New to me LI - needs lower gearing

[linrick1]

Hey all, Went and picked up this old LI with a sulky and the 30" brush hog last weekend for $100.00. Got her home, started tearing into it and found a few problems that needed to be addressed before I ran it. Did some welding on the fan shround/handlebar/tank mount area, rebuilt the carb, attempted to repair the broken ear on the exhaust side of the cylinder, replaced the exhaust gasket, checked the oils, charged the battery and she fired right up. This is a 4 speed model and have found after a couple of hours of operation that low is not low enough to tackle some of the steeper parts of our property and would like to install a swiftomatic setup to get the lower gearing. The serial # is M97948, mfg. # G-73, any input on this and what compatible swiftomatic parts would work for me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rick

 

[Oneaxepony]

Congratulations on your find! I have a 73 Superconvertible with the Swiftamatic and I can say that having the option for lower ground speed really comes in handy. Unfortunately from everything I have read over the years changing a standard tranny to a Swiftamatic is not trivial or cheap. Some have suggested to look for a donor tractor with a Swiftamatic in it and do some swapping. I am not familiar with the pitfalls of doing this so others would have to fill you in. This is a great site but there are a lot of Gravely experts who post regularly on MyTractorForum.com - so you might try there also. Good luck with your project.

 

[linrick1]

Thanks Oneaxepony, I posted the same question over on MTF and have recieved quite a bit of help, thanks again, Rick