1975 MTD 990 Farm King

Okay so I'm not going to clog this thread up with a bunch of stuff from this. If I have any issues with it I'll make another thread for it. It's a Swisher T60 Trail Mower. 60" cut, 3 blades. It came factory with electric start. It offsets or pulls straight behind your vehicle. You can pull it behind anything. It's basically a non-pto finish mower.

It did come with an engine, however it's not the factory engine. It's a flathead 400CC briggs. I'm probably going to put my 12.5 briggs on it because it's already converted to pull start and it runs great.

All the spindles turn, the idlers are good, the bearings in the wheels are good. Tires are all flat, but they hold air for a few minutes. I'm going to get tubes for them. Belts are in good shape, when you turn one blade the other 2 turn. This thing is in much better shape than it looks. I'm going to get the parts that I know I need today and I think I can have it going over the weekend. Wish me luck!!

may your be able to mow at 10mph and not miss grass!

RockeyDA wrote:

may your be able to mow at 10mph and not miss grass!

Haha, well I don't know about that, the 12.5 briggs that I'm putting on it might not be able to keep up. I'm going to keep my eye out for an oppy, that would really make this thing cool!

if that day came for me... got 2 sitting on milk crates right now!

RockeyDA wrote:

if that day came for me... got 2 sitting on milk crates right now!

Awe you lucky soab...hahaha. I've been wanting an oppy for soooooo long now.



Bought a bunch of parts for the Swisher, fingers crossed should get it going tomorrow.

Got it going over the weekend.  It's really awesome.







Even with 60" cut, this little 12.5 Briggs can do anything. I bush hogged some small trees with it. The only time I stalled this engine out was when I was mowing thick stuff and suddenly one of the blades hit a stump and the engine just stopped. Otherwise it doesn't bog at all. These little flatheads have a ton of torque.

once U had a V Twin U will throw the flathead in the Corner...

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

once U had a V Twin U will throw the flathead in the Corner...

Oh, where do I start....

A V-twin would use much more gas than a flathead single. I also happen to have bad luck with OHVs. I've owned 4 OHVs and the only one that hasn't yet died of valvetrain issues is my Predator. I haven't had any issues with valves on flatheads, probably because there are much less moving parts, and therefore less to go wrong. I also don't like the idea of having to adjust my valves constantly, when I had a mower with a 17.5 Briggs on it, I had to adjust the valves about once a month. It really got to be a pain in the rear.

You really don't need more than 10-12 horsepower, the rest is mostly unnecessary weight. Heck, look at the 990. It came with a 16 horsepower single, it weighs half a ton, goes 9 mph from the factory, has 27" tires, and had a 50" deck, with just 16 horsepower.

The little 300 pound, 42" cut hydro mowers that go 4.5 mph with the 16" rear tires and the 27 horsepower V-twins that you see sitting outside of Lowes, that's really only a marketing gimmick. You really do not need anywhere near that much power for something like that. Heck, some MTDs came with the whole FNR Vari-drive deal and came with oppies and 38" decks. That's really just super overkill, but a regular homeowner who goes to Lowes to buy a riding mower thinks, "Oh, the more horsepower the better," and spends a bunch more money on it.

And as you can see from the video, that's a 60" cut, cutting almost 3 foot tall super thick grass with no issues. If I get a small oppy someday, I'll probably throw it on here just for fun, but it's really not necessary at all.

I wouldnt miss the torque & HP from my big Twins anymore even if they like it to drain my gas tank LOL

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

I wouldnt miss the torque & HP from my big Twins anymore even if they like it to drain my gas tank LOL

Dude, to be honest, I have no idea what you just said to me.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

I wouldnt miss the torque & HP from my big Twins anymore even if they like it to drain my gas tank LOL

Dude, to be honest, I have no idea what you just said to me.

my V Twins have way more torque & smoother run & stuff like that & more HP & thats what I wouldnt miss anymore since I have 4 V Twins now,.. but they're a bit thirstier than the baby flatheads cuz they have 2 cylinders to feed!

