Mild Mod MTD

I can only go maybe another inch or two bigger- not much room under the front frame area for a really large pulley- i could try a 1:1 - ill see if i can find the back pulley a tad smaller first. When its running- the 6" motor pulley spins the vari pulley pretty fast - real fast. Made sure i had the center cover on the tractor.

I took it for a test run this afternoon with a belt i got from pop ( he had a ton of em laying around and was like " take em with ya! ") - ran decent AND the belt stayed on! It was a bit slower then before, but still quick - noticed it stumbled a bit when i hit the gas, the cable was a bit loose and had some interference with the governer link - so i tweeked it a bit and seems alot better- more instant response. I dont even need belt retainers now.

The whole problem was the new smaller pulley actually sat a bit taller and was tearing the belts up ( i didnt notice it before) - maybe ill try grinding some off the bottom to make the pulley sit lower....

Eventually a future mod might be new lower spindles and raise the trans a bit , but then the fenders would need modding to clear the tires.... i do admit- its a blast! Thing steers awsome - handles real nice n smooth actually - i still say its like riding a big wheel when i was little - cause of the seating position.

Minor update - my nephew came over the other day, we're all going camping for a few days- so i showed him my agway and i was looking at the mod MTD ( since the neighbor kids were running thier mini quads around making noise) so i was like " Hey- lets fire this bad boy up and have some fun" - so fired it up and hot dogged it around the backyard for about 45 minutes- i let my nephew run it around as well - he was like " damn that thing is wicked! " It ran great- belt didnt come apart or anything - i kept trying to do a side roostertail in the dirt at the edge of the yard ( probably have to let a lil air out of the rear wheels) .


It still needs some tweeking, the carb bogs out a little , i also want to see about putting the original smaller trans pulley on it and do the 'stealth mod' - the gutted deck bolted to the foot bords, with the complete bagger setup. Its something ill leave together and keep tweeking on- cause its way too fun!

Thats sweet, who needs an atv? Did you fix the belt problem or did it work itself out?

The belt problem was with the smaller pulley not aligning right if Im correct in thinking?

Yeah the original smaller pulley i put on it ended up not being aligned right ( trans pulley was too high up) and it kept eating belts - so i put an original stock trans pulley on it for now- i did cut a bit off that modifed pulley , just havent gotten around to swapping em back yet .

Im just glad i could ride it for more then 5 minutes w/o the belt breaking actually . Im really liking the 'stealth look' idea - might get out tomm and do it - yes ill get pics!

Minor update - Nephew and i got out to the shed and i managed to put the bagger bracket on - had to take the bracket apart and spin the frame attachment points around to fit under the lowered rear fender - with it all together n bags hanging- theres plenty of room between the bags and ground - im at a standstill for the moment , i need some all thread rod to hang the deck from the foot bords- then ill change the pulley , hook it all up n take er for a spin.

Aye you going to gut the deck to the basic shell first? I'd make it a solid attachment, something that bolts on rather than hangs, espcially with it going faster, it'll bounce about alot if its just suspended. Cant wait to see it. Cant really visualise it yet!

Its already gutted - just a bare shell - yeah its going to be bolted on tight . I need the all thread rod because the back of the deck sits further down then the front- i dont have any bolts long enough - ill level it out after its under the tractor. Im going to try n use existing holes on both the deck and tractor - deck is in rough shape- alot of rust holes, but could be rebuilt sometime so i dont want to hack it up.


Itll probably affect the handling somewhat - ah well .

if anything it'll make the centre of gravity lower! So should handle good cornering. Unless the deck digs in

Hopefully it wont- i havent had it on two wheels - yet.... the swivel front end is gone - its bolted solid, so it shouldnt twist much.

I picked up the all thread rod yesterday so tomm or next week i might have a chance to bolt it on- for the rod and a 1lb of nuts it was like $6.

finally an update- i mounted the gutted deck and fixed the hood. Ill see if i have a smaller belt tomorrow to mount the smaller pulley on the trans again- im also thinking the carb will need a bit of tweeking, bogs a bit .

Took a short break from the mutant to finish this thing.

Ive thought about making this thing faster, after bieng disapointed in its test run, im considering ditching the variable pulley.

Since i want to keep it lowered, ill be using a stacked pulley to compensate for the belt heights- ill have to see what bering roller pulleys i have ( those will need to be bolted /welded together) - plus can adjust for the height of the trans pulley.

Most likely changing it, it wont have the adjusment from the other lever - but can still use it for the clutching action.

