Mikes Very Own 169 Refurbish

[eford]

Oh no Mike! I hope you can get it fixed alright. I had the governor shaft fall out of my 1200 this summer so ifeel your pain

 

[mfrade]

Thanks Earl. I got the governor back together and working easy enough. Cold knees tho'... LOL..

I'm ticked off about the thrower, hope it's an easy fix. It was working really good 'til that point! The snow was as high as the housing and I was just chugging along thinking that things were looking up!

I'm going to get a magnetic heater and while the tractor is in the shop I'll use the heater on it and see if it helps the cold start by warming the transaxle.

 

[eford]

I'm wondering about the oil in the hydro. I use harvest king case/IH hytran equivalent fluid. I can't afford hytran unfortunately but have not had issues with running at all. Could it be it's too thick weight of fluid? When you get past the initial starting it sounds like you're fine. I'm just going along a story I heard from a retired mechanic about someone putting gear oil in a car engine and it not turning over hardly in cold temps.

 

[eford]

If you get the heater it probably won't matter. I wish I had more tractor mounted snow thrower experience. I'll be on a learning curve myself once I get my qa42 redone. And I'll have it on a hydro too. Either 1450 or 782, but unknown as of yet.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Earl F. I know of a John Deere 317 that a retired engineer purchased used. Apparently the PO had put some 90 gear oil in the transmission. After awhile the poor system just couldn't handle the oil even in the summer and after about fifteen minutes of mowing the tractor would simply refuse to move. Changing oil several times didn't help either whereas the permanent damage was already done.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Mike, have you had a chance to inspect the snowthrower yet? Over the years, I've had heavy wet snow, ice chunks and rocks lock up the auger when the belt wasn't tight enough. Hopefully that's all it is/was... Worst case the 90* gear box on yours had a failure.

 

[mfrade]

I'm thinking the mag heater will be a test. Just trying to isolate/eliminate one of the known issues with a hydro. Putting a heater on it won't be practical as once it's in the shed, there's no power so we'll just do a test and see what happens. It was single digit temps outside and the 73 just fired off, never a complaint, wish the 169 was like that!

Kraig, I'm hopeful it's maybe a stone or stick that wedged into the auger. (wishful thinking? LOL) I hope it isn't the gearbox, that'll shut it down for the season. But maybe this week I can get over to the shop and have a look.

 

[mfrade]

Kraig called it!! The thrower picked up some stones/dirt and 1 rock got between the auger, the chain and the housing. I had to disassemble the drive mechanisms and drop the auger on the drive side to gain enough play to get the stone(s) out.


The auger took a beating as well but it should straighten okay. The drive sprocket had no key, just a setscrew rammed into the key slot. The was also no spirol pin, but they did use a split pin and then stuffed a second smaller split pin inside the larger one!! And then only 1 shim so the sprocket was all over the place.

Looks like another trip to CCS.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Mike, I take it the gear box is OK? If so, that is a good thing. From the sounds of the "mods" the PO made it might be a good thing the rock got in there when it did. Now you can get it back to how it should be.

 

[mfrade]

I think the gearbox is fine. It feels ok but I want to pull the cover off the box and check the fluid / grease / lube.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Mike, given the PO's other modifications,

that is a very good idea.

 

[mfrade]

"Modifications"...... I guess that's as good a term as any other.

 

[hydroharry]

Mike - I've getting worried about your K341A engine. Where do you stand with it starting?

 

[mfrade]

Hey'Ya Harry. Haven't seen you around. Worried? Really? As I said in an earlier post. I'm thinking the hydro is dragging down the rev speed, so as a test I'm gonna hang a magnetic heater on it and see if the starting action improves. I think it will 'cause once it has been run, re-staring is pretty easy. Last sunday I worked on the governor, the throttle was way to touchy, the engine was either on idle or wide open, moved the spring 1 hole and it works well now. Ordered parts and awaiting their arrival to patch up the thrower and then I'll get the mag heater and do a test or two.

Thanks for checking on me, good to see you again.

 

[mfrade]

With the help of CCS (thanks Charlie) my new sprocket and related parts arrived and I was able to reassemble the thrower. That's the short reply.. it actually took 2 days but that's a long story that I don't care to relive!

Starting is still hard when cold, I'm hopeful to get a mag-heater and give that a try. If it does improve the starting situation, I can't say I'll be pleased with that. Don't know how I'll get around the no power in the shed so I won't be able to use the mag-heater. We'll see.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Mike, progress is good. Glad to hear the snow thrower is back together.

 

[eford]

As crude as it sounds, a good extension cord. Would have to check the amps needed for the heater first though. I ruined a table saw once, valuable lesson, to the tune of $600

 

[mfrade]

Thanks You Kraig.

Earl, thanks for the reply. My whole hangup is really basic. I've never had to plug in a piece of equipment to get it to start as a daily part of ownership. I've had trucks with diesel engines that we set up a timer so the block heaters could begin working a couple hours before we intended to use the truck... but I never had a garden tractor that couldn't start 'cause it's tranny was cold!

And "technically" it does start! It does fire off and rev up but it dies before it gets to full rpm. SO the easy thing to try first is the heater.. I hope to grab one this weekend.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Mike F. Great idea to use the timed block heater. I haven't started or been on a Cub Cadet since November and I'm starting to go into withdrawal.

 

[mfrade]

Hi'Ya Marlin! Sorry to hear you've been missing your cub(s)... LOL..


I know, I know..... I'll live through it! rotflmao..