murray recondition (pics)

[1 FMF]

murray !

got a murray riding mower for free, been sitting in the woods for 2+ years. here are some pics.
first set of pics is of transaxle maintenance, a tecumseh peerless 205-527A. I did not know, that there are people more crazy than oil nuts here on bitog. people actually race these things, and I could have probably gotten a decent buck just reselling this transaxle.
Cool thing is, I have axle bearings coming, this unit did not come from the factory with axle bearings, the axles just ride in the housing. Also have a differential locking gearset coming, these units are open diff.

housing pics, had to drill and tap the lower housing to install a drain plug.




got rid of rubber plug in fill hole in upper housing, tapped and made it a vent.

 

[1 FMF]

pic of the input pulley repainted, was rusting away pretty good on the top side. All i had was white paint, so it's white. input pinion is sitting on shaft, retained by snap ring.

guts. where do these go?

 

[daves87rs]

Nice!

 

[1 FMF]

 

[1 FMF]

no axle bearings, lame. oil seal that goes on the end the original design had to be rtv'd in. when i got this both axles leaked out around the seals, not between the axle and the seal but between the seal and the housing. got new upgraded axle seals that don't need to rtv'd in coming, along with the axle bearings and sleeves. I think only the heavy duty models came with axle bearings, have a D suffix on the transaxle model #. But for a murray mower sold at you know where, no axle bearings for you.



i will entertain oil recommendations

 

[1 FMF]

new rubber for the rear end, thanks to youtube for vids showing how to change these. wasn't that bad to change by hand, now just need to find high volume air source to seat the tires, 3/8 hose is too small i think.


any advice for seating tires like these?
more pics to come...

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
got a murray riding mower for free, been sitting in the woods for 2+ years. here are some pics.


Okay, I thought my dad was dead. I see he's alive and well.

He used to get old riding mowers and ATVs and restore them in his spare time, using factory supplied paint and all!

As for the tires, those can't be tubeless, can they? In all my years, we just used the big air compressor and had no problems.

 

[greenaccord02]

put your belt around the tire when you start to blow it up.

 

[zyxelenator]

try it

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Use dish soap on the rim all the way around.

 

[Cujet]

Nice job!

I find it sad that many times cars and equipment can be salvaged for a very reasonable cost. Yet today, we simply throw things out.

Congrats!

 

[The_Jeff]

Bounce the flat tire on the floor to work the beads close to the rim.

If it doesn't go with a burst of 100 psi air, take the valve core out, the tool is only a couple bucks, and get one of those blow trigger things with appropriate adapter, again, only a couple bucks.

 

[Texan4Life]

Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
new rubber for the rear end, thanks to youtube for vids showing how to change these. wasn't that bad to change by hand, now just need to find high volume air source to seat the tires, 3/8 hose is too small i think.


any advice for seating tires like these?
more pics to come...


take out the valve core. I have seated 33x12.50 inch tires just fine with 3/8in hose. never have used the pyro method. The only time I have used tire soap was on semi truck tires.

 

[Jjones]

I take a ratchet strap and wrap it around the tire and pull it tight,then just put air in it until it seals.

 

[car54]

Originally Posted By: Jjones
I take a ratchet strap and wrap it around the tire and pull it tight,then just put air in it until it seals.


yup. a ratchet strap around the middle of the tread will force the tire against the rim and make inflation possible without a high volume source of air or resorting to fun tricks like fire (Ive tried it a few times with starting fluid, it works as well as youtube shows)

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
no axle bearings, lame.


No kidding! Things gotta get all loosy-goosy over time that way. I assume this is/was a grease filled gearbox?

FWIW, surpluscenter has new, old stock Peerless 3 and 4 spd transaxles for ~$130 if you need one.

Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. Awesome work!

Joel

 

[1 FMF]

this gearbox is oil-filled, typical 90w gear oil. some of the peerless gearboxes are grease filled, why i don't know they look and function almost exactly the same. And i read how some guys who race these things who are using a gearbox that was originally grease filled they cleaned out and use oil.

i have a 75 foot 3/8 air hose coming off my air tank, through 2 quick disconnects, which i think is what's preventing me to get the tires seated. I have ratcheted them and removed the valve cores with no luck. yes, the tires are tubeless. I can buy tubes for them but the tires were $50 a piece and tubes run around $23 a piece.

 

[JTK]

Then again, it does look like the steel axle is supported pretty well within the aluminum casing. Lots of surface contact there.

Joel

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
this gearbox is oil-filled, typical 90w gear oil. some of the peerless gearboxes are grease filled, why i don't know they look and function almost exactly the same....


I was wondering about that, as I believe mine uses bentonite grease.