Wondering about the HP rating for my 5053 transmission

[That_patina_856 0]

I have a 1966 wheel horse 856 that I recently blew the motor on. So I might put a diesel in it that has 10hp. But I might make it a turbo diesel and I don't know what hp that will make. The original motor is a 8p Kohler. The problem I'm running in to is that I don't know what the HP rating is for the 5053 tranny. If it needs some sort of performance parts to make this happen let me know thanks.

[Pullstart 62,913]

There have been some fellas doing the mud mower stuff that have put these transmissions through some crazy stress without big fail.  I bet even if you made that 10hp diesel into a 20 it would be fine.

[ebinmaine 67,628]

That same transmission was used on 1257s. 

 

28 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

There have been some fellas doing the mud mower stuff that have put these transmissions through some crazy stress without big fail. 

 

Are they using 8 speed 8 pinion transmissions? 

 

The 3 speeds in the 60s are good.... but an 8 speed from 70s or newer with 1 1/8 axles would be much tougher.  

 

48 minutes ago, That_patina_856 said:

856 that I recently blew the motor on

 

Did you properly diagnose why a 60s Kohler engine blew?

Nothings gonna last forever but those are rugged.  

 

 

[ri702bill 8,339]

It all depends on the condition of the 3 speed. Motor blew - is this Unidrive living on borrowed time???

[That_patina_856 0]

I know those motors are bulletproof but it got on the hands of a kid 🤣

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,628]

If the governor was set right the driver shouldn't have been a consideration. 

 

That's why I was wondering if you'd figured out exactly what happened. 

 

Things wear out for sure. 

 

But if it was over revved or otherwise used improperly that would make me question the future of any 3 or 4 speed transmission.  

 

[That_patina_856 0]

well to be honest we were doing wheelies and oil started puking out of it. I'm not sure how it blew or if it is even blown we took off the head and cleaned the surface of that and we then put everything back together and we could not get it to run but I may take a better look when I have time

[Pullstart 62,913]

Ok there you go.  We were all kids once, some still are!  It could be as simple as the vent is plugged, or saturated, or whatnot.  When you pulled the head, did you check to see that the piston would move up and down when you rotated the crank?  Do you have a diesel engine or are we bench racing?  Do you have the means to swap in a diesel, let alone turbo it?  These are questions that keep us young at heart folks interested, but a lot of it depends on mechanical abilities.  Turbocharging the world is a pretty popular thing right now and I’m a huge fan of that.  Just make sure you do it right, because there is no reason to go through all that work and wreck it again.  

[ri702bill 8,339]

On 2/13/2024 at 7:46 PM, That_patina_856 said:

well to be honest we were doing wheelies and

And - there you go. I do not recall ANY factory implement that required you to do a wheelie to use it......

[kpinnc 12,092]

This discussion came up years back. The consensus was that an older 4 speed could handle more input torque because the pulley shaft was 3/4, and the 6/8 speeds use a 5/8 shaft. 

 

The ultimate was decided as drilling out the axle housings to accommodate 1.125 axles on a 4 speed, and install the 8 pinion differential and heavy axles. 

 

And to answer the original question: at the 2008 PA show, there was a puller that had a 65 hp motorcycle V-twin on it, coupled to an 8 speed with chain drive. It had supposedly been in competition several times. Can't speak for longevity, but these trannies can handle way more than stock horsepower that the tractors came with. Of course a full rebuild (all new bearings) would be a good idea if you plan to push the limit. 

[That_patina_856 0]

I do not think that the motor is blown the motor rotates and the piston and valves work like they should but I can not get the oil cap off to see if there are any metal peices in it but I am taking a better look at it this weekend