Archive through May 16, 2010

[gsmyth]

I noticed today that there is a slight dripping from the oil filter from my 1450. An extra tweak to tighten didn't work. I didn't see it until I cleaned up the bottom rear of the tractor. I recently (April 10) replaced the Hytran fluid and I hate to dump 5 quarts just to replace the oil filter. The filter sets pretty high in the frame. Can I take a minimal loss of the Hytran and just replace the filter or will I have to remove the rear plate and start over?

In addition, last week when getting ready to reinstall the deck I found one of the spindles is squirrely. New spindles are too dear for me right now so I bought a used set of spindles online to hopefully use one of the three to get me through the next several months. Is there anything I should be aware of when taking the old spindle out and putting in the new(used) old one? The manual calls for placing a spindle in a vise with brass jaws. I understand why, but the directions seem to indicate that I have to be especially careful. The pulley will need to be switched to the new install. Is there anything particularly difficult about the change I'm about to do?

 

[dfrisk]

JED - Nice looking 72 W/dualed-up 'Stones! 72's make nice tractors with a little more HP dropped in them! A 12 HP K301 would be right up there with Kraig's 125's for Best CC ever!

RYAN W. - Kraig's posted pic's of my modifications to my 38" deck. I added the spherical roller gauge wheels in frt, rounded off the left side of the deck so it will trim closer, deepened the baffle around the blades to a full 2" deep, and welded it in place with only about 1/8 in. clearance to the ends of the blades, increased the size of the discharge chute, and added a lip flush with the bottom front edge of the mower deck housing to hold the grass down a bit longer to make a channel for clippings to exit the deck. Goal of all these modifications was to make it easier for cut grass to escape after it was cut off.

I've mowed thru 5-6 in tall crabgrass in the RAIN before and it almost refuses to bunch up clippings, throws grass almost as good as the 44/50 in. decks, about two mower passes away. The surfaces where the spindles bolt to the deck housing were REALLY distorted and the blades scalped, but massaging with a BFH and hardened steel surface plates fixed that. Lawn now looks like green Astro-turf after I mow! Blades are within 1/16th to 1/8 in of being perfectly aligned. I have one spindle I have to install a steel washer between spindle & blade to get it that close. I'm pretty fussy about blade sharpness, straightness, & balance on all my decks.

The modifications were IMHO successful, if I mow when it's really dry the clippings & leaves will almost polish the underside of the deck. Plus the 38" deck mows my ditch in front of my house MUCH nicer than the 50" deck on the 982. And I'll be honest, most of the modifications were patterned after a pic in a brochure I had 20 yrs ago of a competing brand mower deck.

 

[dclinansmith]

Fsnerd, In one of your posts you said the engine backfired and quit. My 149 did that because of a sticking exhaust valve. If you stood beside it for a short time you could hear the valve snap shut when it began to cool. I fed it a rich mixture of gas and MMO with a squirt can through the carb inlet until the engine would almost stall. Then let the exhaust clear up and do it again. After that I ran it with a lot of MMO in the tank for a while then went back to the regular mixture for everyday use. I haven't had a problem with it in a couple years.

 

[pbell]

Gary Smyth,
If you cleaned out the case good when you changed the fluid, I would just remove the rear cover and let the Hy-Tran drain into a clean container and then reuse it unless it is full of dirt/junk, and if you only put 5 quarts of fluid in it when you changed it in April you are a little short, a hydro holds 7 quarts, not 5.

 

[jhillegass]

Gary S.

I've replaced the filter in my 129 and 149 without opening the rear and without loosing much oil. Sometimes after changing the filter, it takes a little while to recharge the pre-pump area and the hydro doesn't move right away, but it will in a little bit.

I loose a filter full. I just top off the rearend and I'm good for a while again. I have a hydro gasket leak, so I need to top off the rearend anyway.

Works for me.

 

[gsmyth]

Paul B., Jerry H.
Thank you for the prompt reply. Paul thanks for info about seven quarts. I did add more later up to the fill plug as the gallon and one qt. I had at hand disappeared on me without overflow.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Denny's modified 38" deck:

 

[rwilke]

Dennis F.,
Thanks for sharing your 38" deck 'improvements'!

Of all the improvement you listed, the improvement that intrigues me the most is the,<font color="0000ff"> "...and added a lip flush with the bottom front edge of the mower deck housing to hold the grass down a bit longer to make a channel for clippings to exit the deck. Goal of all these modifications was to make it easier for cut grass to escape after it was cut off."</font>

I'm having difficulty following or understanding the process....... could you please explain how/why that works as you say?

You can say I'm hard-headed or whatever, but I think I can visualize your improvements, but subject-related pictures would add greatly to your description of your improvements; which leads me to do a shout out to Kraig:


Kraig McC.,
If you still have them, would you PLEASE post the pics of Dennis' deck improvements?

-- Thanks in advance for re-posting the pics!

