin.. you would want to re-enforce the frame a whole lot if you plan on hauling heavy loads, going real hardcore offroading. vari drives are... ehh. ive never had good luck with them. i completely destroyed one with just normal mowing, so... locking them is tough (so ive heard). do you have a stamped or cast front axle?

willis923 wrote:

would it be bad? no. would it take alot of work- to make a GOOD tractor? yes. MTD frames flex, and are made really thin.. you would want to re-enforce the frame a whole lot if you plan on hauling heavy loads, going real hardcore offroading. vari drives are... ehh. ive never had good luck with them. i completely destroyed one with just normal mowing, so... locking them is tough (so ive heard). do you have a stamped or cast front axle?

im not exactly sure... Just b/c I just got it yesterday... And haven't even unloaded it off the truck

Ok guys I put a battery charger to it today... (Don't have a battery yet)... It would turn but wouldn't start... I used starting fluid/choke/slightly old gas(about a month)... But I eventually killed the battery charger... Gonna try again in a little bit... I kinda by passed the seat safety switch...

Yeah it has spark... Just got it started... Slightly flooded the engine... Then took the choke off and it started... Ran for about 20 seconds then started to smoke the belt...(acciedently left the parking brake on/clutch)... Then turn it off and couldn't get it started again b/c battery charger died

Hey everyone so I got it unloaded at my house... And it sat over night in about 35 degree (not that cold I know) weather and wanted to start it up... So put the battery charger on it and tried to start it and it fired right up... And the front tires were flat so put air in them... They held air for about 20 mins then started to go down... But the tires are junk (15x6-6)... So I have a set of kinda old but holding air tires on my custom wagon they are turfs... But are free so I'm going to put those of...(18x6.50-6)

Hey everyone so I screwed up today I went to take the wheels off the wagon and tractor and I got everything almost set up and ready to take the wagon out of the pile of junk... And I looked at the wheels and something didn't look right so... I looked at the sizes again and the wagon said (18x6.50- not (-6) which I though they said... So I'm looking for new tires... Found a pair of turfs on craigslist for $30 and about $10 in gas to go get them... They would fit my rims perfectly... If rather get shipped these http://www.bikebandit.com/tires-tubes/motorcycle-tires/itp-mini-atv-go-carts-tire they are (15x6-6) so they would also fit my rims perfectly... And they are about $50 but they are the tires I want so... I'm gonna think about which I want... But for now it's no riding the tractor

my mower is a mtd and i have not one prob i rather have a craftsman but the mtd is simple and its got lots of room for modds and i love your fenders they already have fender flars built in

kawasaki220 wrote:

i love your fenders they already have fender flars built in

why do you not have the same fenders as me?

LAWN MOWER MUDDER wrote:

MTD made many different body designs.  Some had a rounded hood and rounded fenders, some had a more square hood with those fenders, and some had a square hood with square fenders.

yeah an all mtd had a flexie frame... Which needs to get re en forced

what lmm said but i have a junk yard down the road and its 10 bucks for rear fendrs so im going to get the same as yours my mower can do some crazy roasters

kawasaki220 wrote:

what lmm said but i have a junk yard down the road and its 10 bucks for rear fendrs so im going to get the same as yours my mower can do some crazy roasters

haha yeah... The actual only reason I got this tractor is because I fell in love with the fenders... Then when I started to look at other things about it I fell in love with the whole thing... Then got it.. <----(ya don't say?)

yeh alot of people say mtd are not good but if you think the mtd has a clutch thats got gears in it so you can put a normal trans like a 5 speed in the bottem with the the mtd clutch and it will have 7 gears and 5 gears a 35 speed mower i love the mtd so good luck on this build

kawasaki220 wrote:

7 gears and 5 gears a 35 speed mower i love the mtd so good luck on this build

yeah that's a lot of gears... Good luck on your build too!!!

Well I was going to post some pictures of me taking off the deck... Sorry I haven't done a whole lot yet... Trying to save up some money for tires... (Fronts) and the weather has started to be about 32 and below... Also I lost all my garage space to my parents camaro... And it's kinda hard to work when it's windy and about 15 degrees w/ out wind chill...

So Sunday I got a new key switch and battery... Had to fill it with acid... That was fun... (Not really) and drilled a bigger hole for new key switch... Then my dad can out and said it wouldn't work... So then drilled a brand new hole and put the old one back in and bypassed safety switches... And then the old key switch worked... (Safety switches were bad that's why old switch wouldn't work)... And my dad ordered new tires yesterday so should be here this week... So I can drive it... This weekend hopefully

Sounds good! always bypass safety switches.. thats the first thing i do

willis923 wrote:

Sounds good! always bypass safety switches.. thats the first thing i do

yeah I got a new key switch b/c I though the old one was bad... But safety switches were bad

finally i have time to do this... about two weeks ago i got my new tires on and they are just some x-trac (15x5-6)

Well so got my plow on and had a little problem with vari drive but it's all fixed now! If your guys want info go here https://www.atltf.com/t4376-mtd-vari-drive-problems#59827
And got a really cool picture today but I'm on my phone... And it doesn't let me post pictures...