Spicer replacement

I have a 96 murray mower that came with a spicer 4900-3 hydro transaxle. The transmission started making a loud grinding noise and quit moving according to the PO. I haven't had much luck finding any info or parts for it. Anyone know of a transmission that may work that I can swap it out with?

I think just about any HydroGear or Peerless Hydrostatic transaxle should work, assuming they are vertical input. You could also go with a Peerless or Spicer/Foote/Dana geared transaxle, but you will have to come up with some sort of shifter (I assume you have the foot pedal setup?), possibly a clutch if you don't have one already. Also will have to figure out belt sizes because the Hydros use smaller transmission pulleys. You could keep the hydro pulley size but the mower will be considerably faster, maybe 10mph top speed.

Also, welcome to ATLTF!

Not feeling good about the grinding, but does that transaxle have a purge process to get the air out? Typically running forward and reverse several times with the hydro release on, then again without it on in normal drive mode.

Something to think about.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

I think just about any HydroGear or Peerless Hydrostatic transaxle should work, assuming they are vertical input. You could also go with a Peerless or Spicer/Foote/Dana geared transaxle, but you will have to come up with some sort of shifter (I assume you have the foot pedal setup?), possibly a clutch if you don't have one already. Also will have to figure out belt sizes because the Hydros use smaller transmission pulleys. You could keep the hydro pulley size but the mower will be considerably faster, maybe 10mph top speed.

Also, welcome to ATLTF!

Thanks for the advice and welcome! Yes the stock setup has a foot pedal for forward/reverse. I thought about upgrading to a geared transaxle but haven't decided yet. My dad has an old parts lawnmower with a hydro gear in it so I may steal that and try it first. I want to start my first mud mower build soon. I've got a few potential candidates for machines but this isn't one of them haha. I ran across fearless fronts vids on YouTube and have binge watched his channel along with some others.

mightyraze wrote:

Not feeling good about the grinding, but does that transaxle have a purge process to get the air out?  Typically running forward and reverse several times with the hydro release on,  then again without it on in normal drive mode.

Something to think about.

I spent a few hours today messing with wiring and finally gave up and jumpered the solenoid to the battery and the engine runs like a champ. I think my next project will be getting rid of wiring and stripping down to the essentials with a toggle kill stitch and push button ignition. When that's finished I'm going to change the fluid and do the air purge. I hadn't thought about purging.