looking for transmission opinion

Ok everyone I'm looking to build a extra trail mower to have on hand for back up or friends that need a ride while visiting and i have a plethora of tractors and parts. i haven't even started anything yet but was going thru some trannys and was wondering what ya'lls opinion was on the Spicer trans i;ve got a 5 speed and a 6 speed is one better then the other ?

Neither one is very good, the input bearings wear out very quickly from my experience, and they shift very rough. But if you're going to use one or the other, then I'd go for the 6 speed because you'd have 1 more gear lol.

If that is all you have is spicer transaxles then run what you brung. If you have something else then use the something else. If not, it would be a good idea to take apart all the spicers and check everything. If needed you should be able to switch parts to make one good trans. One really good one is better then 2 ok ones.

i do have other options this is just whats on the shelf and was wondering weather they would be good to use or not. 2 out of 2 say look at other options thats what i needed to know thanks!

I don’t have any issue with spicer, I think the weakest parts are the cases. Like anything, there are cheap spicers and more expensive ones. Cheaper ones have thinner cases and steel bushings where the nicer ones have bronze bushings and thicker cases. Really the only way to tell is take them apart and clean the grease out of them (which is a good idea anyway) and see what you’re working with.

Yes like CQ said take them apart and clean them up and figure out if one has better bushings and if they both have 4 shifting keys. The ones with 4 keys don't shift as smooth but are way thougher. Keep in mind the ones that DON'T have 16 inch apart holes to be mounted in larger mowers are not only less universal but are way thinner cases and usually sh*t parts. Do you have pics of them?

The second pic appears to be the higher quality case but theres no tellin whats inside. It looks more modern it resembles the ones that I have. The firat one appears older. But you should open them up and take a look. You could swap some bushings and gearset and make a solid trans.

yah there just sittin and taking up space might as well crack'em open and see what i've got

I think a spicer would be fine in a loaner or beater tractor. What kind of terrain do you ride and how fast do you want to go?

Crazy_Carl wrote:

I think a spicer would be fine in a loaner or beater tractor.  What kind of terrain do you ride and how fast do you want to go?

woods and thru creek beds mild hill climbing. not looking for over 20 i'll do like a 6 inch on the engine and about a 3 or 4 on the trans. the whole thing hasn't came to fruition yet just bouncing around some ideas.

Definitely go with a 4 or even 4.5 on the transaxle. Otherwise it’ll just slip, even when dry

I don't know about the "slip" part but I do know that if you run a 6 to 3 or less then the speed will just be plain scary. If you want 20 then a 6 to 4 will be plenty.

I personally am not a fan of spicers but as long as you don't beat the crap out of it it should be fine.

Murraymountain wrote:

I don't know about the "slip" part but I do know that if you run a 6 to 3 or less then the speed will just be plain scary. If you want 20 then a 6 to 4 will be plenty.

I personally am not a fan of spicers but as long as you don't beat the crap out of it it should be fine.

Don't get me wrong i'm not talking about running down trails at 20 plus miles an hour. I like having a lot of wheel speed for pulling out of the mud when needed. that's why it's got 5 or 6 gears to go with the situation at hand. iv'e ran a 6 to a 3 before and it work good but that was a few years back and i don't even know what trans it was. never new the differance between them back then. that's why i was wondering what peoples opinion was on the spicer compared to others.

Not that spicers are bad trannys but I just don't like them as much as the peerless. My trannys always have 5 or 6 gears. Your spicer should work fine.