I'm still having a bit of trouble understanding you, but what I'm hearing is "My stuff is better than yours".

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

I'm still having a bit of trouble understanding you, but what I'm hearing is "My stuff is better than yours".

the engines 4 sure but I would like that pull behind deck as well....

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

I'm still having a bit of trouble understanding you, but what I'm hearing is "My stuff is better than yours".

the engines 4 sure but I would like that pull behind deck as well....

Do you ever have anything nice to say about anyone's stuff, except for Murrays and Craftsmans and Craftsman clones?

Slick unit to have - looks to cut real well too. Should be handy to have around for sure. Nice work!

Dave.MTD wrote:

Slick unit to have - looks to cut real well too.  Should be handy to have around for sure.  Nice work!

Thanks! Yeah, it's already proven really handy. The offset feature makes trimming a trail or mowing under trees a breeze.

im i the only one who sees oppys all the time when they go to a junk yard or scrap mower place?

RockeyDA wrote:

im i the only one who sees oppys all the time when they go to a junk yard or scrap mower place?

I dunno, I've just been trying to get one of a long time and I never can seem to get my hands on one.

you know, be glad poeple fall for that crap mower with big motor thing, because when deck rots they want rid of it for around 100$. then rednecks like us buy it and talk on a online forum about going off road with these given up on lawn cutters.

It is a bit ridiculous, all those horses just for a bigger price tag, but yeah, what would we do without them?

RockeyDA wrote:

you know, be glad poeple fall for that crap mower with big motor thing, because when deck rots they want rid of it for around 100$. then rednecks like us buy it and talk on a online forum about going off road with these given up on lawn cutters.

I just throw the decks off my mowers even if they still work LOL

Murraymountain wrote:

It is a bit ridiculous, all those horses just for a bigger price tag, but yeah, what would we do without them?

U need CC & HP all the time...

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

RockeyDA wrote:

you know, be glad poeple fall for that crap mower with big motor thing, because when deck rots they want rid of it for around 100$. then rednecks like us buy it and talk on a online forum about going off road with these given up on lawn cutters.

I just throw the decks off my mowers even if they still work LOL

Murraymountain wrote:

It is a bit ridiculous, all those horses just for a bigger price tag, but yeah, what would we do without them?

U need CC & HP all the time...

To be blunt, this is my thread about my MTD 990 and your stuff is completely irrelevant.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

RockeyDA wrote:

you know, be glad poeple fall for that crap mower with big motor thing, because when deck rots they want rid of it for around 100$. then rednecks like us buy it and talk on a online forum about going off road with these given up on lawn cutters.

I just throw the decks off my mowers even if they still work LOL

Murraymountain wrote:

It is a bit ridiculous, all those horses just for a bigger price tag, but yeah, what would we do without them?

U need CC & HP all the time...

To be blunt, this is my thread about my MTD 990 and your stuff is completely irrelevant.

Ohh, is it that?? I might have forgotten since theres a pull behind deck & other stuff in it...

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Okay so I'm not going to clog this thread up with a bunch of stuff from this.  If I have any issues with it I'll make another thread for it.

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

Ohh, is it that?? I might have forgotten since theres a pull behind deck & other stuff in it...

Maybe you should read around. Please stop jacking my thread.

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

SebastianAlbrecht wrote:

I just throw the decks off my mowers even if they still work LOL



U need CC & HP all the time...

To be blunt, this is my thread about my MTD 990 and your stuff is completely irrelevant.

Ohh, is it that?? I might have forgotten since theres a pull behind deck & other stuff in it...

if he pisses you off so much, just unfollow him. dont wanna get kicked off ATLTF

i will say i cant stand mowing on a single but i mow in top gear full throttle even if its knee high or raining. when using a push mower i do close to a jogging pace. i want finish the job as quickly as i can.