mkane09
Silver Member
This looks like the exact same flock of birds I've got on my property. Are you anywhere near Blockhouse Valley Road or West Wolfe Valley road?
mkane09
At Home In The Woods
- Thread starter Obed
- Start date
This looks like the exact same flock of birds I've got on my property. Are you anywhere near Blockhouse Valley Road or West Wolfe Valley road?
mkane09
OP
Obed
Elite Member
I worked on my lawn mower yesterday. My 3 year old girl told me that if I had any trouble fixing the lawn tractor that she would help me fix it.
If you recall, the the lawn mower slows way down when going up a hill. In fact, if I push the HST pedal all the way forward, the mower will come to a stop when going up a gentle slope. Per clemsonfor and ptgdigger's cues, I checked out the tension on the belt that drives the hydrostatic transmission pulley.
The idler pulley is located at the end of a swinging arm. A spring attached to the arm puts tension on the belt. I pushed on the idler pulley to see how much tension it was putting on the belt. After moving the arm the pulley is on, the arm did not return to its previous position. The arm that the pulley swings on did not freely swing as I thought it should.
I decided to remove the pulley arm, clean out the joint where it rotates on a pin, grease it, then re-attach it. The belt was showing wear so I decided to replace it.
In order to remove the belt, I had to remove the transmission pulley. There must be a better way but I eventually got the pulley off. I could not simply unscrew the 3 bolts holding the pulley in place because the pulley would rotate on me. So I removed two of the pulley bolts while keeping a wrench on the third bolt to keep the pulley from spinning. However, I still needed to remove the 3rd bolt. I tried wedging a large screwdriver against the pulley to keep it from spinning without success. I next broke loose the last bolt by putting another wrench on one of the previously loosened bolts. But I still had one tight bolt, but it wasn't as tight as when I started. Wedging the screwdriver against the pulley was enough resistance against the pulley to be able to loosen the last pulley bolt.
The idler pulley arm was held in place on the pin using a snap ring. You've all seen these things. They look like this:
We have all removed these things by cajoling them off with a pair of needle-nose pliers, screw driver, seance, etc. I figured it was time for be to finally go get the right tool. A trip to the hardware store 5 minutes away resulted in the purchase of a pair of snap ring pliers.
The snap ring pliers made removing the snap ring a simple task. Once I removed the snap ring, the idler pulley arm still did not want to slide off the pin. With much grunting, prying, and some help from my wife with a second set of hands, I was able to get the pulley arm off the pin. The pin and pulley arm joint were filled with gunk that kept the pulley arm from swinging freely. We cleaned the pin and pulley arm. I then greased and reattached the pulley arm. It now moved freely like it should. The spring that causes the pulley arm to put tension on the belt may be a little old but I hope is still strong enought to properly apply tension.
I'll get a new belt from Kubota and find out if I've fixed the lawn mower. I'm definitely not a mechanic but I actually got some satisfaction from working on the mower, especially when it might save me $3000+ that an equivalent new mower would cost.
Although I was on my back, working in a tight spot under the lawnmower most of the afternoon, it was almost fun. I have to say, being able to do this work in a garage made all the difference. Crawling around under the lawnmower outside on the ground or driveway would not have been much fun. Keep in mind, until we built this house, I've never lived in a house with a garage where I could do this work inside.
If you recall, the the lawn mower slows way down when going up a hill. In fact, if I push the HST pedal all the way forward, the mower will come to a stop when going up a gentle slope. Per clemsonfor and ptgdigger's cues, I checked out the tension on the belt that drives the hydrostatic transmission pulley.
The idler pulley is located at the end of a swinging arm. A spring attached to the arm puts tension on the belt. I pushed on the idler pulley to see how much tension it was putting on the belt. After moving the arm the pulley is on, the arm did not return to its previous position. The arm that the pulley swings on did not freely swing as I thought it should.
I decided to remove the pulley arm, clean out the joint where it rotates on a pin, grease it, then re-attach it. The belt was showing wear so I decided to replace it.
In order to remove the belt, I had to remove the transmission pulley. There must be a better way but I eventually got the pulley off. I could not simply unscrew the 3 bolts holding the pulley in place because the pulley would rotate on me. So I removed two of the pulley bolts while keeping a wrench on the third bolt to keep the pulley from spinning. However, I still needed to remove the 3rd bolt. I tried wedging a large screwdriver against the pulley to keep it from spinning without success. I next broke loose the last bolt by putting another wrench on one of the previously loosened bolts. But I still had one tight bolt, but it wasn't as tight as when I started. Wedging the screwdriver against the pulley was enough resistance against the pulley to be able to loosen the last pulley bolt.
The idler pulley arm was held in place on the pin using a snap ring. You've all seen these things. They look like this:
We have all removed these things by cajoling them off with a pair of needle-nose pliers, screw driver, seance, etc. I figured it was time for be to finally go get the right tool. A trip to the hardware store 5 minutes away resulted in the purchase of a pair of snap ring pliers.
The snap ring pliers made removing the snap ring a simple task. Once I removed the snap ring, the idler pulley arm still did not want to slide off the pin. With much grunting, prying, and some help from my wife with a second set of hands, I was able to get the pulley arm off the pin. The pin and pulley arm joint were filled with gunk that kept the pulley arm from swinging freely. We cleaned the pin and pulley arm. I then greased and reattached the pulley arm. It now moved freely like it should. The spring that causes the pulley arm to put tension on the belt may be a little old but I hope is still strong enought to properly apply tension.
I'll get a new belt from Kubota and find out if I've fixed the lawn mower. I'm definitely not a mechanic but I actually got some satisfaction from working on the mower, especially when it might save me $3000+ that an equivalent new mower would cost.
