KentT
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,928
- Location
- Sevierville, TN
- Tractor
- 1993 Power Trac 1430 w/Kubota diesel engine
... my mechanic friend in Tennessee called this morning to tell me the new higher-torque 22.7ci CharLynn wheel motors are all installed on the PT425 and he's ready to deliver it back to a different friend who stores it for me...
He doesn't have lot of PT-seat time, so he couldn't describe in much detail his impressions of the difference the upgrade made. He did state that the torque increase is pretty dramatic, both starting and stopping, but couldn't comment really on the "top end" speed. His garage is on top a hill with a pretty steep driveway, and he said he could start and stop on the steepest part at 1/2 throttle or so, whereas to climb it before he had to use full throttle and putz with the treadle position to get it to climb it. His initial impression is that they met my "goal" of twice the torque and half the speed.
I'll get much more feedback on them in use from my other friend where it's stored -- he'll be using it and the grapple bucket to move brush over the next few days. Plus I'll be down there in a little over a week and get to use it for a few days myself. More details and pics to follow...
He said it took him somewhere around 12 hours or so to install them, including one parts run. Other than grinding out the tub opening by about 1/4" to get them in, he found two differences in the 1" tapered shafts: (1) the CharLynn's 1" tapered shaft is longer than the original White RS motors and he had to add a stack of washers between the hubs and the castellated retaining nut, and (2) the half-moon (Woodruff, I think they're called?) keys on the CharLynn shafts were slightly (1/16" or less) thicker than the bar-type keys on the original White motors. He had to grind a slight "step" into those new keys. The biggest hassle he had was grinding out the openings in the tub -- he used six of the 4" cutoff tool discs enlarging the opening. The rears were more a challenge than the front because he couldn't easily access them from the backside, only the outside, down through the mounting boxes for the wheel motors.... Tedious and time-consuming but not a technical challenge at all.
Just as a reminder, I special ordered the CharLynn motors to add the optional low-speed valving, high-pressure seals, and 1/2" NPT hose connections. These are not the "off-the-shelf" motors like Surplus Center has -- those have straight (not tapered) shafts any way. My initial recommendation, based on these first impressions, would be to not go all the way up to the 22.7ci if you're going to be doing much lawn mowing -- they may be too slow for that primary use. You may want to go no larger than the CharLynn 18.2ci S-series ones for that purpose. Other than using the brush cutter on my hillsides to keep the lot cleaned up until the house it built, I don't plan on mowing with it, and "slope capability" at less than full throttle was much more important than speed to me... Your mileage (and needs) may vary.
My driving impressions, plus a few pics, coming in a couple of weeks...
He doesn't have lot of PT-seat time, so he couldn't describe in much detail his impressions of the difference the upgrade made. He did state that the torque increase is pretty dramatic, both starting and stopping, but couldn't comment really on the "top end" speed. His garage is on top a hill with a pretty steep driveway, and he said he could start and stop on the steepest part at 1/2 throttle or so, whereas to climb it before he had to use full throttle and putz with the treadle position to get it to climb it. His initial impression is that they met my "goal" of twice the torque and half the speed.
I'll get much more feedback on them in use from my other friend where it's stored -- he'll be using it and the grapple bucket to move brush over the next few days. Plus I'll be down there in a little over a week and get to use it for a few days myself. More details and pics to follow...
He said it took him somewhere around 12 hours or so to install them, including one parts run. Other than grinding out the tub opening by about 1/4" to get them in, he found two differences in the 1" tapered shafts: (1) the CharLynn's 1" tapered shaft is longer than the original White RS motors and he had to add a stack of washers between the hubs and the castellated retaining nut, and (2) the half-moon (Woodruff, I think they're called?) keys on the CharLynn shafts were slightly (1/16" or less) thicker than the bar-type keys on the original White motors. He had to grind a slight "step" into those new keys. The biggest hassle he had was grinding out the openings in the tub -- he used six of the 4" cutoff tool discs enlarging the opening. The rears were more a challenge than the front because he couldn't easily access them from the backside, only the outside, down through the mounting boxes for the wheel motors.... Tedious and time-consuming but not a technical challenge at all.
Just as a reminder, I special ordered the CharLynn motors to add the optional low-speed valving, high-pressure seals, and 1/2" NPT hose connections. These are not the "off-the-shelf" motors like Surplus Center has -- those have straight (not tapered) shafts any way. My initial recommendation, based on these first impressions, would be to not go all the way up to the 22.7ci if you're going to be doing much lawn mowing -- they may be too slow for that primary use. You may want to go no larger than the CharLynn 18.2ci S-series ones for that purpose. Other than using the brush cutter on my hillsides to keep the lot cleaned up until the house it built, I don't plan on mowing with it, and "slope capability" at less than full throttle was much more important than speed to me... Your mileage (and needs) may vary.
My driving impressions, plus a few pics, coming in a couple of weeks...