Lastly, To file in the "FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH" category:
I feel the need to share a rather embarrassing experience I discovered yesterday regarding mowing with one of 129 Cubs, but maybe by sharing this lesson, it'll help someone else from traveling so far down this path --

Two weeks ago I was mowing and the PTO-to-Deck drive belt just wouldn't stay on. For some (unknown at the time) reason it would get tossed within 5 minutes of operation. After about the 4 time re-threading the drive belt, I replaced it with a brand-new spare belt. The new belt stayed on and all was well and I finished the yard. A few days later I bought another belt to hang/store on a nail, as a spare.

Yesterday, I wanted to mow a portion of my yard that grows fast. I proceeded with mowing and about a 1/2hr into the job, the new belt becomes all tore up. I was NOT happy about a two week old ($24) belt getting torn up & ruined, I proceeded to review the condition of the PTO pulley, the mule drive pulleys and the deck pulley. Well, during my closer inspection, I noticed that the Frankinstein bolts weren't properly engaged...nor was my mule drive idler pivot shaft engaged

into the front frame 'snap bracketry' (I looked but was unable to locate its given name). ANYWAY, the result was that the mule drive was not squarely locked onto the frame. I am confident that this condition was the cause & reason why the belt would be tossed and eventually shredded. An expensive lesson learned for me. Although I'll need to get another spare belt, hopefully, I won't need to use it this mowing season!

Ryan Wilke

 

[jott]

Paul B, reffering to my CCO's 'frozen clutch plates.. I looked at it this weekend and saw that they arent frozen but the clutch pedal doesnt go down far enough to spread the plates apart. I didnt really see an adjustment nut or anything but im not too worried about it right now so i didnt persue it an farther.

I got the roll pin out of my 124's driveshaft yesterday too. I used the vise method and the spring didnt go flying anywhere and it didnt decompress as much as i thought it would. Anyway, i gotta get the rest of the parts and probably a new driveshaft while im at it. HAPPY CUBBIN' PEOPLE!

 

[rwilke]

Gary S.,
I also have changed my hydro filter without pulling the back plate off and then just topped off the HyTran fluid level at the rear plug. No problems. Something I do and you might consider - is after I add my HyTran fluid, I place a floor jack under the rear of the tractor to lift the rear tires off the ground. Then I start the engine and operate the hydro-matic transmission to turn the rear tires forwards then backwards in order to pump the fluid all around with a minimum load on the pump/tractor. If I just changed the filter, I won't run it more than a minute or two; whereas when I do a complete fluid drain and change, I'll run it on the floor jack for 3-5 minutes, shifting from forward to reverse many times. Then set the tractor back down on level ground and re-check/top off the Hytran fluid level.


Hey Kraig,
Thanks for the quick pic!

That pic appears to depict the spherical roller gauge wheels in front and the rounded off the left side of the deck so it will trim closer.

I can envision the deeper (2") blade baffle shroud.

Might you have a pic of the enlarged discharge chute and his added lip

flush at the bottom front edge of the mower deck housing?

Thanks Again!
Ryan Wilke

 

[kmcconaughey]

Ryan, the only other photos I have of the deck, you can't really see the deck because Denny had a Vac attached. Perhaps Denny can take more photos.

Denny,?

 

[dfrisk]

Thank-you KRAIG!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Denny, any chance you could take some more photos of your deck that show the other mods?

 

[kide]

Finally started on the hydro pump gasket leak... got the 129 down to its skivvies last night, had to stop to put the summer well pump in, so I'd have water for the pressure washer..taking lots of pics..

 

[fsnerd]

Luther Ray Hinds (Lhinds)

condenser is new. and i just had it off and checked it while replacing the coil.
will try squirting gas into carb when it starts to die, that would tell me if it was fuel related.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Gerry,

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

..taking lots of pics.. <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

 

[fsnerd]

Wayne Shytle (Wshytle)
gas tank has been cleaned. fuel line is new. shut off is old. i am going to try the premium gas, im going to drain the tank and i will pull the shutoff and examine it.

fuel is fresh. i just filled the gas can, which is another reason why I am leaning towards regular gas being the problem, they would have just switched from the winter to the summer blend.

I add MMO every time I fill it, which is once a week, when it runs.

crankcase breather was replaced. installed correctly.

if you know of anyone selling a good 200.00 engine, i would buy it. at least that way, if it still does it, i know it is not the engine.
expensive way to trouble shoot, but i am desperate.
I checked the vendors at the top of the page and did not see any whole engines for sale.

 

[fsnerd]

David Clinansmith (Dclinansmith)
sticking exhaust valve has been suggested before, but it does start right after a stall.
but, i can try your suggestion.

 

[rwilke]

Gerry I.,
Okie-doke...I've got a front row seat and you've got my full attention, Sir...

Ryan Wilke

 

[kweaver]

Ryan - Have you ever taken the rear cover off and cleaned out the white sludge crap ?

That's a hint to what you'll find and to do it

Kid_e - It's about time. Boy I'd hate to eat off that pump ...
Is it snowing up there