Archive through April 04, 2007

[kmcconaughey]

Bob, is it just the mower that gets bogged down or does the engine seem down on power too? If the engine is still strong it is most likely the PTO is out of adjustment or worn out. Before you dig into the PTO it wouldn't hurt to check the bearing on the belt tensioner pulley on the mower deck. One of my 42" decks had the belt tensioner pulley bearing go bad on it and it would start out running OK but as it warmed up it would start to lock up causing the deck to bog down. Once I figured out what it was and fixed it all was well again.

 

[bleyland]

Kraig,

The engine seems to be ok. Only the deck is slowing down.

After I replaced the belt this week, I started the mower on the driveway and at first the blades spun VERY slowly... speeding up over time, but never getting enough power to cut grass over 4" without bogging down.

Maybe I'll remove the PTO belt completely and see if the PTO itself is sluggish from a cold start.

There is a little wobble in the center deck spindle, which I pulled from another deck years ago... but the old spindle was in much worse shape and the mower cut 6-8" grass like a samurai.

 

[mbounds]

Bob L: Like Kraig said.. check those mule drive pulleys and the idler pulley on the deck itself....before you get to the PTO.

Myron B
CCSupplyRoom

 

[bleyland]

The tensioner pulley seemed to be free-wheeling when I cleaned it. What should I check for?

 

[kmcconaughey]

Bob, if the tensioner pulley seems free wheeling just for a test squirt some oil into the bearing on it also check the two pulleys on the mule drive where the belt twists from verticle to horizontal one of them might also be going bad. It could very well be the PTO but these pulleys are easier to check and cheaper to fix then the PTO so it's usually a good idea to start at the easiest lowest cost item and work towards the harder to work on, costlier item.

Myron, thanks for mentioning the mule drive pulleys, I forgot about those.......

 

[mbounds]

Bob L: Tensioner pulley?? Which one are you referring to?? There is one on the mule drive and one on the deck. The one on the mule drive should be checked for a bad bearing...does it wobble when you remove the belt and check it?? If the one on the deck has a bad pulley bearing OR (more likely) a frozen shaft wherein the spring is not putting tension on the deck belt, then you can get that result you described.

Myron B

 

[bleyland]

The deck tensioner pulley's spring is plenty strong. But I'll try oiling the bearing. Thanks.

The PTO engages/disengages very well. But I don't know what makes it lose power, if that ends up being the case.

 

[kweaver]

Look up under the deck also to see if there's string , rope or wire wrapped up around the spindles.

Another thing, my 127 was acting like that once and it turned out to be the points had closed up so that there was only about .005" gap. Opened them back up and it was fine. The engine wouldn't take the load of the deck cutting. I know you said your engine wasn't bogging down but it's food for thought for others since we're talking "bogging down".

 

[kmcconaughey]

To clairify:

 

[mbounds]

Bob L: On the deck tensioner, while the spring has to be functional, does the arm the pulley is mounted to rotate and freely move back and forth (yes, I understand its supposed to be under spring tension). But, if the shoulder bolt pivot and the arm shaft have rusted up, then the spring cannot put sufficient pressure on the arm to create the tension on the deck belt necessary to keep it from slipping when in high grass. A stuck/frozen arm is the most common cause of insufficient deck belt tension.

Myron B