Southern Tractor's OFFROAD MURRAY!

are you sure that the pulley is the right distance from the engine? on my murray the pulley is very close to the engine
but yours looks like 3". or did you change something like lift the tranny or clutch? I could just be missing something, but I just don't want you to get it welded up good, put it on and find out that the belt won't line up.

yeah every thing lines up well this was just the engine i used to weld it straight and center but on my widebody frame without the top spacer it would be too close and it would fall inside the frame between the engine and the frame so there was no way for the belt to get on . it was just to close to the engine so i had to put in the top spacer.

1997 Murray wrote:

are you sure that the pulley is the right distance from the engine? on my murray the pulley is very close to the engine
but yours looks like 3". or did you change something like lift the tranny or clutch? I could just be missing something, but I just don't want you to get it welded up good, put it on and find out that the belt won't line up.

ill post a pic in a few

oh, so your routing the belt under the steering plate? get a picture when you get it done, as I may do that to my mower when I lift it.

ahhh yes Washin N Waxing The MURRAY



And the Gas pedal im working on at work

Nice! I like the gas pedal. Looks indestructible.   

yeah i still have to finish some stuff on it then sandblast it and make it look pretty lol

Just a quick tip as you're designing you gas pedal... You could benefit from making the pedal travel and cable adjustable like I did on mine. Threaded stops on either end of the pedal movement will aid in fine tuning the action. I was glad I did it this way on mine when I switched engines and needed different amounts of action on the cable.    

Here's a pic of mine. It's not as heavy duty as yours though!

that looks awesome im gonna incorporate tht to my gas pedal its a very good idea lemme see how i can pull it off lol

mechanical engineering on a budget... what's not to love?
much heavier duty than the bike brake throttle. I always worry about my frankenleg squishing those
(I can't FEEL my right foot.... Might explain the speeding tickets    )

Yeah, I hear the CLANG when I floor it and I'm happy I'm not ripping the throttle out of the carb.   

like both you guys es throttle haha, maybe when i get around to it ill replace my bike brake one better haha

Sandblasted and installed a bolt
need to add return spring

updates updates guys   

Refurb Tires on The murray LT

Looks like a speed machine with the smooth tires!   

i know dude i need some new ones lol theyll have to do for now hahah

By the looks of that truck in the background, I'd bet someone in the nearby vicinity would know how to cut tires!

TIRE GROOVER



I bought one of these to do my tires before I found the deal for the woolyboogers on my tractor now.  For $69, might still be cheaper than new tires....  But maybe not!   

sharpen a gasket scraper to cut tires with, that's what I use.

Ill start shopping for some front tires later today at work lol

1997 Murray wrote:

sharpen a gasket scraper to cut tires with, that's what I use.

How about a pic?

T-Dub13 wrote:

1997 Murray wrote:

sharpen a gasket scraper to cut tires with, that's what I use.

How about a pic?

yeah picsss

Im also interested on how you use a gasket scraper on tires.  Ive tried a razor edged chisel, and it was painfull how long it took to even cut 1 lug.  Even with a hammer.

I started getting somewhere when i added a MAP torch heating sesh after each lug cut, that started to make some progress, but it makes a mess and seriously stinks up the place since you are basically producing burnout smoke for hours at a time.  Sickening.

The only non heat based tire cutting method ive found thats not absolutely terrible, is an air chissel with a really sharp and thinned out cutting edge.  Like a 3in long wedge with a 1in wide razor edge and probably a 5degree taper so its thin almost all the way back to the base.
Then just hit it with a little cleaner/lube and chissel away the lugs.  I use a hobby shop electric motor cleaner called Magnum Force.  It leaves no residue and the formula just happens to make rubber really slippery until it evaporates, which is pretty quick.  So this method was by far the cleanest, but the loudest and hardest on the hands from the vibrations.

If you want a quick way to add some carcass flexibility and some more biting edges, an angle grinder with a 1/8in thick cuttoff disk works awesome if you just cut into the tops of the lugs and split em in half down to the carcass. Makes a stiff tire much more flexible, and the extra edges are similar to siping, just a wider gap.

Those are some interesting ideas Krawler. I used to use an old Weller soldering "gun" like this:



I took a length of steel wire from a clothes hanger and made a cutting blade. It worked, but it was slow. The tires on my old Murray were hard as hockey pucks so that may have been part of the reason.

I do think heat is the key to a good tire grooving process. The pro's use a cutter like the one I posted on the previous page.     

finally a foot throttle   

Nice and beefy! I should have mentioned about mine that even though I got used to the placement, others complained initially. I ended up bending the pedal out, away from the engine. This was because when you're sitting on the machine, your feet aren't pointed straight up, but more out at an angle. Hopefully you don't have this ergonomic dilemma.