REVIVING A FREE CLASSIC MURRAY TRACTOR 

I finally finished watching the whole video. This will be a very popular video over time. Looks and sounds great after a little polish and TLC. GREAT JOB ON THIS ONE SIR!

I have one of these Murrays and got it from a guy 5 years ago, that told me it won"t run! I took it and tightened the battery wire on the solinoid and it has been running ever since. It is in even better shape then yours. All I do is regular parts and change the oil. It runs great and hope I never have to replace it. Keep up the good work, you are doing great!

Looks and sounds great, Alex! I would have done some things differently myself… -Try to polish the headlight lens. -Remove all wheels and clean up/lube axles. -Remove deck spindles, pulleys and bearings, install zerks in the spindles and flush and lube the bearings. They sounded dry to me. -Pressure wash everything first, especially the intake area. -Brush used motor oil on the bottom of the deck after pressure washing.

I had a 1977 36inch cut Murray I sold it in 1994 to a friend, it was a good one, bought a new Murray in 1994, lasted one year engine blew up,seat fell off. The old Murray is still running.

I remember those, but I haven't seen one in years. You don't see Murrays turn up very often anymore. There aren't a ton of them still around, and that one is in really good condition. That is definitely a restoration candidate.

My dad bought one in 95’ after having our house built, traded up to a brand new 2014 John Deere which he’s been using since. I’ve got a lot of spring and summer memories of that mower, always had that high pitched starter sound, and backfired loud when you pulled into the garage and turned it off

i wish the newer mowers had such a nice simple setup underneath. This shows how manufacturers complicate things today. Newer is not always better

Nice mower. I think it was worth fixing up. It's basically in good shape and has more metal than plastic. The only negative thing I see about it is that so much disassembly is necessary to replace the drive belt which seems like a common maintenance item. Not the greatest design.

When I was 15-16 years old (1986-1987) I use to cut close to 4 archers on an older version of this Murray mower. That thing probably had more hours on it than Joe Biden.

I’ve changed belts like 8/9 times and it not all that bad, but I’m retired diesel mechanic and have tools and equipment at my home shop

Just got one of those as a package deal with two other mowers a push-mower and a tiller had a junk battery in it I put a jumper box on it and it fired up with whatever crap was in that carb the gas tank was dry as a bone keep in mind it had sat for close to 2 years

I just looked up who owns Murray mower company Briggs and Stratton engine company bought them out for $125 million dollars glad you got it running again Alex those are definitely some classic mowers

I had a 1999 Murray I used it forever did an engine swap and restored it and eventually sold it to a buddy of mine man I miss it

Nice job getting it running. Glad we got to watch it and see the end result.

You did a very good job on that mower. I have one similar to that one. Mine was built in 2004. The 12.5 Briggs wore out. ( broke the top compression ring) instead of rebuilding it. Needed an over size piston, and the cylinder needed to be bored. I came up with a Kohler V twin 25 horsepower put it on and it does a great job. It wasn't a simple bolt on, the Briggs had a 1 inch crankshaft, the kohler has a 1 1/8 inch crankshaft. The hard part was adapting the 1 inch blade drive pulley to the 1 1/8 Crankshaft. I used the original drive pulley that came with the engine for the transmission, took an old PTO clutch apart. It had a piece that would fit the Kohler crankshaft and cut the blade pulley off the Briggs and welded the 3 pieces together. It looks rough, but the pulley runs true. Otherwise, it was fairly simple. Had to change the throttle cable, and add a choke cable. My total cost was about $300 for everything. I can say this, with double horsepower, the engine never boggs sometimes it the grass is really thick, or tall if I go too fast it doesn't cut very well. ( my guess is the blades don't have enough time to cut) slow down and it does great. I didn't change the gearing, or the pulleys for the transmission, so it's still pretty close to the same speed it originally was. I also put dual exhaust on it. I used 2 small mufflers. At first I wasn't going to use any mufflers, but it was way too loud without mufflers. You can see it on you tube videos by bertgrau. I'm not very good at doing the videos, but you can see my murray. 40 inch cut 25 horsepower

I had this model when I was a child, and it still worked when I was in my twenties. Just bought a new one T200 Great job!

Great video, thanks for the detailed description. 👌I also have a Murray lawn mower tractor, 25 years old. It has a Brigg 13 HP engine, similar to the one in the video. One model fresher than the one in the video. I replaced the drive belt on that one maybe 15 years ago. If I remember correctly, it was the steering column that had to be removed, and the cover plate under the battery. After that there was a fastener on the drive shaft, removing that you could put the drive belt on. I've been using it for 25 years, still works fine.

