Newbie - Doug from Poland, NY

Howdy,
I just recently discovered that mud mowers were a thing and I am currently searching for my first project!
I have learned enough to avoid buying a hydrostatic or shaft drive or MTD vary-drive type machine, but beyond that I will be depending on my own mechanical abilities and this forum for answers to questions I cannot answer!

I looked at a couple Simplicity mowers today and they had Tracto-static tranny's which appeared to be similar to the MTD Vary-drive set-up, with funky pulleys in the middle. So, I decided against this model.

Thanks in advance for your help . . . I am excited to get started.

Doug
Poland, NY (population 451)

Greetings from another upstate boy! Welcome to the forum

Welcome to ATLTF.. Sounds like you are on your way. Before counting out a shaft driven, check out Mr. Studabaker @Mister_Studabaker . He's pretty easy to find on the web.

Yeah shaft drives aren't bad. The White in my profile pic is shaft driven and I don't mud too hard, and I max out at 8 miles per hour, but I get zero belt slip and I will (fingers crossed) probably never break a transaxle. You can change gear sets if you feel so inclined, but from the factory shaft drives are usually slightly faster than belt drives anyway. Just my 2c

Welcome!

As others have said, there are ways to speed up a shaft drive, they’re just usually more in depth. Different gear sets, taller tires, remove the Governor, those are the only three I can think of at the moment. Studebaker has a wicked old shaft driven cub cadet. That things a beast

X2 on Studabaker’s cub...Keizer is a tank and 1/2! Not trying to jack the thread though, carry on lol