Murray 14.5/42

This mower has a 42 inch deck is in fair shape but needs a bit of welding.  It has a scallop wheel near the front of the deflector and on the other side of the deck on the rear.

In the short term I intend to temporally use this deck on the 12.5/40 with the 18HP twin.  The 40" deck needs new blades and has no scallop wheels.

In the longer term.  Thinking of moving the 18HP from the 12.5/40 to this tractor.   First I need to fix the steering and test the hydrostatic transaxle.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Did the transplant to this tractor.   The 12.5/40 has transaxle trouble.   The steering problem was due to missing bolts again.  Replaced the missing axle attachment bolts with bolts and nuts.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Ordered and replaced the drive belt.  At first it looked too long but today it looked OK.  Go figure.

For some reason I burned up the idler/tensioner pulley so I robbed the one off the 12.5/40.   According to the ammeter the battery is not charging.  Not sure.

Did a few test runs today.  The drive rattles a bit like maybe a bad idler bearing or maybe input shaft bearing.   Hydro works well.  Tightened up the steering sector a bit.

Murray 18/46

Pulled it over to the shop to see if I could get the back tires to hold air.   On one the cords are loose inside the tire so it is shot.   The other has cracks from sitting flat.  I got it to air up and applied pepper but doubt it will ever be a usable tire.  It only holds air for a few minutes.

I installed one of the original DYT4000 20 wheels and a peppered 18" tire that leaks down in a day or two.

Air cleaner bolt just turned so I ground the head off.   Starter only turned a small bit and hung up on the flywheel refusing to turn further.  Took the shroud off.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

The flywheel is stuck.  Ruined my steering wheel puller trying to get it off.  Thinking of finding a 4 bolt version to keep it from tipping over.   Or maybe making one.

Moved this tractor to the truck to make room in the shop to work on the pickup.

Two Hydrostatic Murray's 14.5/42 and 18/46

Picked up two hydrostatic Murrays.  A 14.5 HP OHV 42910X92A and a 18HP opposed twin 46904X92A.  Neither have hoods and the 14.5 is missing its seat and air cleaner.  The twin is said to run but has carb problems.  Local mower repair guy said the most recent owner is hard on equipment.





I don't know much more than that at this point.  Both engines seem to turn over and have compression.

Images from the web.  An example of an 18.46

An example of a 14.5/42

DIY TIRE SLIME

A DIY solution for non highway use

1 TSP course ground pepper
2 TSP fine ground pepper
18 oz ethylene glycol antifreeze

It is best to break the tire bead and dump it in.  If you do opt to put it in via the valve stem use a small drill bit to open the clogged stem.

Since I have discovered this I spend a lot less time on flat tires.  So far I have only used it on tubeless tires.  Kind of hard to get it into a tube.

Should make a video of this.

Gilson Super 8

I started parking the Gilson and the LT1000 under the car port to make space in the shop.

Last week the Gilson did not stop when I pushed in the clutch while parking.   The rear end of the LT1000 is slightly dented and the Gilson lost a head light and may have some subtle front end damage.

The clutch rod had fallen off in the back because the hole it pivoted in was severely worn.  We welded a washer into the hole and welded up the worn spot on the rod.The rod is supposed to rid in a rubber grommet but for now at least it will have to do without.

The left end of the red rod.

Add caption

Goes into this hole.

The large hole above the indicated hole goes over the shaft the the friction disk rotates on.  This shaft is too far ahead and rubs on the front side of the hole.  This has me thinking the friction disk maybe too worn unless there is an adjustment.

Anyway not that the slop is gone from the clutch I can try doing the 3 step adjustment in the service bulletin.

Earlier I greased the 3 rails/bars that the friction wheel rides on.  After that it kept sliding up to high gear which I fixed by adjusting a screw on the shift lever mechanism.

Murray 12.5/40 Will not Start II - coil woes

Took the starter off and found it was sluggish.  Tore it down and cleaned the brush plate in the ultra sonic.   Cleaned the commutator and put it back together with some grease and the new gear.
Returned the amazon scratch and dent Oregon coil and ordered 2nd one.  It worked great for about 10 minutes of mowing.  Had to tow the tractor back to the shop with smiley.   I was originally thinking the coil had died but in fact I did a poor job of installing it and a coil wire rubbed on the flywheel which cut it.

Ordered a 3rd coil which is a generic brand unit for $15 which is about $10 less than the Oregon units.   It has one or 2 less core laminations (plates) but seems to work  fine.  Will know more when I use it a while but I expect it is AOK.

The new coil install went well.  Buttoned it up and took it for a spin and the throttle cable broke off at the lever.   I think I can shorten it and make a new Z bend.   Pulled the wire out and it is clean with no rust.  Going to shoot some graphite into the sheath then insert the wire.

Throttle repair finished with good results.   Resistance of secondary on latest coil is over 5K which is the highest of the ones I have tested so far.

Echo CSV-5

Borrowed an echo CSV-5 to chip some wood. Sharpened the blades.  Peppered all 4 tires.