Mystery Mower

I just purchased my first riding lawnmower...used, for $200. It's a little ugly, but seems to do the job, which is all I need.

However, I'm pretty sure that at some point in the near future I'm going to have to do some maintentance on it, and for that, I need to know what the thing IS.

The only identification on the mower is the serial plate on the back. I don't have the serial number itself handy (I'm at work) but I wrote down everything else.

Model # A3812001
Code # 0030M
Manufactured by Noma Outdoor Products

It's a 38" mower, and originally had a 12hp Briggs & Stratton engine in it...the previous owner replaced it a couple years ago with an 8hp Briggs that someone gave him (it's a little pokey, but does the job). It's red and black (as MANY brands seem to be), has a five-speed-with-reverse transmission, and has the gas filler on top through a hole in the hood.

The guy that sold it to me said that it was an MTD mower, but there's nothing on it to indicate that this is true. I did a BUNCH of Internet research last night and today, and have come up with a few things that all seem to contradict each other.

1. Noma was bought by Dynamark, who was then bought by Murray. True?
2. Dynamark built mowers for a LOT of different brands (including Craftsman?), and they are all more or less interchangeable. True?
3. Murray doesn't know what this thing is.
4. I found ONE reference to the model number on a 3-year-old used mower listing, but the model number was associated with Dynamark, not Noma, Murray, or MTD.
5. When searching for similar tractors on eBay, I found both Dynamark and MTD mowers that looked VERY similar (but not exactly) to mine. Is there any correlation?
6. When I search for Noma parts, I either come up with nothing but Noma blades or else I get directed to Murray parts.

I'm going to take some pictures tonight and post them on a webpage...it'll be at http://gorj.merseine.nu/mower (not until after about 9pm Mountain time).

Basically, what I need to know is...who DID make this, what other brands is it parts-compatible with, and where can I find owner's/service manuals? I feel comfortable working on it myself (can't afford to take it to a shop, anyways), but I need information and guidance for finding parts and procedures. I've already exhausted the obvious resources that I can find online, and what info I've found only seems to muddy things up further.

The engine itself won't be a problem...I've worked on pushmower engines since I was a kid, and Briggs & Stratton has all sorts of documentation for their engines online. It's the rest of the drivetrain and the mower deck that I'm afraid to touch without a manual.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Hello:

Not sure how old it is and don't have time to do research on that, but my guess if it is less that ten yrs old it was likely manufactured by MTD.

I have an MTD 38-12 lawn tractor with a 12 HP Briggs I bought 9 years ago.
Fortunately, I still have the manuals as I bought it new. I'd guess the mower deck etc are identical to yours if it's of the same vintage or newer.

Companies like MTD may change the "tin" or bodywork to make a unit look sleeker..but the guts are usually the same.

If you have no luck I can scan in the manual and email it to you as a PDF, or compy it and send it snail mail.

Good Luck,

Snowman 53

 

I think I came across something last night (I found SO many little tidbits of information that I couldn't sort through) that seemed to imply that it could have been built in 1990. Very little plastics on it, mostly sheet metal.

[EDIT] Pics are up.

 

I have just aqquired an MTD that looks very much like your mower. I think it older as it has the 11hp which I think was superceded by the 12.5. Check the MTD archive, it is down often it seems as it is now so I canot look http://manuals.mtdproducts.com/mtd/public/list.jsp
MTD says their lawn tractors model # starts with 13..... so that keeps the mystery on. Here is a link for the deck manual on mine 38"
http://manuals.mtdproducts.com/mtd/m.../770-5332D.PDF
and here is the one for my mower
http://manuals.mtdproducts.com/mtd/m.../770-6316D.PDF

Compare to yours and see if similar enuff or we can keep lookin...
Here is a pic of mine or rather my daughters heheheh...
http://asis.phanfare.com/album/6557/6558/334871

P.S. Just rethinking and noticed your transaxle...that configuration for shifting is the same as I see on Masterkraft and some craftsman. Again tho the model # starts with a 13...

 

http://www.bentleysupply.com/murrayparts.php
and Murrays home page, the search shows nothing with those #'s but there is several support contacts listed.
http://www.murray.com/www/DesktopDefault.aspx

 

Okay...I spent a good part of today cleaning, tuning, and figuring things out. Still have questions, but those will follow.

My questions now are fairly generic:

I have some ideas about this second question.

Any thoughts on all of this, or do you know of any reference books that could give me some answers? Even though I've finally figured out the manufacturer and model, I'm having NO luck finding any documentation.

 

Oh boy, yes, you have an old noma product and are finding out how difficult it can be to keep one going. You'll probably have to find most parts for the mower itself used on ebay. I don't think there is much if any support for noma products at all anymore. They did make some sears products many years ago, but there are few that still survive. (this was over 20 years ago). To worsen matters, it sounds like yours has been cobbled. The crankshaft has no extension. The pulley is bolted directly to the crankshaft. It could be that your pulley is wrong. It could be that the deck is wrong. It coulb be both or neither. The thing to do here is either engineer to make it work the way it is or with modifications of your own design; hope to find an old lawnmower shop that might still have literature about this mower and maybe view some manuals and try to get it back to operating the way it was designed; or bail out of it before things get hairy.

It's normal for a blade belt to be slanted downward toward the deck pulleys when the deck is down, but not more than the sheave on the engine pulley or blade pulleys will allow without rubbing the belt edge too much.

 

Murray link is provided...a phone call may be a bit much trouble theese days...but I have had excellent support when speaking with Murray support folk via landline. If they have hard copy documentation not available online, they have scanned and mailed