any toro groundsmaster fans on here?

[Asymair95]

The pto lever torque bracket is pretty worn. Looks like someone already has been in there monkeying around.






I checked with the local toro guys and they have a new one...for $109 clams!

Found two horrendous cracks on the frame around the front pto hanger bushing. It was dang near ready to leave the machine.





Welded everything up, was pretty difficult to reach some of the spots, but I think it will hold just fine.

 

[Asymair95]

Was going to try and loosen the locking collars for the pto shaft so I could slide it forward 3/8” in the housing for better belt alignment.



Problem is the pulley will also be driven forward 3/8” and there isn’t much room for it to go forward before hitting the rear fork attachment bracket.



The owners manual has a warning about disconnecting the alternator plug before doing any kind of welding. If left attached it can fry the alternator.

 

[Asymair95]

The rear hanger bracket before welding the new bushing on.



The new bushing welded up, and hanger rod test fitted. Was fun getting burned while doing this...lol. Welding is definitely not my strong suit.



Had to reposition the bottle jack a bit to give me more room to move under there. Have it pressing on one of the oil pan bolts.

 

[Xfaxman]

Very interesting :thumbsup:.

 

[Asymair95]

Discovered something new tonight. This newer style rear axle has three individual reservoirs for gear oil. I had already drained and refilled the center section a few nights ago. Tonight I drained and filled the left and right knuckles. Right side was fine, left side showed signs of a leak, and had almost no fluid in it. The little that came out was black and smelled burnt.

Another strange thing occurred with the right knuckle reservoir. When I removed the drain plug a fairly large amount of positive pressure escaped. I thought maybe the vent was plugged, but there is no vent. I had a similar problem on my Ford 1510 4x4 tractor front axle, which is also made by a Japanese company coincidentally. It leaked gear oil out one of the knuckles pretty bad, but again, I often found positive pressure in the front axle reservoir. I replaced the fill plug with a vented plug, and viola...no more leak.

I’m thinking of doing something similar to this rear axle. But, since the fill plug is mounted on the side of the housing, I would need to install an elbow first to get the vent upright. I’ll try and run it in the factory configuration for now, but the first sign of a leak I’m going to try the vent.

 

[jrsavoie]

Discovered something new tonight. This newer style rear axle has three individual reservoirs for gear oil. I had already drained and refilled the center section a few nights ago. Tonight I drained and filled the left and right knuckles. Right side was fine, left side showed signs of a leak, and had almost no fluid in it. The little that came out was black and smelled burnt.

Another strange thing occurred with the right knuckle reservoir. When I removed the drain plug a fairly large amount of positive pressure escaped. I thought maybe the vent was plugged, but there is no vent. I had a similar problem on my Ford 1510 4x4 tractor front axle, which is also made by a Japanese company coincidentally. It leaked gear oil out one of the knuckles pretty bad, but again, I often found positive pressure in the front axle reservoir. I replaced the fill plug with a vented plug, and viola...no more leak.

I’m thinking of doing something similar to this rear axle. But, since the fill plug is mounted on the side of the housing, I would need to install an elbow first to get the vent upright. I’ll try and run it in the factory configuration for now, but the first sign of a leak I’m going to try the vent.

I had a mower deck gear box - possibly the Toro 223D - that did not have a vented plug. It pushed oil out around the seal. I thought the seal was shot, until I looked it over good. Installed a vent and the leak went away

I'm not sure where I found it. For one application, I used a 1/8 NPT plug that had a male square drive. There was a tiny hole out one side of the plug for a vent. Seems like the hole was only about 1/32 diameter

 

[jrsavoie]

Pressing on...



Sourced some longer hanger bushings for the pto. These are 1 1/4 long, compared to the factory 3/4 bushings. Should last a good long time.



Knocked the old bushings out with the correct size socket and mallet.



The front bushing was almost worn completely through.



New bushings installed. They were a whisker to big to fit in the housing, nothing a little Emory cloth couldn稚 handle though.

While you are replacing bushings, Have you checked the rear axle pivot bushings? I found it is much easier to just replace the bushings than to wait until they are wallered through and the holes are oblonged so bad you can't tell where center is supposed to be.

 

[Asymair95]

I checked the rear axle pivot bushing and it seems fine. I put my foot on the rear tire and pushed forward and aft to put a twisting moment on it, and it moved very little. Once I had it up in the air I tried to tilt the entire axle up and down by grabbing the 4wd drive shaft and pushing up and down on it, again I had very little movement. On my 322d I repaired last Fall I had a worn out kingpin bushing in the rear subframe. I had to weld a new bushing in because the original hole was so egged out. The bronze bushings in the axle, and the pin were fine, with the exception of the mounting ears being broke off the pin.

Finally getting back on the 325d.



Received my new gold plated Toro parts...lol I was very surprised to see they had every part I ordered, except the valve cover washer seals. Two most expensive parts were the PTO pivot arm bellcrank, and the left side brake cable. Both were $109.



Turns out I may have not needed the bellcrank though. The old one compared to the new one shows there really isn’t that much wear on it. However, since it is out and accessible, I’m going to swap it out.



Tonight I adjusted the valves. They were all too tight, except one, which was right at the required.010”.

 

[warleg]

I checked the rear axle pivot bushing and it seems fine. I put my foot on the rear tire and pushed forward and aft to put a twisting moment on it, and it moved very little. Once I had it up in the air I tried to tilt the entire axle up and down by grabbing the 4wd drive shaft and pushing up and down on it, again I had very little movement. On my 322d I repaired last Fall I had a worn out kingpin bushing in the rear subframe. I had to weld a new bushing in because the original hole was so egged out. The bronze bushings in the axle, and the pin were fine, with the exception of the mounting ears being broke off the pin.

Finally getting back on the 325d.



Received my new gold plated Toro parts...lol I was very surprised to see they had every part I ordered, except the valve cover washer seals. Two most expensive parts were the PTO pivot arm bellcrank, and the left side brake cable. Both were $109.



Turns out I may have not needed the bellcrank though. The old one compared to the new one shows there really isn稚 that much wear on it. However, since it is out and accessible, I知 going to swap it out.



Tonight I adjusted the valves. They were all too tight, except one, which was right at the required.010?

Great job! You've inspired me to look mine over closer!

 

[Asymair95]

This 325 was missing the control panel cover when I got it. However, a generous forum member hooked me up with a good used one. As you can see in the pic, the green one is slightly larger, and interferes with the seat mounting bracket.

With it installed, you can see how the forward latch does not line up with the hole in the frame. Plan is to cut off the old latch and excess metal, and weld the latch back on in the correct spot. Easy-peasy.



The left side brake cable was broken/froze up, so here is the new one going on.



Brake cable is installed. Wire wheeled all the rust and crud off the brake drums, inside and out, and adjusted both brake pedals to 1/2” of brake pedal travel.

Tomorrow I will shoot a little bit of paint on some of the more badly rusted parts, and finish preparing the refurbed PTO for install.