Rear mower gearbox questions.

[Pooh_Bear]

First question I probably could have found in the archives.
But us bears are lazy so I'm just gonna ask.

I want to change the oil in the gear boxes of my rotary cutter and my finish mower.
The finish mower is a Big Bee brand if it matters. Rotary cutter is unknown.
Both are 5 feet wide.
What type of oil goes in them when I change it.
My early 1949 8N tractor takes 90w GL-1 gear oil.
I'm hoping the gearboxes will take the same.

Second question. Some of ya'll mite think this is crazy.

The question is: What is the ratio in the gearbox. Are they all 1:1.
The reason I'm asking is old push mowers are easy to find.
I have seen them thrown away cause someone couldn't get it to run so they just bought a new one.
Little tinkering is all it would take to bring it back to life.
I was thinking I could take one of those little 3.5-5 horsepower vertical shaft engines,
mount it in a frame like golf cart. Run a belt from the motor to the bottom shaft of the gearbox.
From the top (horizontal shaft) I could drive an an axle.
Sure it will need some gearing down to make it go slower.
And some kind of clutch system. But it would be great to drive around the property and neighborhood.
Crazy idea? probably. But vertical shaft engines are easy to find around here.
Horizontal shaft engines are not easy to find and aren't cheap around here.
So my idea is convert vertical to horizontal via a right angle gearbox.

So what is the ratio on these mower gearboxes.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

 

[Fredex]

I use 90W in my Bush Hog.

Gear box ratios vary considerably depending upon the diameter of the cutting circle.

I doubt that a 3.5hp Briggs will handle a 5' Bush Hog or finish mower. Might handle one spindle of the finisher.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

Not gonna try to use a 3.5 HP to drive a bush hog.
Wanna use it to power an oversized go cart.
Something about like a golf cart.
Doesn't have to go fast. Just get around the neighborhood.
Gear it down low enough and it should work fine.

Pooh Bear

 

[Hydraman]

Hi. Mr. Bear go to http://www.curtismachine.com looks to me like they will make whatever kind of box y'all want. Don

 

[Soundguy]

I would go with any gear lube in the old mower.. ie.. 80w 85w.. 85/90 or 85/140 gl4/5 oil.

for the other mower.. check the manual.. but I'll bet 80w90 or 85/140 gl4/5 is ok. Both will protect a bit better than the 90wgl1 which is the oem choice for your N rear end to protect the yellow metal in it's very expensive submerged hydro pump.

Soundguy