New To Me A-60

[WHX?? 58,285]

First off thank you Pullstart for bringing this one back and saving it from one that knows no better. I'll mention no names here Sylvia but what the double hockey sticks happened here? Wanted to smoke one??!?!? 

 

Good Lord for NOS this thing sure looked like it been in the hands of somebody didn't have a clue... just sayin .. for never have mowed a blade of grass ??

I have no clue but I ain't even close to done roasting  you Jimbo! Hope you haven't left yer sense of humor in the top drawer! 

Original thread here ... stand by for how It's done RIGHT!

 

Edited Saturday at 03:08 AM by WHX??

[WHX?? 58,285]

So somebody else who shall not be named Sylvia decided 12 psi was not enough in a tire and figured these where 8 bolt rims that needed 80. And promptly blew out a tire that was dry rotted for from sitting flat for 20 years. Ok fine no big deal a set of new shoes in order right? Well to hell with that lets just put some slime in ... along with a can of tune up in a can with rings that are smoking in a electric motor.

Alrighty then... wonder if the poor sob that  wanted to do things right had to deal with that? 

Good thing you took a real day job Kev and didn't have time to deal with this crap. 

The rim was a real pain to get off even with a special hub puller... then deal with the slime. 

I've had tires & rims a lot older than this better to deal with! 

 

 

So all said and done right ready to work as the Good Lord intended. New shoes/blasted and painted rims. Did I mention fronts don't hold air either? Blasted and painted them too. Bead sealer works wonders. 

Still have to deal with the battery acid that was sloshed down around the pan and started corroding things. You boys don't wanna see a pic of that mess. 

She likes hauling saw gear out to the wood lot tho. 

Edited Saturday at 02:35 AM by WHX??

[squonk 48,203]

Cents yo live 49 miles from civilization, that thing have enough battery power to make a round trip to sneak off to the nearest distillery? 

Edited Saturday at 09:55 AM by squonk

[SylvanLakeWH 32,677]

Wow.

 

Mice ate the wires on the deck. Known problem.

 

Dry rot tires - only one didn't hold air. Yes I tried goop. It has worked fine on other tires. Not this one. Known problem

 

Battery blew up - I cleaned it up but apparently not good enough. Known problem.

 

Price more than reflected the problems. Less than 50% what I spent on it originally and for batteries etc.

 

My apologies.

 

[953 nut 69,704]

Uncle Jim, welcome to the A-60   Club.

[WHX?? 58,285]

2 hours ago, squonk said:

make a round trip to sneak off to the nearest distillery

Dan comes to stay the distillery makes house calls. 

 

2 hours ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Yes I tried goop

Sylvia working on a tractor ... known problem 

Mice & wires understandable ... the fix? 

 

26 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

welcome to the A-60   Club.

 Richard ... here I thought yours had a bad tranny bearing this one is just as loud if not more. Funny thing is the A-81 gasser @jeremi3210 has now has the same tranny and i don't recollect it being noisy at all. Maybe just couldn't hear it over the roar of the mighty Briggs! 

Edited Saturday at 12:52 PM by WHX??

[953 nut 69,704]

30 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

I thought yours had a bad tranny bearing this one is just as loud if not more.

I looked into new bearings and it would cost about the same for a new replacement tranny. I replaced the belt and idler, no change. Everything seems tight so just run it!

[squonk 48,203]

The bearing noise is there so you can tell it's turned on over the roar of Wild Bill on the P.A.! 

[SylvanLakeWH 32,677]

As I understand it, those are grease packed transmissions. I ran across a post somewhere about adding regular 80/90 gear oil to address the probability of solidified grease after 50 years... not brave enough to try it.

 

@953 nut ring a bell?

[squonk 48,203]

49 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

As I understand it, those are grease packed transmissions. I ran across a post somewhere about adding regular 80/90 gear oil to address the probability of solidified grease after 50 years... not brave enough to try it.

 

@953 nut ring a bell?

Those were packed with Bentonite (sp) grease. If you want a stinky mess on your hands, open one up! 

Edited Saturday at 06:30 PM by squonk

[James Wright 2]

The Bentonite detail is the part I'd want to understand better before swapping anything in. If the original grease has set up over decades, adding gear oil on top doesn't necessarily dissolve it, it just gives you two substances in one case. I'd be more inclined to open one, clean it out properly, and repack with something matched to the operating temperature than to pour 80/90 into a sealed unit and hope. Squonk's warning about the smell is enough to keep me from experimenting on a working transmission.

[WHX?? 58,285]

1 hour ago, James Wright said:

experimenting on a working transmission

Yep if it ain't broke don't fix it. 

Corn head grease might be my go to if I had to open it. 

If 953 nut's is noisy mine can be too.

 @James Wright

[953 nut 69,704]

On 10/24/2026 at 1:40 PM, SylvanLakeWH said:

As I understand it, those are grease packed transmissions. I ran across a post somewhere about adding regular 80/90 gear oil to address the probability of solidified grease after 50 years... not brave enough to try it.

 

@953 nut ring a bell?

Yes, I did that on a MTD transaxle that had a cracked housing when I got it (about 1990 or so) The driven pulley came out of the top so little likelihood of leaking too bad. I packed grease around the axle shafts inside and found a pair of seals for the outside, filled the lower half with 80/90 bolted it up and placed the seals on the axle shafts. Back to mowing, no leakes.