OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions on Greenfield Ride On Mower Frames Greenfield Tractor 8-28 - Steering

Major drama with this one is steering.
1st steering wheel is broken.


2nd bottom part is just pached looks like something was missing so they put one piece of bent steel and bent rod to fill the gap. I have to remove steering column but I'm not to sure how yet.


Also very dodgy engine control here. Maybe because of new engine.
Maybe a little bit of slipping gears but I'm not surprised they seem to have had a hard life.

Hi Jeromeo, that sure looks like a bodgy job...however all can be fixed with the correct advice...
Grumpy, our global moderator at OutdoorKing is the man to step you through the procedure and is our resident guru on all things Greenfield...just listen carefully and follow his instructions and you will end up with successful conclusion.

You will need to take good resolution pics as you go along, and post them to this thread as you go along...this will be his eyes through the procedure; OutdoorKing will have a good, clear, concise archive at the end, which may help other members in the future.
My best wishes for the project,

Here is what the steering parts look like in the Illustrated Parts List:


As you can see, there have been some "tenant's improvements" brought about by a previous owner. The purpose seems to have been to space the steering bevel gear downward, so it would mesh properly with the matching gear sector on the cross-shaft. I can't tell from those pictures why this was necessary. Possibly the bracket that locates the bevel gear has been moved up, or the cross-shaft has been moved down (or even both, who knows?). However, note that the Tractor 5, Tractor 8, and Tractors 10-11 used three different designs of vertical steering shaft, so it is possible that a worn-out shaft has been replaced at some point with one from a different model tractor. This is not a problem in any case - if necessary the improvised spacer on the shaft can be replaced with a proper one, without making other changes to the steering.

To remove the steering column, it clearly cannot be moved upward because the bevel gear is permanently attached to the shaft. It looks to me as if the cross shaft which includes the matching gear sector has to be removed, but let's verify that. Can we see some pictures of the mountings for that cross shaft please? You will have to remove the broken steering wheel, probably with a gear puller.

Thanks Grumpy.
I can see from this. that I'm missing the bracket(4) all together.
I will definitely have to remove the all column to fix it.
here is more pics of the vertical shift. removing it won't be to hard but i will have to remove the all deck to slide column down.I'm not to sure of when i will be able to do this. but i will take pictures of it when doing so.
Right side


Left side.

Thanks for posting those pictures, that has clarified things quite a bit. Item 4 is called "Shaft Collar" (part number GT628) and is a simple spacer of the correct width to place the bevel gear in correct mesh with the mating gear sector on the cross shaft. It is held in place by a grub screw, Item 5. You can either buy one from Greenfield, or make one from a piece of bar or heavy-wall tube. You could obtain a price for a steering wheel from Greenfield as well, though you can probably obtain something suitable second-hand.

Thanks for this.
I don't need the all steering wheel as mine have a centre hub screw to the wheel.

You will need new replaceable top and bottom bushes for the vertical steering shaft (the one with the bevel gear on the bottom). It is important that those bushes are always in good condition, or the bevel gear, and the mating sector, will be ruined and will jump teeth.

I suppose you are talking about item (3) when referring to bushes.?
Had a little go on it today. Again a little slow to take off and need more gas to climb hill. But reverse like hell
And i discover a fuel leak from fuel line near tank so just a new hose will fix it.
Can we adjust drive belt tension like e2000 model? As i believe forward is slipping a bit.
One more time thanks a lot.

Yes, the bushes are Item 3: Part Number 1179, Nylon Bush.

Because it will drive properly in reverse, but not so well forward, it seems the drive slips in forward only. The design of the automatic tensioner means the tensioner tends to be pulled backward on the mower (which loosens the belt) in forward, but not in reverse. So, there seem to be two possible causes of the symptom you report. The first and more likely possibility, is that the sliding tensioner pulley, located under the seat, needs to be pushed toward the front of the tractor until it clicks into the next ratchet slot. The second possibility, to be considered if the first possibility does not fix the problem, is that the forward clutch is worn out. This something that happens with the Greenfield drive system: the clutch is slipping nearly all the time, and the forward clutch is used much more than the reverse clutch, so it is likely to wear out before the reverse clutch.

Alright here is a problem nothing to hold on the ratchet....

Any pictures of how it should look like?

Those seem to be pictures of the forward and reverse clutches, not the automatic tensioning pulley and its ratchet. Here is the correct pulley (picture from this thread:
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=26533&Searchpage=1&Main=5954&Words=%22ratchet%22&Search=true#Post26533



I have put a red oval around the ratchet.

Hi grumpy.
Mine is really different and way more basic.
It's only the spring leaf who is missing so nothing to hold back the ratchet

Note on this pic the spring is compressed so I could work easily on belt and pulley.

It can't work without a ratchet, Jeromeo. When you push the "forward" pedal, the belt tension will just pull that tensioning pulley backward (toward the clutches), slackening the belt, which will then slip.

See if you can identify exactly which parts are missing. Also, find the series of teeth on the bar running through the middle of the tensioning spring. The ratchet engages with these teeth. They often get worn, so the ratchet no longer clicks into them.

The missing part is the spring leaf.I made one using flat steel 30mmX3mm work nicely now.

Unless you made that part out of spring steel, it probably won't work for long - it will wear out on the edge. However, now that you know what it takes to make it work, you can look around for a piece of spring steel. If you look at the one from the other thread, re-posted above, you can see that it usually involves a thin piece of spring steel. The front edge of the spring steel is kept square, with good edges.

Thanks Grumpy.

Here was the missing piece.


It much thinner than the piece i used and yes Grumpy its made out of spring steel.

Now i m trying to remove the clutch. i know somebody did a very good thread on it but i cannot find it.
thanks.

Yes, that looks correct now. If you haven't done so you need to check that the teeth in the underside of the ratchet bar are still in good condition - if they get rounded off through long wear, they let the pawl (spring steel strip) slip back.

This is the main thread on overhauling the Greenfield clutch, especially on long shaft (that is, early) models:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...amp;Main=5106&Number=19698#Post19698

There were later ones that refined the technique a bit, but the differences were in the detail.

i succeed to remove the left side but the I'm stuck with the right side, everything is loose but i cannot remove the sprocket. what I'm doing wrong?

You will need to soak the sprocket-to-shaft joint with penetrating oil (Penetrene or equivalent - don't expect WD40 to do the job) for at least 2 hours, preferably longer, then use a gear puller to remove the sprocket. It will be rusted on to some extent, and it is a puller job even when the parts are new.