OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions on Greenfield Ride On Mower Frames Greenfield 11Hp 21 Anniversary Model

Okay so update time.

So far it's only taken me a week, and that's been purely weekends and after work in the evenings to get some work done. I've stripped the entire mower down to pieces and I mean quite literally to the very last bolt. Nothing was left assembled.

I then went through the process of working out what was stuffed and what was salvageable. All bearings were replaced as they should be on a rebuild like this so axle, clutch and all idler pulleys were either replaced or refurbed.

All components from the base chassis to pitman arms, steering rods etc were hit with a needle gun to remove as much rust as possible and all parts were painted with a red oxide coating to ensure that even after final painting any surface that is unreachable is still protected from corrosion. All bolts were cleaned, threads inspected etc and either considered good or replaced. All bushes were done with the same.

I did run into a few problems however. Seems some moron who owned or repaired this mower at some stage prior to my Inlaws owning it decided it would be in the best interests to cut, and I mean quite literally cut, the support bracket that bolts the from beam axel on, off from the reduction pulley frame. This resulted, once all back together and free moving, an extreme and I mean extreme amount of flex in the entire front end which was noticeable right through to the steering. I couldn't leave it this way so I welded it all back on.

I also found the solid bar or tie rod between both front wheels to have nearly in excess of 20mm of free play in the bushes which would allow the two steer wheels to point in almost opposite directions. Rather than make a new bar and do all the bending and slotting of the old one I just found a nut the same size as the bolts that connect the bar to the spindles, drilled it through so it was a nice slightly oversize fit for this bolt and welded it to the bar as a form of bush which has now settled the steering problem.

I've replaced the drive corks on both forwards and reverse plates, selector bearing and also shimmed to remove as much slop out of the pedal as possible. I've also adjusted the tie rod for this too so I can wind it in to adjust in future for free play. I've test run the machine and it drives great but noticed that in reverse it make a hell of a noise because the shaft wasn't fully in the right position which allowed for the drive plate to smash into the selector fork support frame when reverse was selected. I adjusted the shaft but it continued to do this so I shaved about 5mm off the upper plate to allow plenty of clearance but still do its job right. I know not necessarily the right thing to do but there was no way around this as the amount of shim that were in the clutch was the minimum I could have without the thing driving itself with no neutral.

Anyway all this work has been done, next step is to tidy up the engine and electrics, engine runs great, need to tidy up all the old grease and dirt etc and give it a lick of paint, then rebuild the cutter deck and then panel beat the guards and respray. I'm waiting to hear back from Greenfield as to wether they have a sticker set for this or any of their mowers of wether I need to get them custom made. Also if anyone wants to know I used a Dulux Red Oxide primer for all parts and the base frame was painted with Dulux Metalshield Epoxy Enamel in gloss black and I'll be using the same for the exterior and deck also. A very easy one part paint to use, I don't use thinners to spray so it went on rather thick which allowed me to get enough paint into seams and panel joins to seal up to mitigate water ingress. Very happy with the results from this enamel paint. I would normally use a 2 pac paint like Dulux Durebuild for anything that's out in the weather or submerged but for an enamel this paint is pretty [Censored] close to what I expect of the Durebuild so far.

Anyway here's some pics. I didn't quite photograph the whole venture but I'm sure you get the idea.