Topic: Drivetrain question

[driveit]

i have a old craftsman 38" 6 speed lawn tractor. to make this thing go faster all i have to do is switch the tranny pully to the engine and the engine pully to the tranny, right? how fast will it go if i do switch?
also whats the chance of it breaking down.. since the tranny is ment to go fast... would it break? i guess the tractor would wear out fast right?

thanks

D.I.

[mowdak1]

Right concept but the pulley's won't as a rule interchange, so it's a little more complicated than that. As for how fast it will go... fast enough that you won't be mowing grass with it anymore, fast enough that you'll defeat the design of the brakes, fast enough you should think about other safety precautions. In fact you'll find much of that addressed in this thread - http://www.heymow.com/viewtopic.php?t=572 - it's recommended reading around here for the question you just posed.


As for it breaking down and wearing out faster. You're turning the tranny about twice as fast as it was designed to be turned. Therefore the odds of it breaking are about 4 times as great, and yes it's going to wear out faster, although there are ways to extend the life of the tranny such as draining the gear lube and filling it with grease, replacing bushings with bearings, etc.

If by chance it's hydrostatic, changing pulleys is an exercise in futility, you'll only smoke the pump in the transaxle, it won't go any faster.

[driveit]

is it hard to replace the bushings with bearings?
what grease should i use the thick stuff in the plastic tub or...


thanks

D.I

[mowdak1]

That is totally dependent upon whether one can find a factory bearing with same dimensions as the bushing, if you can it's a piece of cake, if you can't then you're looking at machining parts to make it fit.

If you're using grease instead of oil you'll usually push enough grease past the bushing to extend life of bushing without replacing it, unless you are looking at race application in the faster classes. All depends upon how many RPMs you're turning it and for how long.

[driveit]

i wont be racing it for a long time really, later on i might be racing.  not sure yet. Bearings are no problem to get around hear, dad can supply me  with parts and suff.(although i sill have to pay)

what do you meen by ""push enough grease past the bushing to extend life of bushing without replacing it?"" would i have to tear into the tranny or what?

D.I

[mowdak1]

First, let's determine what type of tranny you have... can you get us pictures or a model number?? Model number should be stamped on the side of the case or on a little ID tag on the tranny.

[matt25001149]

id say its either a spicer or a foote

[driveit]

i can't tell you about the tranny right now, since its still at school. what i can tell you now is that is a 6 speed with reverse and its from a craftsman, deck is 38inches and thats it so far..
When i got the project to fix this thing i had 20 min to look at it on friday...
tomorrow ill have about 2.5 hours so that should be enough....
btw the project is to re-wire it. the challenge is the previous person who was "working" on it screwed with the wires and i had no clue where they went.. i went to that sears site and picked of there diagram for the tractor wiring..(just thought would the tractor id number work?? if so its 912.225740 ) anyways dad and i work out a diagram that cant loose.

D.I

[driveit]

is my mower shift on the go? it a craftsman 5 speed 38" maybe year 94-98

D.I