Scotts S1742 Trail & Trailer Pulling

I have a lawn tractor to cut the lawn, but I dislike removing the deck to ride it around in the woods, so I went to a swap meet and picked up a Scotts by John Deere S1742. I bought it because I liked the well-built steering setup. This is nearly the same model as the John Deere STX38 (or STX42?). The guy selling it said he had it running earlier, which I doubt. This is how I got it, non-running with a deck that I immediately removed.


I checked the valves, flywheel key, and then removed the head. The head gasket was busted between the push rods and cylinder. The intake push rod was also bent. I didn't take any pics of that, but I did take a pic of the car shift knob I added;


The next mod was rear tires. Some used 22x11-8 Blackwater atv tires for $10 looked good. These tires were so old and hardened!!! I had a hell of a time dismounting them and remounting them.




I repainted the hood Kubota orange. It came out ok


Next mod was removing the mouse nest, then removing the double fan shroud used on these Intek engines. I kept the shroud with the label. Maybe this isn't the best idea for cooling, but I probably clean out a nest every season change.






Pop, lock and rock-it! One of the single best mods so far.








Looked on CL for some time for a decent seat, but Northern tool sells one for $50 (which is what most used Craftsman seat sell for) so I bought it


Finally ripped into the electrical after looking through diagrams here.


I used this switch in place of a toggle and push button. Down is engine kill. Center is engine on. Up is a momentary (pops back to center position) for engine start. This design doesn't work well if you have a carb solenoid. You'll still need a switch for the solenoid.




Today I decided to remove the 6" pulley on the transaxle.


Went to TSC and got a 3.5", 4" and a 5/8" hub.


I was going to use the 3.5" but I realized the V portion didn't go deep enough. I would get a lot of slippage. This is comparing to the 4" pulley.


I was thinking of all the methods I've seen here to tighten the pulleys up after changing sizes.


Then I realized that one of the pulleys has an adjustment to take up all the slack! The pulley without the guard moves towards the transaxle.


So I ran out of welding wire while attaching the pulley to the hub, so I cut some of the knobs from the front tire, which you can find in another thread.


And now you are up to speed on my off roader.  

Other plans: Fix the dirt bike muffler, which I forgot to talk about. Ha. The original muffler was rotted and falling apart.

4.00x8" front tires, maybe from a large snowblower?

Foot throttle. Not sure yet. The new pulley will determine if I need this or not.

Kill Switch Tether. I know I have one kicking around the garage somewhere. Just gotta take the time to find it. I want to take this on the ice, and if it gets away from me I don't want to be chasing it.

I like it keep at it!

we have one but it has a 16hp kolher and it is a hydostatic. good job!

I haven't seen anything like that belt setup before. Nice axle, looks to be a strong mst. Seems like you touched base on all the important mods so far! Good work.

I think I got lucky on this model. The only thing I don't like is how close the engine pulley is to the frame. I'll have to do some major work if I want a larger pulley. Forgot to get a pic of it...

B440 wrote:

I think I got lucky on this model. The only thing I don't like is how close the engine pulley is to the frame. I'll have to do some major work if I want a larger pulley. Forgot to get a pic of it...

could weld a extension on and bore the center out so it allows clearance for the bolt? though youd have to lower the tranny then or shorten the input...

B440 wrote:

Foot throttle. Not sure yet. The new pulley will determine if I need this or not.

You would like to have a foot throttle when you have pulley swaps.  I guess it could be personal preference, but I always find that they help.  You can shift through the gears like a car, and you can have more control over the throttle when riding (always a good thing).

^^^ mine was way more fun with a gas pedal. do it. you won't regret it.

very nice rig, i like it. alot. lol. you do clean work from what i can see. looking foreward to more from you

just realized something... you need a hood scoop... would look freaking awesome!

blackwaters rule!!!! im runnin them on dixie, my lifted mower

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

I haven't seen anything like that belt setup before. Nice axle, looks to be a strong mst. Seems like you touched base on all the important mods so far! Good work.

it looks like a spicer, the case is different and mst's don't have a revirse chain

I have no idea what model the transaxle is? Where can I find the numbers on it?

Here's the pic of the drive pulley:


I'm thinking I should just move the engine so the shaft is in the center.

Spent time putting screws in the rear tires. I have an Ice Party to go to this weekend.


Someone on this site suggested chains on the front tires, so I tried it out with some leftover motorcycle chains. Works pretty good so far. placement has to be near the outside or else they slip to the inside and fall off. I'm hoping they work well on the ice.


I'd like to get a bigger drive pulley in place before the party; my buddy got his working and now I'm the slowest...

But I'm putting a chainsaw back together right now, and I don't like to start another project without finishing one already in progress. I'm sure some of you can relate. It'll be a last minute upgrade if I can get to the drive pulley  

Looking good!

It is definitely not an MST series.
1)Reverse Chain
2)Grease

And if you watch Redneckcomputergeek's latest video- a comparison between a Peerless 930 and a Spicer, you'll also notice

3)Two shift detent balls instead of one
4)Shape of bull (ring) gear
5)External case gusseting
6)Other case casting details

I think it's a Spicer (Dana/Foote). If you look over the outside of the case carefully, there's got to be some casting marks somewhere that gives it away.

Yea kinda thought it was a mst just becuse of the long axles sticking out of the case. Oops!

I finally got the front drive pulley installed. In stock configuration, there isn't enough room between the driveshaft and frame on this design.


I got an oil leak... or maybe several oil leaks, heh heh.

So the motor comes off. I cut out the driveshaft hole so I could center it, and I had to drill new motor mount holes. I was pressed for time so I only got a few pics.


I bought these two pulleys from Grainger; A 5" and a 6". Any objections to using cast pulleys?


The 6" pulley was the best fit. Now 5th gear really feels like an overdrive.


I bought two of the wrong size belts at TSC and ended up buying a deck belt at Lowes, which is longer than I wanted, takes up all of my belt adjustment, and isn't kevlar. But it allowed me to finish up and be ready for the ice party yesterday.

You guys were right; I definitely need a foot throttle now. I fell off a couple times on the ice and the engine eventually stalled out after dragging me and tearing up my leg with the tire studs. Maybe a tether kill-switch too.

The motorcycle chains on the front tires worked well, but it's a mixed bag. I was only turning left on an oval track, so I had to move the left chain over to the right side of the tire, otherwise it would pop off. They also stay on better with a tubed tire. I had one tubed and one without. The chain on the non-tubed tire moved around a lot more.

could always find some ribbed ag tires at your local farmers equipment shop for the front some plows and cultivators have smaller tires that are ribbed and they work really well for the chains just make sure to deflate them then put the chain on and inflate :p keeps them tight!

^^^ yea you could do that

Not a bad idea! When I get another set of fronts, I'll cut a channel out of these and keep them for ice use only.

sounds good!

The spokes on that pulley look a little wimpy. Careful with taching it and side stepping the clutch!    

I'm planning on making cast pulleys. Dunno that I like the spokes, as tdub said

Aluminum pulleys are a no go for us. We've used them before, they work for a while. Keyways fail, and belt will wear through the side of the pulley under heavy use.

I figured there was some reason I shouldn't use cast pulleys. Oh well. TSC only stocks 1 of each hub mount and I'm pretty sure someone stole the 1" mount, which is what I needed. So the cast one stays until it blows apart.   

Maybe after that happens I'll put new oil seals to stop the leaks.