I was in contact with JC Penney for another matter and took the opportunity to check with them regarding your model and here was their reply: "Our records show that tractor was manufactured for us by MTD Products in the early 1980s." Hope that helps.

I'm creating a gravity irrigation system for a backyard vegetable garden and have a question. The garden is made up of seven 24x4 raised beds being fed by a 300 gal water tank to each raised bed (PVC was used). Soaker hoses won't work because the water is so hard. I've decided to try running 3/4" PVC down the center (in a small trench, not buried) of each bed. I'll drill holes in the pvc every inch or so and offset them. I'll be able to unscrew the end of the pipe to bleed and flush the pipe of sediment etc from time to time. Then I'll just let the garden soak every couple of days. Any ideas? Does this seem like it will work? Thanks

I think that most of your problems stem from a lack of understanding of machinery. Whether you own a LT (lawn tractor), YT (yard tractor) or GT (garden tractor), they ALL come with a deck that is designed to cut manicured lawns. Part of your property is suitable to the design of this Husqvarna tractor but a large part is not. The area that is alfalfa, weeds and so forth should be cut with a Bush Hog style of mower or a flail style mower or even a sickle bar mower because those mowers are designed to cut fields that are overgrown with tall and very juicy vegetation. The first two mower types have blades that swing freely and will retract when they run into an obstruction. And they are built much stronger than a finishing mower, like the one on your tractor. Bottom line... You've been asking this Husky to do a job it was never designed to do and now you are blaming it for failing you. Either your dealer is unaware of what you have been asking this tractor do to or is woefully ignorant about the product he sells. This is a four-year old machine that has gone through four seasons of abuse. As such, parts do break and parts do wear out. That includes clutches. You must have snagged something that yanked on the wire leading to the clutch because those wires don't normally break off. As for the prices you quoted, I think that you were treated fairly by both the dealer and the local repair shop. Electric clutches are not inexpensive and the repair shop did a fair bit of work for the sixty odd bucks charged. Everybody has retirement dreams. The question is whether they can afford them or not. If you want to lessen the problems you are having with this tractor, then you need to do something about the wild area. Either get that farmer to take over that area too or have him plow, disc, harrow and plant grass seed in it for you so that you can have a true lawn that your Husky can handle. The alternative is to have someone else cut that area or to buy a small tractor with a Bush Hog mower on it. Continuing to subject your Husky to that type of mowing duty will hasten its demise and cause you big headaches and repair costs from now on. While Husky does refer to this tractor as a GT, it really doesn't come close to the quality that goes into an Ingersoll 4200 or a Deere X700 series but I know that you are not in the 10 to 15 thou bracket. I simply point that out so that you understand that the phrase "Garden Tractor" is a highly subjective term. Not all GT's are created equal and you get exactly what you pay for. A solution must be found because your Husky simply isn't going to cut it.

rustyj, I am wondering WHY you are contemplating a major modification to the Murray drive train. You did not give any description of a "problem" the machine might be having. As most of us are "familiar" with your "personal MO" regarding acquisition, repair, and eventual trade or sell of "donated" Outdoor Power Equipment, if this machine's hydro tranny operates correctly, it should be "very sell-able" with the current tranny set-up. For the amount of "scrounging" and fitting up required to retro-fit the engine and chassis with a "gear type" manual trans, you would actually be better off to just use the running engine as a "donor" prime mover in another candidate tractor with a bad engine. Is there supposed to be a problem in the drive train of this newly acquired treasure (as in "One man's trash is another man's treasure)? I say that with a gleam in my eye and a grin on my face, (and a bit of a groan at my lame humor too).