Im also thinking about a larger motor pulley - id like a 1:1 to the pulleys- then a larger pulley for the drive to the trans( with a smaller pulley) - should be an interesting upgrade.....

1:1 would be good. Still pretty tame but plenty fast to get up and haul when you need to

i really want to make it go faster , it was odd because it flew around the back yard- then get it out to open er up and it was barely faster then a stock tractor at high speed.

Only thing - im really not sure how that stock trans will hold up - what i might do is use my spare 94 murray trans and shifter setup and adapt it to the MTD - ill see what happens.

Ive been thinking on ways of boosting the MTD's performance , Im taking another route of action.

Im digging out my 18.5HP twin ( off the mod murray) , and making a stacked pulley in place of the variable pulley ( need it to line up the belt angles/pulley positions) - after some thought, i dont think the stock clutch will work- ill have to make a new one.

Its still way too hot outside to go n tinker unfortunately and its a break from working on them to get a fresh perspective.

My descision to use the twin is from the fact that i havent even considered building the wheelhorse yet ( someday) - just have too many projects waiting out there right now that i havent been able to get around to - id really like to build that wizard " kart" .

As it stands i have something like 10 in the works- not including the wheelhorse- mod projects are:

91 mild mod mtd
96 mutant mtd ( yes i want to finish it)
94 murray mild mod
80's wizard kart

stocker rebuilds include:
85 LT11 rebuild
85 LT12 deck rebuild /finish returning to stock
95 mtd lowes machine ( to mowing status)
97 mastercraft mtd ( taking 14.5 off and swapping a 12HP on - that needs crank seal)
99 murray hydro ( carb rebuild /fix a deck for it)
70 toro back to mowing status


the 80s murray ( was to be an offroader) - im not sure what will be done with that now- maybe ill leave it as is,change the tires and slap a 11HP on it, time will tell.

too many projects, no time to do em......

September? Dang- postponed this thing too long - still havent had any shed time, wizard is still the priority project.

More i think of stuff, im might go in a different direction with the MTD, i mentioned adding a 'shift on the go ' setup off a murray- im not sure how well that would actually work- probably will involve too much adapting. So im leaning more tward my RAGB experement- if i can sucessfully build it, ill put it on the MTD, then run a straight axle in the back- then will be easier to lower it more. I might keep the 14.5HP on it for now, to see if the new RAGB will handle it. I might try adapting my spare skooter carb on it for more power.

Another update- bot a $10 1:1 RAGB off ebay - after some cleaning and re greasing, its going on my mod MTD.

New mods will include:
18.5 HP twin
lower stance ( weld the front axle up higher)
golf kart wheels
straight rear axle
front bering hubs
disc brake on axle

Not sure wether to use a go kart or manual clutch yet

Post more updates/pics when i get some shed time.
Should be a real screamer when its done.

I suppose you can say ive offically started the project - i took all the drivetrain out the other day ( trans is going in my stock mowing mastercut which is currently getting fixed of its speed demon ways - was due to too short of back drive belt to let the vari drive move back an forth).

Again im waiting for some time to get out n tinker - still have a ton of projects on the list and since mowing season is here , they have the priority....

While since i updated this : well at the moment the mild mod is non existant - i needed a frame for my 90 task force, the mild mod tractor was in pieces, so i used it.

Ill probably not do another 'mild mod' setup - ill do the bolens chassis up for the wheelhorse sheetmetal and do that rat rod.

My 97 mastercut is totally pissing me off- its still crazy fast and wont stop - almost consdering letting it be that way and make a mod from it, id still like to do some more tweeking on it to give it a 'last chance'.

Still have the wizard 'go kart' to actually start, the agway offroader , a few actual yard mowers to do.....list goes on....

I am working on a racing mower too and the first thing I did to make it more stable was lock the stearing it helped a lot. I love the brake foot pedle.

I think i mentioned i wanted to build it ( or prove you could) build a stable, safer and fast tractor for little or no money, basically with stuff laying around.

Other then the $25 to buy the tractor - thats pretty much all i had in it, rest of the stuff including the motor i already had.

About the foot pedal, i almost used another MTD clutch pedal , i wouldve had to weld a couple tabs on it to mount the cable and springs tho- i had just taken my old 69 wheelhorse apart and the clutch pedal was laying there- already had the holes in it ( just flipped backwards is all) - even the metal bar it swivels on is part of the wheelhorse clutch assembly.

It worked really good, i saved it for another mod tractor.