TecumsehBriggs

Here's another Murray I finished putting back together today. She's a 1999 model, 18hp Briggs Twin, 42" mulching deck. I bought her last year at the end of summer with a seized 14.5 Briggs Twin engine. I de-rusted the deck, painted it under & top w/gloss black, new mulching blades & one blade adaptor. For some reason, the one blade adaptor had no shoulder left on it, possibly from the blade coming loose? I replaced the 14.5 Briggs with an older (1988) 18hp Briggs. I had to change the stator & coil so the wiring would match. I also swapped out the intake manifold/carb from the 14.5 since it was much cleaner & one valve cover (bad gasket). I replaced all the bent hitch pins with new ones that I got as an assortment from Harbor Freight Tools. I had to remove the original side hood decals which were in bad shape, then painted the hood, chassis & body parts in semi-gloss black. The grille & underside of the hood is rubberized undercoating, then painted black. New 1/4" bolts & nylon locknuts hold the hood to the grille.

She's listed for sale on craigslist Chicagoland under farm & garden. If I had absolutely NO money worries or issues, I'd keep her. I do have a very Nice Ranch King (seen under MTD), though and don't really need more than one tractor considering the size of my property.

Here she is...and she IS for sale. Had a guy look at her today. He liked her, but has to confer with his wife. She may be sold tomorrow. I may post her for sale here if the guy backs out. Cheers!

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jhngardner367

You did an excellent job! It really looks good.

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TecumsehBriggs

Thanks! Alot of work went into this one. I still have to change the spark plugs, grease the front end & wheel bearings and oil the deck attachment points.

My (ex)brother-in-law is looking to buy a property with one acre of mostly grass. I told him this would be perfect for him & if he bought it, I'd do a custom paint job; maybe metallic, maybe flames or scallops. If he buys the property, he'll buy my Murray. If I sell the Murray before he buys the property, I have a 98 MTD/Yard Machines with an 18.5 Briggs Twin I can fix up for him.

dangeroustoys56

Nice machine- the motor fits like a glove under the huge hood.

My '99 hydro looks just like yours - cept its missing a headlight( ill haveta make one for it) - came with the 17HP twin briggs but didnt have the deck - one of my spare decks will wind up on it with some modding - cant wait to mow with it, its a beast!

I also want to get my 4 wheel steer MTD mowing- its a seriously cool tractor to drive.

TecumsehBriggs

Kind of a sad day today. I sold the Murray! Pretty darn quick. She was only listed for 2 days. Basically doubled my money on her, got $20 for delivery/gas AND a Toro Wheel Horse tractor with a bad trans for free. 16 hpBriggs OHV engine, runs good. More on that in a different thread...

She (the Murray) was a great machine & I was hoping to have her around for a little while. Actually, I bought her last year, so technically I did have her around for awhile...Just not in working order. Feels great to re-purpose a machine like that. The guy I bought her from didn't maintain her; blew the engine, had 2 different blades on her, let her rust, etc. Now I get to finish the Craftsman & MTD I picked up recently. Both of those are going to be sold as well. If I had more money, more room (no garage) & a town with less restrictive ordinances, I'd keep them all. But I can't, so I won't.

dangeroustoys56

So far i havent had any issues with the fleet in my town - majority are in a 'temp garage' - rest are behind a fence and under tarps, not like theyre strewn about the yard or anything - i suppose if i had to sell some, i would - itd give me an excuse to buy more tho.......lately just seems i dont have enough time to go out n tinker tho..

TecumsehBriggs

Since I'm not gainfully employed full-time, I find the time to work on these. I have a 4 (soon to be 5) year old son whom I stay home with during the day, until school starts in August. It's hard to start a project during the weekdays when he's with me. After the wife gets home, or on weekends, I can get stuff done. This weekend I finished restoring my garden cart & painted the Craftsman grille. I even ordered the steering parts I need for the Craftsman. Now if I can figure out how the rear bagger frame goes together...

BBY_Murray

I love my 1999. Just a comfortable, well built machine with a beautiful cut.

BBY

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TecumsehBriggs

The guy I sold the Murray to called & said he had a problem starting her when she was hot. He'd let her cool down & she would start right up. Finally, she wouldn't start at all. I offered to replace the ignition coil at his expense & gave him the number of my parts guy, so he could order & pay for the part. I offered to pick up the part & install it, but he said his neighbor had a Craftsman tractor with the same engine he didn't use anymore because the trans died. He said he was going to take the coil off & install it on his, then get back to me with the results. Haven't heard anything from him for a couple days...

dangeroustoys56

Twins are an ornery motor sometimes - its alot of mass to crank over- they start and run the best i find with a large CCA battery.

TecumsehBriggs

The battery that went with the tractor may have been a bit weak. I told him to charge it for a couple hours. Still haven't heard from him. People usually only let you know when there's a problem, not so much when things are good.

dangeroustoys56

I did that when i sold a RER murray - told the guy to let me know if he has any issues ( i told him procedures on shut downs and stuff- he didnt listen) he called me a few times because the carb flooded the oil a couple times , eventually he blew the motor up on it ( i didnt know it had been rebuilt before- but told him it was a used motor) - i dont think even a carb rebuild kit wouldve helped that tractor - the gas tank sat way higher then the motor , using the gas shut off valve was mandatory on it.

TecumsehBriggs

I now install fuel shutoff valves on all tractors I sell. At $4 each, it's cheap insurance.