At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

Fortunately there is a local gas station that sells 100% ethanol free gasoline. I buy all my small engine gas there.
Obed

 

[Diamondpilot]

i didn't think there was any type of gas that still had lead in it. Weird. Is it only used for old aircraft, or what?

No, all piston aircraft use it even the ones manufactured today.

They are trying to phase it out.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Fortunately there is a local gas station that sells 100% ethanol free gasoline. I buy all my small engine gas there. Obed

I'd buy it for everything I own.

Chris

 

[Obed]

I'd buy it for everything I own.

Chris

Chris, do you fill up you cars with ethanol free gasoline?
Obed

 

[Diamondpilot]

Chris, do you fill up you cars with ethanol free gasoline? Obed

When possible. It's not available in Indiana. By law all fuel sold must contain 10% Ethanol and in the case of diesel it must have 2% bio as a minimum.

Chris

 

[Obed]

Replacing the Drive Belt on the Kubota Mower

In order to fix the issue I had getting my mower to drive up a hill two years ago, I replaced the drive belt, tension pulley spring, and fixed the tension pulley. Unfortunately, the mower is having trouble moving again. So I decided to try replacing the drive belt again.
View attachment 423375 View attachment 423374

I removed the mower deck.


The pulley in the left side of the picture is attached to the gearbox that turns the rear axle. The pulley in the right side of the picture is the tension pulley. You can see the arm to which the pulley is attached that provides tension on the belt using the spring attached to the tension arm.


I removed the rear pulley in order to remove the 2 year old drive belt.


I replaced the 2 year old Kubota belt with a new Kubota belt. After installing the new drive belt, the mower still had problems moving, especially up a slight hill. Upon closer inspection, it appears that the tension spring I replaced 2 years ago didn't appear to be stretching hardly at all. The spring looks to be too long to do its job. The belt feels much too loose.


So my wife found the old spring I replaced 2 years ago.


The shiny one on the left is what I put on the mower 2 years ago. The rusty one on the right is the original spring. The replacement spring is definitely longer than the original. It appears that the Kubota dealer sold us a spring that is too long to put proper tension on the drive belt. My wife is going to go back to the dealer to see if we can get a spring that matches the original. Our mower was manufactured in 1989. I wonder if Kubota no longer makes the original spring. Finding a replacement may become a headache.

 

[breadtrk]

Other than a little surface rust, there is nothing wrong with the old one. Put it back on if you can't get the right replacement. You really, probably, only needed a belt in the first place 2 years ago and went overboard.

 

[Obed]

Other than a little surface rust, there is nothing wrong with the old one. Put it back on if you can't get the right replacement. You really, probably, only needed a belt in the first place 2 years ago and went overboard.

I did reinstall the original spring; the mower worked a little better than when using the newer spring but not well enough. I think the original spring has weakened over the years.
Obed

 

[CurlyDave]

I don't know if these guys will sell you one spring, but they have an amazing variety available in their catalog: Coil Springs Manufacturer - Stock & Custom - MRO & OEM | Century Spring Corp.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I bet you can find a spring that will work at your local hardware store. I've had good luck with springs at Lowes and Home Depot.

Chris