any toro groundsmaster fans on here?

[Asymair95]

The radiator shroud was sitting awful close to the alternator belt and water pump pulley. The normal vibration of the engine during shutdown or idle would of had this thing shredding belts.



I could also see the lower hood support was sitting too far back on the frame. Another indication something was amiss.



There are four bolts that hold the radiator support housing to the main frame. I loosened these and slid the entire radiator, frame, and shroud forward about 1/2” and tightened the bolts back up.



There is now enough clearance between the belt/pulley and the radiator shroud. The rear hood mount moved forward also fixing that problem.

 

[Xfaxman]

Wow wealth of information here on the Groundsmasters. I just purchase a used one 2001 325D 4wd with 2825 hrs. With the 72 left side discharge deck. A couple of questions. What would the cost of this machine been new in 2001? Just a rough guess. Recycler deck, Does it work well in northern grasses that are wet most of the time?

Many thanks!

Don稚 know what they cost new, Xfaxman will be by, and he will know though. From what I have read, the mulching decks leave some clumping in wet grass, unless it is pretty short. If dry, it値l cut a fair amount of grass and leave a good cut. I personally have never used one though.

I only bought used, so don't know anything about new price, did a search, no luck there either.

No clumping with my recycler deck, but didn't mow wet grass.

 

[Asymair95]

Got a few things done last night.



Directional clutch for the rear end going on. Using a new spacer as the old one was torn up.



Here is the part number for the spacer. If your clutch is wobbling around and hitting the oil pan, it is either this spacer, or the splines inside the clutch are worn out.



Clutch is temp installed. I lubed the splines and spacer up real good with grease. I couldn稚 tighten the clutch down all the way because the rear hubs would just turn. I will need to wait until the tires are on and she is back on the ground to properly torque it. It is much tighter now, no more wobble.



PTO fork going back on with new fork bushings, washers, and a new pin.



Fork installed with lots of grease on the bushings and pin. There was still a bit of slop due to wear on the small end of the fork where the pin goes through, but it is much better than before.

Hoping to finish up installing the PTO bits and pieces tonight, and get the floor pan back on. It痴 almost Fall and I still have to go through my mulching deck I知 going to use to mulch the leaves up.

Has anyone used the guardian deck for leaf mulching? How does it work?

 

[Rowski]

I only bought used, so don't know anything about new price, did a search, no luck there either.

No clumping with my recycler deck, but didn't mow wet grass.

Thanks for the response. I致e searched the net a bit and come up empty too. In guessing $13Kish?? for a 2001. Unfortunately grasses in northern VT are wet inside and outside most of the time. I致e mowed alittle with the side discharge deck. It doesn稚 cut bad but it needs some adjustments after all the bearings in the wheels, casters, and blade spindles and are replaced along with new blades. Waiting for a few parts for the machine and deck.

 

[Asymair95]

I use a side discharge deck for my fescue type grass in NY. Few tips that have helped me:

Make sure the blades are sharp. I have a spare set and swap mine out every 2-3 mowings. I can tell when they are getting dull, because it will leave random shoots of grass uncut here and there. It will also keep the blade speed up as dull blades produce more drag.

Check your engine rpm to ensure you are at 3200 plus or minus 50. Mine was a little low, and the increased blade speed helped.

When buying new blades get a quality set of high lift ones. The set that came with my deck are high lift. I bought a set of the cheap Stens blades to swap back and forth with and there is a night and day difference in cut quality.

Of course, if you can wait till the grass is as dry as possible, that helps immensely.

If you are going to doing blade spindles soon can you post some pics or give us a run down of the job? I have a few to do on my mulching deck, but have never seen it done before.

 

[Asymair95]

Finishing up the PTO.



PTO linkage going back together. Disregard the bushing (Fourth item from the bottom) as it was something I was trying to reduce wear on the long bolt, but it didn’t work out. So we have the long bolt, and two washers. At this point slide it up through the bellcrank on the PTO assembly on the machine. Then the fat spacer/washer, spring, washer on top of spring, and ny-lock nut. Tighten all this down a little bit, depending on how worn your belt and bushings are it may be more or less. Next is the plain nut, and clevis with pin.



Assembly installed, note the amount of threads showing. This is because a new belt and bushings are installed. To adjust the spring tension, engage the PTO and adjust the ny-lock nut to achieve 3 3/16” of the compressed spring between the two washers.



PTO brake going on. The way they are laid out is the way they go on the stud...spring, washer, brake, spacer, nut.



Brake installed. To adjust, remove small end of PTO fork, engage PTO, slide spring, washer, brake, spacer, and nut on stud. Disengage PTO, allow pulley to seat inside brake lining, and tighten nut on brake stud until spacer contacts side of brake bracket...plus a turn or two more will you give you better braking action.

 

[Xfaxman]

:thumbsup: Your posts are going to help many guys with their repairs in the future.

 

[Rowski]

I was hoping to do the blade spindle bearings this week but the seals are b/o from R&R till mid August. The blades spindles are actually loose side to side. I値l try and get some pics of the process but won稚 be until the seals come in. I also got some Sten high lift equivalent blades. They have a bit more flute than what is currently on the machine. Yes I知 going to check rpm. Just gave it full fluids and filters replacement, everything. Waiting for some parts from R&R hopefully they come tomorrow. Going to replace the 4 steering linkage ball sockets. Tighten up the rear 4wd differential, moves front to back a little. Also going to replace the front deck wheels and bearings and the bushings in all 4 caster pivots. Hopefully then I can use it I bit.

BTW your write-ups with pics are done very nicely.

 

[Asymair95]

Thanks guys, I enjoy making the posts. I’m just paying it forward, as I have received lots of help on this forum in the past on other projects.

Sounds like you have your hands full Rowski. On your rear diff be careful the kingpin isn’t cracked like mine was on my 322d. The rear subframe hole was also egged out allowing the diff to tilt up/down and twist side to side. All this movement allowed the 4wd drive shaft to hit the oil pan on the engine causing some damage. I had to weld a new bushing in to tighten things up. Look forward to seeing your write up on the spindles. Was there a spindle rebuild kit you can get?...or did you have to buy individual parts?

 

[Asymair95]

Finished up the PTO tonight.



New PTO return spring and hook going on. The book is very specific about which way the hook and spring ends must face to avoid damage. The way I have it assembled here is the correct way.



Spring and hook installed per the manual. This machine was missing its spring/hook and they had a bungee cord holding the PTO lever back when it was disengaged...lol.



Moving on to the traction pedal assembly. It is pretty sloppy and in need of bushings and lubrication. The foot rest has already been removed in this pic.



Traction pedal removed. The long pin has some wear grooves in it, I’ll turn it around during install to tighten things up.



Traction pedal shaft support bracket loosened up. This will allow the shaft to slide free of the fixed side support bracket.



Shaft is free of support hangers and coming loose from traction pedal yoke.