OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions on Greenfield Ride On Mower Frames Greenfield 13 32 Diff

Hi,
I am in the process of doing up a Greenfield Evolution 13 32 ride on and am wanting to know if it is safe/easy to split the Diff, as this is the only way i can see to get the shafts out. The parts list breakdownn shows the side plates as being bolted on, mine are welded and have no bolt holes. Looks to be original not modified. So my question is, if i undo the four bolts that seem to hold the sprocket and the hub assembly together, will it separate easily and not be a million bits inside. I would think that it would be an inner and outer gear arrangement, similar to a standard diff.
Any thoughts or help greatly appreciated.

Hi Darren, the parts and manuals section has two illustrated parts lists for Greenfield Evolution 13-32s, one with a traditional Greenfield solid axle, and one with a differential bolted to the side of the final drive sprocket. The bolts go all the way through, and apparently hold the the opposite side-plate on as well as holding the sprocket on - the sprocket is the other side plate. It appears that you service the diff by removing the bolts, and probably one of the side plates unless you need to remove both.

There are two common ways for diffs to be designed: as a bevel gear diff, or as a spur gear diff. Modern cars (those made since about 1940) invariably have bevel gear diffs in my experience. However the Greenfield diff is obviously a spur gear type - it could not be so flat if it were a bevel gear type. The side plate, opposite to the sprocket, seems in the illustration to be much thicker than the sprocket. This suggests that it holds the axles for the planetary spur gears. If so, it would make sense to remove the sprocket first, leaving the side plate in position, and take a look inside. The long axle shaft (the one on the sprocket side) will come off with the sprocket, and you will probably be able to push the short shaft out through the housing if you want to. I'd try that first, and only separate the side plate from the housing if that turns out to be necessary for some reason.

Thanks Grumpy,
I went ahead and pulled it apart anyway. The reason why i had to go so far was the bearings were seized onto the shaft. So after i had separated everything i used a press to get them off. Not good because they are just supposed to slip on and be held in place by the retainers and the sleeve with the grub screw in it aren't they? Well i have cleaned everything up now and de-scaled and painted relevant bits.
Thanks for the reply.

Can you post pictures of the internal parts, Darren? They help make a useful archive for other members.

Thanks

Grumpy,
I wish you would have said that earlier, as i have put it back together all greased up and ready to go. There was a gear welded to the long shaft(sits next to the sprocket), each of the four bolts that hold the diff together has a small gear on it. Two facing in(on the diagonal) and two out(all inside the housing ring). Each gear is on its own bush ( i guess it would be called that) and the short larger shaft has a gear welded to it. So it is gear, two small gears diagonally from each other meshed together, then the other two small gears facing the other way mesh together and drive the other gear. I wish i had taken photo's now. It is not that hard and not too many bits to worry about.

That makes it sound like a bevel gear diff, which would have to be remarkably compact to fit into that space.

Thanks anyway, Darren. I'll close this thread.