Welcome to the Murray Forum -- Check in Here First!

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  • / Welcome to the Murray Forum -- Check in Here First!
Re: Murray M115-38 riding mower

where do springs connect to deck and pulleys on a m115-38 deck> Can anyone upload pictures of a working deck for m115-38 take a picture showing the spring connections on the 2014 murray m115-38 riding mower

Let me look something up for you .........

Plus Tard ............
 

bugdewde

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New Member … East Tennessee.
Long-time Murray owner.
Bought my first Murray rider brand new in '98 at Walmart. 17.5 HP opposed twin & 46" cut hydrostatic drive.
Model # 46573x92A
Still have all the manuals and diagrams for it...……..
Owned it for 20 years. Amazing flathead engine ran like a top and never gave me any major mechanical issues …. One starter, a few solenoids, an ignition switch, a coil and an occasional carb disassembly to clear out the cruddy ethanol gas goo.
Mind you, this mower sat under a shed for the first 3 years of ownership, then it sat outside, uncovered (except the hood vents) for the remaining 17 years.
Right up until the day some scum-bag stole it out of my yard. Admittedly, it sat next to the road for a few days when the coil over-heated and it died. Which it did often. But I'd just let it cool, and go back and fire her off and finish up.

Here's the old '98
98.jpg


Rather than go buy an new mower, I decided to find a similar mower …. since I was well-versed in keeping it running …. and I had a spare deck, full of decent parts (spindles, pulleys and belts).

Enter the new mower ….. I believe it's a 2002 model ….. but this one has an OHV V-twin (20 HP).
Model # 465603x92B
Manufacture date code: 02014
Sadly, I do not have any manuals or diagrams for this one.

1109181605.jpg

Runs and mows great! I keep this one in a wooden shed, now that I've moved to a place with a shed out back.... lol. Plan on keeping it a long time as well.

I'll be asking a few questions concerning this new-fangled OHV V-Twin …. lol. I'm not familiar with the fuel pump operation or the low oil switch (which is unplugged). …. but everything else seems to be just like my old '98.
 

reubj

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Murray Lawn General circa 1998. Still doing the job!
 

bugdewde

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Just a quick update ….. while scalping the yard and mowing rocks, I unearthed a larger rock than normal with the front of the deck and it went to town on the 3 blades, chewing them up beyond "repair". It also cracked a spindle housing.

busted blades.jpg

Also ripped the leading wheel mount a bit from the deck.

Luckily, as stated earlier, why I bought a similar mower like the one I had from '98 to '18 …… I have a spare deck, loaded with decent parts.
Simply swapped a spindle and 3 old mulcher blades on (after straightening & sharpening them a bit). Also added a good amount of grease and she's back in business...………


That was a few weeks ago …..

Today, the starter solenoid crapped out. Local mower shop "should" have one … fingers crossed. 3-pole solenoid. So hopefully, they're maybe at the local Lowe's or hardware store ????
 

bugdewde

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Local parts store had a matching 3-pole solenoid (Husqvarna) that fit & worked perfectly.

Here's what running over a spool of trimmer string will do..... Locked up the blades in an instant.
0725191915.jpg

In-action shot of Mom's place that had been neglected for a 3 weeks. Grass was so high the blades would lock up when the deck clogged up. Had to go real slow AND make several passes & cross-cuts to distribute the clumps.....
What a great mower!!!!
0726191703.jpg

0726191347.jpg
 

FPlante92

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Evenin everyone, wife and I just bought a house and the seller left the riding mower behind. Runs like a dream and its in decent shape, all I know about it is it says Murray Select on the side, has a 42" deck and model number under the seat is MS 18542.

Engine fires right up and it has the automatic transmission. I dont know anything about riding mowers, but I do know the front tires probably shouldnt be severely toe'd out about 2-3" lol.
When i went on the company site it claims this mower has a 16 inch turning radius.....Thats not the case with this particular one, Im closer to 6 feet.
Im hoping someone here can point me in the right direction to what could possibly be wrong? I am very mechanically inclined and I took a look at the tie rods, but they have a few funky bends in them that im not 100% sure are supposed to be there since I dont know what a factory one looks like. And they also dont have any sort of adjustment on them like my trucks have, is there somewhere i can get replacements? Or is there something entirely different that could be the issue? Like I said before i know nothing about riding mowers, and obviously the steering system is a lot different to the cars and trucks im accustomed to working on.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 

bugdewde

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FPlante92

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Oh man if this is the answer ill be over the moon! When i saw the toe out i instantly thought "oh ill adjust the tie rods" then i looked and though "oooooh this is new"
And when i saw the price of new rods i was less than thrilled. Im working the night shift right now but when my relief shows up and I get home thatll be the first thing i check out!
Are there any other small things like that that may contribute? My yard is just under and acre so id prefer to have the mower down as short a time as possible lol
 

bertsmobile1

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That code is not one I am familiar with.
However if it has a Briggs engine in it the first 2 digits of the serial number will be the year ,
From that I would go to jacks web page https://www.jackssmallengines.com/
and click on the parts look up and when the screen redraws click on Murray.
That will bring up the Murray mowers by year page.
Select the year from the engine ( hoping it has not been changed ) then Lawn & garden then riding mowers.
Now right click/ shift click etc to open in a new tab on lawn tractors then the deck size .
After that pick any model you like, most will be the same steering wise.

Depending upon just how old the mower is it might have a peerless box and a fixed real axel, thus no diff thus very wide turning radius .
You actually steer these going backwards ( like a reverse park ) to get the tightest turns.

As for the drag links, yes they all have funny bends and no you can never bend them back to be straight.
You will see that the bends are to allow the front axel to pivot and the steering rods to clear the deck & belts.

The worst case you will need to cut the one that is too long and fit a threaded sleeve to adjust them.
If it is old then it will have adjustable tie rod ends & again I fit them to a lot of mowers that have non adjustable steering rods.

When the front wheel runs into a rut on full lock the mower is quite capable of bending the rods way out of adjustment.
The pivot bush ( or lack there of ) in the front cross member can allow the front member to roll when you turn which makes things worse.

Back in the days when people would pay an honest amout for a riding mower so there was profit in making them Murray was one of the names behind the big brand names that you recognise today.
 
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