Although I was on my back, working in a tight spot under the lawnmower most of the afternoon, it was almost fun. I have to say, being able to do this work in a garage made all the difference. Crawling around under the lawnmower outside on the ground or driveway would not have been much fun. Keep in mind, until we built this house, I've never lived in a house with a garage where I could do this work inside.
Last edited:
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Ray,
The idler pulley seemed to be in good condition, best as I could tell. Thanks for the suggestion.
Obed
dave1949
Super Star Member
A garage is a nice thing to have. Now I want to help you spend some more of your money on your next tool, an impact wrench, air or electric. :laughing: I think an impact wrench would make short work of taking off those three pulley bolts.
I hope you get the mower back to working better, sounds promising if that tension arm was not free.
I hope you get the mower back to working better, sounds promising if that tension arm was not free.
ENG18LT
Platinum Member
Obed,
Way to go on the pulley maintenance and repair. You might want to price out one of those springs when you go get the new belt, may be worth doing while you are under there anyway.
Yes, a garage with a concrete floor is certainly an amazing tool to have!
Way to go on the pulley maintenance and repair. You might want to price out one of those springs when you go get the new belt, may be worth doing while you are under there anyway.
Yes, a garage with a concrete floor is certainly an amazing tool to have!
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Wait a minute Dave! Didn't you guys just talk me into buying a welder? (Not that I needed much convincing!) My wife says you guys just want some entertainment watching what we all know will be my feeble attempts at welding. She might be onto something.dave1949 said:
Obed
clemsonfor
Super Member
Obed I see a large compressor and impact wrench on your HF list for the future. That's how you remove those bolts without having to get as creative as you were. So I agree with DAve you need some AIR tools in there next.
From your description of the state that the pulley and arm was in I think you found your problem. I too would replace the spring and put the old one in the spare parts bin for an emergency. Working on your stuff esp when you figure and repair it is a good feeling. What you do is feel good saving all the money you would of paid to fix it, but also using that savings to start buying yourself more tools to make future repairs faster, easier and more enjoyable. Like the snaprings you bought ( I still don't have a pair!! last time I borrowed a mechanics friends pair) or air tools to not have to spin ratchets and use breaker bars as often.
From your description of the state that the pulley and arm was in I think you found your problem. I too would replace the spring and put the old one in the spare parts bin for an emergency. Working on your stuff esp when you figure and repair it is a good feeling. What you do is feel good saving all the money you would of paid to fix it, but also using that savings to start buying yourself more tools to make future repairs faster, easier and more enjoyable. Like the snaprings you bought ( I still don't have a pair!! last time I borrowed a mechanics friends pair) or air tools to not have to spin ratchets and use breaker bars as often.
clemsonfor
Super Member
That's why you don't post the bad stuff. Post your first decent weld then a pic of you destroying the metal to see if it holds!! Trust me as attentive to detail as you are, you will be welding in less than a few hours after you watch some vids. It did not take me more than say 30 mins till I could lay a bead down after I realized my problems. I weld better now than then but that's just time. Also we have not mentioned it yet and not sure if your on the welding fourm or not, but the flux core mig welder will be a very messy welder. There will be lots of splatter that will leave the little "splashes" of metal all around your work. It will leave little dollops of metal near it. If you get good Lincoln wire from like lowes it will be a bit better but not much. Also the wire at lowes is not much more than the wire at HF esp if you but the HF wire at reg price.
dave1949
Super Star Member
Well, yes, we did look out for you. What are friends for after all? :laughing:
I was just thinking how so many neat and extremely useful tools that were very expensive years ago, are found in many well-equipped home garages today. That's why you should have them. No, I can't explain that.
About that splatter Clemsfor was talking about, if you get a hot ball of it on your concrete, it can leave a browned, burnt scar where it lands. Probably better to do all the welding you can outdoors.
Coyote machine
Super Member
- Joined
- May 4, 2009
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- 22 SANY SY 50U, '10 Kioti DK 40se/hst KL-401 FEL, loaded tires, KB-2485 bhoe, Tuffline TB160 BB, Woods QA forks, MIE Hydraulic bhoe thumb & ripper tooth, Igland 4001 winch, & GR-20 Log Grapple. Woods BBX72" Brush Mower. Diamondplate aluminum canopy
From the look of your mower deck and the idler arm/pulley assembly, etc. it would appear that little to no maintenance has been done on the mower for ever. To loosen up bolts like on the trans pulley take a hammer and hit the bolt head square on and then spray it with a liquid wrench. Hit them again and then spin them off. Careful prying on aluminum castings- they can break, especially if old. If planning on replacing the belt you can cut it off and then use a chain wrench through the pulley.
An air compressor and air tools are great, but you have to know how to use them or you may end up snapping the bolt head off and then you've made a LOT of work to fix that. Even if using air I'd still put the liq wrench and hit the bolt head to loosen things up enough to get them ready to spin off.
You should clear all the grass off the topside of the deck after each mowing, (air from compressor or leaf blower) keep the blades balanced and sharp, and spark plug, air filter and all fluids fresh and clean respectively. And change all belts at once. Tire pressure is important too to keep the mower deck level and the cut level too. Clean gas too- nothing stale, it will screw up the carb.
An air compressor and air tools are great, but you have to know how to use them or you may end up snapping the bolt head off and then you've made a LOT of work to fix that. Even if using air I'd still put the liq wrench and hit the bolt head to loosen things up enough to get them ready to spin off.
You should clear all the grass off the topside of the deck after each mowing, (air from compressor or leaf blower) keep the blades balanced and sharp, and spark plug, air filter and all fluids fresh and clean respectively. And change all belts at once. Tire pressure is important too to keep the mower deck level and the cut level too. Clean gas too- nothing stale, it will screw up the carb.