Nice machine of the 90s, I got s Stiga Villa Senetor from 1999 with a Briggs 12,5 HP engine. It was included in a house by. It had been sitting for years. I cleaned the carb and the tank, replaced fuel line and filter, also added a battery then it ran :)

Love your channel as you enjoy working on the same old style mowers I like working on as a hobby myself. It’s a mentally engaging and therapeutic hobby😊

I wish I was closer enough I buy it. I love the color It looks perfect Awesome video Thank you

It’s a keeper ! The old ones are easier to work on & don’t have all the safety crap on them !! 😀👍🍺

Another beautiful job Alex. I really like your videos I look forward to them every week. Thanks bud

Nice machine. I have one just like it. You did great.

I had a Murray that was a couple of years newer Than that one that I liked a lot. The biggest problem I had with it was the Nikki carb, but once I had Enough of fighting with it, I bought a chinese twenty dollar knock off and it ran just fine after that..😊

I’m still using mine, put a new engine back in 2010, just about replaced the common stuff, I bought it new from Walmart Used it today for couple of hours and changed oil 😊😊😊

Those seats are very durable, much better than todays thin vinyl/plastic :)

Nice to see and old classic getting a new life!

My ex father in law had a murray bought new in about 1990. It lasted forever until he gave it to a family friend. It didnt last him a whole summer. Very neat machine!

Sounds great, flatheads have a distinct sound :)

I have nearly the exact mower, except in 42". I use it as a standby and it still mows good.

Alex you are becoming a master at detailing tractors. What a pain to put the belt on. Great job as always my friend! ✌🎥🇺🇸

Wow very clean looking

Very nice job on the rebuild! Keep up the good work!

Turned out great !

Great piece of equipment. It's a keeper. Great job.

That thing looks great, all square, good lines. Engine sounds fantastic.

Dude I got a 1973 I got running 2 years ago. 38" cuts like a dream still.

Great job on this mower. You have a lot of great content on here.

after cleaning a carb hook it up and slide it on the studs but don't tighten it down leave a gap , turn the gas on and let it fill the bowl and just wait a while , if its dripping gas yer needle is gone or float needs to be adjusted , better to find out before putting it on for good . if not gas will get into your crankcase , always put a fuel shut off on a gravity fed machine and use it

So glad to see this video!!

The B4 and after is amazing

Absolutely, it will mow as good as a new one. As long as the deck, trans and deck are good, why not :)

I just picked up the same style one I’m working on to flip. Tires are really dry rotted so I’m going to tube them. Then I’ll get to see if it drive. Luckily the person had it parked inside for 5 years.

Yes it is a good idea to revive it

This thing looks showroom man nice job and it sounds like a Briggs 👍

Good video. It's good to see this mower avoid the landfill. It's definitely not a money making unit. Hopefully you make a few bucks to take the sting out of all that work.

Looks good I have one like it . Great job good fine.

Nice restore - I am non-mechanical, but I do what I can on my Craftsman X-3 Lawn Tractor.

In the mid 90s when I was in highschool I worked in a small engine shop. There were a ton of these we would work on. Form tuneups, to engine replacements, or transmission issues we would always be working on them. Good lil tractors though.

Nice job! Looks like a new mower!

IV got one just like that torn down in the garage rebuilding for race mower😎

really enjoyable and interesting. tks

I have the hydrostatic version of this, the neutral lever is missing so it won’t move, the engine was also full of rust water

The old mower will last 10/15 more years once you get it worked over and lined out, I love mine 😊😊😊

Nice work alex that classic murray they don't make them likecthey used to for sure 👍 🔧

Looks good.

Awesome job buddy

Murrays are really uncommon now, particularly in such good condition. I would go all out on it.

nice lil machine

Freedom mowers esa cortadora de pasto es clasico!!. Muy Buena suerte!!

Excellent video !! You got another sub...............Jay

Nice job.

Make a deal with the previous owner for what labor and parts you have in it. Sounds, runs, and looks great. Install a fuel shutoff valve upstream of a better fuel filter, its good to have.. Good job friend!

Enjoy watching your videos. Have you made a video showing how & what you use to make the plastic parts look great?

Those were good old mowers

lookes good nice job

ATF on the plastics? Like transmission fluid? I've never heard of that! Why does that work?

I remember in the seventies, Murray was made in Tennessee.

