Mr

[Roy 1]

Hi all, I  am in the process of rejuvenating a Mowett Mustang 8.  As anyone got any ideas how to change or add oil to the gear box, and what grade? I have not been able to find a fill or drain plug on it?  Is it a sealed unit? Also a workshop manual would be handy. 

 

Thanks, 

 

Roy. 

[nigel 1,876]

4 hours ago, Roy said:

Hi all, I  am in the process of rejuvenating a Mowett Mustang 8.  As anyone got any ideas how to change or add oil to the gear box, and what grade? I have not been able to find a fill or drain plug on it?  Is it a sealed unit? Also a workshop manual would be handy. 

 

Thanks, 

 

Roy.

They are a sealed unit

And you won’t find a workshop manual

[nigel 1,876]

10 hours ago, nigel said:

They are a sealed unit

And you won’t find a workshop manual

 

15 hours ago, Roy said:

Hi all, I  am in the process of rejuvenating a Mowett Mustang 8.  As anyone got any ideas how to change or add oil to the gear box, and what grade? I have not been able to find a fill or drain plug on it?  Is it a sealed unit? Also a workshop manual would be handy. 

 

Thanks, 

 

Roy. 

Roy if you type in mowet mustang in the search bar you will find lots of posts about them

[pmackellow 2,738]

15 hours ago, Roy said:

Hi all, I  am in the process of rejuvenating a Mowett Mustang 8.  As anyone got any ideas how to change or add oil to the gear box, and what grade? I have not been able to find a fill or drain plug on it?  Is it a sealed unit? Also a workshop manual would be handy. 

 

Thanks, 

 

Roy. 

 

Hello Roy

 

Mowett Mustangs are not that common in the UK, literature is very hard to find !

 

Welcome to the forum, as Nigel says there are post about them on here, I currently own 3 in varying states of repair !

 

Paul

 

 

 

[Roy 1]

Thanks Paul and Nigel for your comments. 

 

Is it possible to "split the case" open up the gearbox, give it a clean out, replace oil and rebuild?  As anybody done it? 

Thanks, Roy. 

[nigel 1,876]

6 hours ago, Roy said:

Thanks Paul and Nigel for your comments. 

 

Is it possible to "split the case" open up the gearbox, give it a clean out, replace oil and rebuild?  As anybody done it? 

Thanks, Roy. 

There is no need Roy they are made to me sealed, why do you want to strip it ?

[Roy 1]

Hi Nigel, 

 

I have so far resurrected the Briggs engine and it runs quite well. The action of the gear shift  is stiff, and it is necessary to switch off the engine to disengage the gear that I am in, get back to neutral, restart the engine, then engage the other gear. This is a bit of a nuisance. It occurred to me that seeing the age of the gearbox, the lubricant by this time  would be past its sell by date and lost its original  qualities. 

 

As it happens, I have 2 gear box's. The 2nd is on a spare chassis. That one is presently stiffer, but it seemed an idea to take it apart and clean out the old oil, then replace with new.  

 

Any advice is welcome. 

 

Cheers, 

Roy

[the showman 4,074]

I seem to remember on some early gearbox’s are filled with grease and sealed at the factory, hence no drain or fill plug

[Stormin 4,458]

  I've not had anything to do with the Mustangs. But I think I will be right in saying, the gearboxes will most likely be filled with grease, not oil being sealed. Similar sealed units I've come across have been.

SNAP!

[Roy 1]

Hi Thanks for the reply. Grease would make sense, but it must be old and tired by now and gluing up the works. What do you think? 

 

All wisdom welcome. 

[Stormin 4,458]

 Can you put up a couple of photo's of the box?

[Wristpin 400]

Is the transmission of their own manufacture or bought in from the likes of Peerless or Spicer?

[Stormin 4,458]

 I've just got rid of a Spicer off a Husqvarna. I think you may have been able to take the top off?

[Roy 1]

Hello, thanks for the reply.

 

As far as I can tell so far, it is a Foote 35  that was a bought in component. 

 

All help appreciated. 

 

Thank you.

 

Roy. 

Hi Stormin, thanks for the input. As far as I know so far it is a Foote 35 geabox. Circa 82 may be earlier. Currently having trouble finding out about it. Looks to be a sealed unit, 2 gears 1 f and 1 r. Mine is a bit tired and very stiff. I suspect it needs stripping and old grease washed out and replaced with modern stuff. 

All wisdom appreciated. 

 

Roy. 

 

[nigel 1,876]

1 hour ago, Roy said:

Hello, thanks for the reply.

 

As far as I can tell so far, it is a Foote 35  that was a bought in component. 

 

All help appreciated. 

 

Thank you.

 

Roy. 

Hi Stormin, thanks for the input. As far as I know so far it is a Foote 35 geabox. Circa 82 may be earlier. Currently having trouble finding out about it. Looks to be a sealed unit, 2 gears 1 f and 1 r. Mine is a bit tired and very stiff. I suspect it needs stripping and old grease washed out and replaced with modern stuff. 

All wisdom appreciated. 

 

Roy. 

 

Yep your right it is a Foote gearbox they were used on lots of cheap mowers in the 70s and 80s including some huffys  and falls mowers My advice would be to warm the gearbox up a little and then keep moving it between gears, you will find it will loosen up

[Stormin 4,458]

16 minutes ago, nigel said:

My advice would be to warm the gearbox up a little and then keep moving it between gears, you will find it will loosen up

 

Been thinking about that myself. Maybe driving around will help.

 

[Wristpin 400]

Foote were also used in the Ariens YT tractors in the 80s. We used to open them up and replace the grease adding a bit of semi fluid grease to ensure that it moved around in side the box rather than form a mould around the gears.  I believe that Foot ceased production following a major fire at their factory. The box used in the YTs was a three speed and reverse plus a high and low range change giving 6 and 2.

[Roy 1]

Thanks Wristpin for that valuable insight.  I am no mechanic, but I do think it rather odd that a company would  manufacture a gearbox as a sealed unit, bearing in mind it is a hardworking piece of kit when fitted to a mower doing long hours.  It stands to reason that oil or grease is sooner or later going to loose its dexterity and need to be changed.  Maybe drilling and tapping a drain and fill hole  can be  considered. 

[Stormin 4,458]

 If you google Foote Garden Tractor gearboxes, you may find info there. Looks like Foote was taken over by Spicer, or vice versa.

[nigel 1,876]

Foote did make gearboxes you can split but on the mustang they were sealed like I said before it only has 1 forward and 1 reverse gear I have owned ten of these machines over the years, they all had stiff gearboxes and every one of them freed up with a small amount of use, my opinion is you will be opening a can of worms for no gain by splitting it, why don’t you get the thing running and drive it first ?

[Roy 1]

Hi Nigel, yes I will follow your advice. Thank you. 

Hi Stormin, thanks for the info.