Re: HST Just Won\'t Stop, Quit, Woah!
I know, guilty as charged for resurrecting an ancient thread but I have a good reason, really.
Spring (no pun intended) maintenance on my TC25D will happen soon and my wife was 'offering' to help me with tractoring chores.
I put more hours on my tractor this winter plowing snow than I ever have and I think some guilt was kicking in for her. I've grown used to simply sliding my foot back and tapping the reverse end of the treadle to center it, but I'd rather fix this problem then hope my wife does the same.
Spencer200 mentions part number sba026109105 as a spacer to fix this problem on Class II Boomers. I looked the part up at Messicks and it's described as a Washer, cost of 48 cents each. Have any Class II owners installed this 'fix' and is the spacer really just a washer?
Yes Mike, get if fixed. Yesterday, while out plowing snow, I RAN INTO a large tree with my tractor! I was returning up my driveway, which is rather steep, to make another downward pass, when Bessy wouldn't stop. I moved my foot to hit reverse, but being in Range II, wasn't quick enough. Luckily the collision point was near the edge of the front tire (filled with Rimguard) and so both the tire and the bark of the tree gave. Still quite a shock to me and the tractor. I was pleasantly surprised however the tire didn't blow or come off the bead. What a mess that would have made!
I was quite shaken by all this. Although I've noticed the problem before, it has never been this bad. Probably was elevated by the following:
- in Range II and rabbit, more load on tranny
- cold - about 20 degrees, grease in adjusting pivot (forward/reverse neutral positioning cam) might have been thicker
- grease in rocker wheel (rides on the B shaped part) and shown in Jim Inman's photo might have been thick and old too
- high RPMs so probably at max tranny pressure
- good hill on my drive, usually I'm in Range II, but turtle, going up but I was trying to get the job done a little quicker.
Afterward, I couldn't help but think what if instead I hit one of our cars, the garage, the pole-barn, or God-forbid, someone! I'm surprised I never got a notice from NH. This is defineately a safety defect in the design!
When I pulled the tractor back in the barn (fortueately, a little-bit heated) I crawled under it looking for some sign of what may have made this worse or contributed. Nothing. Next I did some disassembly of the spring and roller arm, but nothing really. A little rust on the surface of the roller, but it still turned relatively (but somewhat hard) freely. The arm came off (but I lost my neutral hydro position, as I didn't think to mark it) without any difficulty and I noted that I'd been doing a good job of keeping fresh grease in the pivot.
In case you all didn't know, that roller that we've been talking about keeping lubed, is actually nothing more than a sealed-bearing pressed in place on the arm. A Fafnir 202P bearing to be exact. I'm not sure if lubing the outside is really doing much, but I take everyone's word for it! Anyway, with the arm off, I gently pried off the seal of the bearing to look inside. Yes, there was grease in there, but 10+ year old grease, and it looked kind of stiff and a little dried out, so as a temporaty fix, I added a few drops of synthetic oil and it defineately made the bearing much easier and smoother to turn. I popped the seal back on and installed it and reinstalled the arm and set the spring tension to max. Then, I jacked the tractor up, re-zeroed the tranny so it didn't creep forward or reverse with no pedal pressure and tightened the bolt (the one that goes through the cam) to finish. Then I applied some oil to the other moving parts that make of the pedal linkage. I didn't however take if for a test drive as we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow, so I think I'll have plenty of opportunity then. It dees seem that it all moves more freely (pretty subjective I know at this point), but I also could sense the added spring pressure. Hope my foot doesn't tire.
I'm going to be looking for a new bearing/roller (think these about $10 - $15 aftermarket) but would like to hear about other fixes. Has anyone thought of adding a second spring, maybe just to pull the forward pedal back?
I'm curious too as to how an added "spacer" is going to fix anything. Without a picture or sketch, I just can't visualize. Thoughts/comments?