I have one that model but mine was sold by JCPenney and it is called the JCPenney Grass handler but it's build by Murray

Not bad at all Alex! I actually did have a Murray back in the day(before I went full Sears) lol it was one of those late 70’s early 80’s dark red metallic ones, man that was a sweet looking machine

Correct me if I am wrong--not the first time--but I do not believe that is a "shift on the fly" transmission. My Murray is a bit later model (2004, 405000X8F) and it specifically says no to shift on the fly. I found out I can do so, but it's not worth risking wrecking the gears.

I've been working on and off, since June, a 1991 Murray. I've still got a few bugs to work out of it to make it better but I got it with the shifter broken and it stuck in gear so I had to weld that back together and rebuild and grease the transaxle. Also put new rings on the piston (12HP original engine from what I can tell) and filled in the swiss cheese deck. Also a few more things on top of that. I know one thing: I wish it had a hood like these do because it's got that two-piece hood and surrounding hood that you have to unscrew to get all around the sides of the engine and that's a pain ever time I realized something else needed to to worked on.

That tank is hard to get out but I’ve had rubber from cap fall into it 😊

Those old Murrays are tanks. That being said, I wouldn't go overboard with it. They aren't going to bring much on the market.

Nice engine work, but those spindle bearings on the deck were completely shot.

It's not a particularly valuable tractor right now, but it could be down the road. It was worth saving.

I had the Murray push mower version.😂

wish they made them like that today i had one lasted 18 years

Year and model #? I just learned more about a 465305x92b than I ever thought I wanted to know. Someone previously replaced the narrow drive belt with a standard thickness one. Wouldn't fit between the idlers, so they REMOVED the center bushings from the pulleys on the tensioner assembly! Literally fell apart when I lowered the assembly to change the belt. Literally sounded terrible (wonder why?) Before I got to it. Many other problems but owner wanted it fixed. Ended up around $800 bill, which is what I quoted him

Hey i got this exact lawnmower. Finally got it running what would cause N to be reverse and reverse to be reverse x2. There is a way to get that drive belt on without disassembling everything

my granpal had my great grandpals mower and it was a murry and when we moved to my my house we used it and it blew up on us. and that was 10 years ago

the old stuff is 10 times better than the new garbage they make now

Alex I went through your video's hope to see one that you made on the detailing you do and what products you are using. As they sure look great when your done. What degreaser you have found that work the best. And what buffing products you use and what buffing equipment your using. Thanks Rod

These old mowers are really good quality. Today the mowing deck is rusty after two years. I'm shocked that you could get these mowers for free or cheap in the USA. In germany a non working sit on mower starts at 300€. Would love to restore such a mower but it's too expensive.

How did you make the Bushing ???

My neighbor had one that I used to use when I was younger

Were you in the military? If so, thank you for your service my friend.

I just bought one on saturday.Saturday. l need a headlight assembly. Can you direct me to where l can locate one? Even the whole front black front hood cap. And the front bumper.

I have never had a ride on before but am looking at an older Murray than this for a community garden. Is the clutch combined with the brake so when the clutch lever is released it stops? Anyone know, some of the people in our garden are disabled so checking what the easiest option would be for those with less leg strength, or if we needed to convert it to hand controlled.

Another great job, Alex! I have a question, if I may. When spraying off the engine area, specifically, on top of the heads (Briggs 24hp vtwin), is there anywhere I shouldn't spray water?

Ive been subscribed for a while. You get things accomplished without breaking the bank and that's good for a profit sale. Are you in Florida?

I have a 1987 11h/p. I'm having trouble finding parts.

I have a 1998 cub cadet 1000 series 46 inch cut 18 horse power engine can you tell me more is it hard to put a bigger deck on it were they popular in the day I bought in July still trying to learn more about it it stears shaper then what I should can you tell me how to fix it

Hi I have one just like yours I having problems starting doesn’t do anything. The riding belt got out stop it was old I put a new one and the belt for the blades. Don’t start

i have murray almost identical to this one. Where do you go for parts?

I love eviction day! Here lately I have found some serious mouse condos. Engines overheat and valves stick and bend pushrods

well worth reviving basic riders retail for $2000'00 in 2024 I've got 5 to work on now. can sell for $400.00 minimum have parts from other mowers.

Thought you said there was an oil leak maybe. Did you ever find one.

I need one of this bottles to save on carb clean, where I can get it?

Gonna have to get some roach motels where roaces check in but dont check out