A 900 Lb MTD? Yep

[Molon_Labe 731]

Spent the last 6 months and hundreds of hours bringing this old 1974 MTD 960 back to life. It's powered by a 16 hp cast iron B&S. Drive is via an automotive type dry clutch to a Peerless 2300 transaxle. The deck and tiller are drive shaft driven via a 2 belt pto. And yea, I had some paint left over so it's now classic red. The entire frame is 3/16" steel with the exception rear frame plate which is 1/4". She's not a trailer queen by any stretch but is one heck of a worker. Below it's hooked to a Brinly 7 tine cultivator for garden duty.

It shares a barn with the Horses and another red tractor and they get along together just fine!

 

 

[ztnoo 2,298]

Pretty impressive beast!!!

 

[Molon_Labe 731]

Thanks Steve. Not many of these old survivors around nowadays and the majority of folks only think of MTD as box store throw aways. That wasn't always the case.

[857 horse 2,581]

21 hours ago, Molon_Labe said:

Spent the last 6 months and hundreds of hours bringing this old 1974 MTD 960 back to life. It's powered by a 16 hp cast iron B&S. Drive is via an automotive type dry clutch to a Peerless 2300 transaxle. The deck and tiller are drive shaft driven via a 2 belt pto. And yea, I had some paint left over so it's now classic red. The entire frame is 3/16" steel with the exception rear frame plate which is 1/4". She's not a trailer queen by any stretch but is one heck of a worker. Below it's hooked to a Brinly 7 tine cultivator for garden duty.

It shares a barn with the Horses and another red tractor and they get along together just fine!

 

 

You are right.....not a trailer Queen at all....Looks ore like the machine that puills the trailer,,,with the Queen on it...her quart....tyhe King and all the Kings men.......you got this covered big time...!!!!!!!!    Thank-you for sharing picks of your Clydesdale !!!!!

 

Edited May 30, 2016 by 857 horse

[squonk 41,155]

Nice! Those old MTD's were tanks. How far does the seat squish down? I almost bought one of those once but I was worried it would sit too high.

[Molon_Labe 731]

7 minutes ago, squonk said:

Nice! Those old MTD's were tanks. How far does the seat squish down? I almost bought one of those once but I was worried it would sit too high.

Thanks Squonk! The seat is adjustable with a control knob which adjusts 2 support springs for 60 to 120 Kg, 130 to 260 pounds. It also has a gas shock so the ride is incredibly smooth. When I saw this seat I knew it would be a perfect replacement for the pan seat and U spring that was on it. When seated it drops considerably depending on the spring setting.

[ztnoo 2,298]

Major,

Where the hell does one score a seat like that???

That's a throne for a Lawn King!!!

 

Is the back/arm rest in a fix location?

Does the arm rest pivot upward?

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

That is one heck of a machine. Do you have any additional pictures?

[Terry M-(Moderator) 2,175]

Looks like a very Cool tractor!!....Maybe not a trailer Queen...But I think it's impressive enough to turn some heads!!

[Aldon 4,826]

Nice looking tractor! Looks like time well spent.

 

I imagine that that drive train is pretty stout.

 

Any particular parts that were hard to locate for it?

 

i am thinking it might be fun to build one as a gear drive twin to th GT14 hydro....close in weight and size...

 

If I stumble across a donor for right price...

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Lookin' really good.   

[Molon_Labe 731]

 

13 hours ago, ztnoo said:

Major,

Where the hell does one score a seat like that???

That's a throne for a Lawn King!!!

 

Is the back/arm rest in a fix location?

Does the arm rest pivot upward?

Got that one off ebay Steve and you are correct, the back is not adjustable.

12 hours ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

That is one heck of a machine. Do you have any additional pictures?

Thanks! I'll try to add some more pics.

11 hours ago, Aldon said:

Nice looking tractor! Looks like time well spent.

 

I imagine that that drive train is pretty stout.

 

Any particular parts that were hard to locate for it?

 

i am thinking it might be fun to build one as a gear drive twin to th GT14 hydro....close in weight and size...

 

If I stumble across a donor for right price...

Thank you! MTD no longer lists this model in it's parts inventory but Jack's and Parts Tree have some items. I had to rebuild the right angle gear box and replace the pilot and throw out bearing and all of those parts were acquired on ebay. The dash is all plastic and was prone to breaking in the area around the hood and sides so if you find one have plenty of fiberglass and lexan on hand for the repairs. These were sold as MTD, Farm King, Unico, Firestone, Greenball and others. Model 760, 860 and 960 components are pretty much interchangeable the differences were the engines ranging from 11hp to 14, 15, 16hp, all had the cast iron, ball bearing B&S engines.

Here is a pic of the drive train and the partially restored dash.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Molon_Labe

[Molon_Labe 731]

On 5/29/2016 at 1:03 PM, 857 horse said:

You are right.....not a trailer Queen at all....Looks ore like the machine that puills the trailer,,,with the Queen on it...her quart....tyhe King and all the Kings men.......you got this covered big time...!!!!!!!!    Thank-you for sharing picks of your Clydesdale !!!!!

 

Clydesdale.... I like it! Maybe I'll badge it "MTD Anheuser-Busch Limited Edition"! The colors are right.....

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2016 by Molon_Labe

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

You did a nice job! looks great.

[Molon_Labe 731]

On 5/29/2016 at 7:53 PM, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

That is one heck of a machine. Do you have any additional pictures?

Here's a couple of pics with the others except for the C-101 which was cutting grass at the time. The Massey will be next winters project.

 

[ztnoo 2,298]

Major,

Nice line up. Now I can see why you had another barn/shed built!

What did you do with all of them before the new building was erected???

 

I'm curious about the garden around the tree.

Don't think I've ever seen that done before......any problems with roots tilling that area up?

Steve

[Molon_Labe 731]

32 minutes ago, ztnoo said:

Major,

Nice line up. Now I can see why you had another barn/shed built!

What did you do with all of them before the new building was erected???

 

I'm curious about the garden around the tree.

Don't think I've ever seen that done before......any problems with roots tilling that area up?

Steve

Steve, before the second barn was built my garage looked like this....

 

The tree roots aren't as much a problem as they were 20 years ago, very seldom hit one these days. Wanted to take the tree down but the wife wouldn't have any part of it, you can see who won that battle....

[ztnoo 2,298]

Gee, you may actually have a place inside to park a car now!

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

You really have some nice looking tractors. I am sure you have spend a lot of time getting the in shape.

[N3PUY 1,031]

I had one of those a few years ago.  A guy bought it to take to the tractor pulls!

 

[Molon_Labe 731]

7 hours ago, N3PUY said:

I had one of those a few years ago.  A guy bought it to take to the tractor pulls!

 

Nice job on restoring that one! Don't know how well it did as a puller but would bet that it held it's own. Thanks for the pic, good to know that there are still a few others out there!

[N3PUY 1,031]

Here's the before pic.