New around here, and am in awe at all the helpfull members and wealth of knowledge on this forum.
My project Greenfield so far:
Brother in law drove her till she stopped and bought a newer one. I saw her looking very sad and in need of love, so had to take her home!
Project Evo 3 12hp 30 inch is coming along, after getting steering rack sorted, ( see previous post) had to knock the front left wheel bearings out. Don't have a press, think ill just get a block of wood and bang the new ones in?
Removed the clutch pack on the weekend.
Not got the clutches apart yet, but they move left and right ok, but I don't feel any spring tension on them, and cannot see any corks.
Can the bearings in the large plates be replaced, or do you buy the whole thing?
Sounds like your getting stuck into this old bird!
Please forgive me if the following reply is 'talking down' to your engineering ability as I'm not sure what your level of machine savvy is.
Yes, the drive pulley bearings can be easily replaced and are 'dime a dozen' at your local bearing shop. When driving the bearings in or out please make sure the pulley is supported at the bearing outer diameter and not at the pulley edge. The thing is only aluminium and could very likely crack If not properly supported. You'll notice the bearings are staked to help retain them. When you go to remove the bearings there will be some initial resistance while you 'overcome' the staking. Keep the bearing square when driving in or out. Warming the pulley with a hot air gun (not a flame) is also a good idea.
I'm using loctite 641 when installing bearings. It offers adhesion but allows future removal without the anguish that might come with using a stronger grade. If the interference between the pulley and bearing is good, there is no need to use any product at all. It just a personal preference thing on my part. Once the new bearing is in restake the pulley at the bearing with a punch.
Another option is to take the pulleys to an engineering works with a press etc who can do it for you. The place that did the rework on the front axle for you could do this perhaps?
All the above applies equally to the wheel bearings.
On the subject of the rest of the clutch, I can see what looks like good cork on the left pressure plate in the photo. The cork starts out about 1/8" thick and is good to wear down to 1/16". The plate in the photo might be getting down towards the 1/16". The folks at the ODK shop can definitely help with the new corks. New corks are glued on with a good quality contact adhesive after first removing the old and thoroughly cleaning the plate with acetone and scotchbrite. Apply thinly to both surfaces and sit on a flat surface and weight down overnight.
The reason for the lack of 'spring back' from the pressure plates could be the springs but it could be that it's just sticking due to some sort of friction between the shaft and the pressure plates. This could be a burr or the like on the shaft or gunk or.....you'll know once it's apart. The plates must be 100 percent free on the shaft. Use a silicone spray lube on the shaft when it goes back together.
You'll notice shim washers under the springs.you need at least one on each side and only need more if there is not enough clearance between the pulleys and the pressure plates once it's been reassembled. The pulleys MUST be free to turn without binding on the pressure plates!
Phew! Sorry for the lengthy reply! I hope it's of some help.
Thank you so much prd for your informed and Helpful reply. This information is very valuable for myself and I'm sure many others who are hoping to resurrect one of these wonderful old machines.
Yes you have correctly summed up my level of expertise or rather lack of it.
Will update thread as I progress. Thank you again!
I just use a couple of 12" shifters or knipex parallel jawed multigrips. If you've not seen them they are a nice piece of kit that don't put teeth marks into the job while applying all the load that a normal set of multigrips will.
I know it seems a bit rough but I guess the point is that I've never found those nuts to be particularly hard to undo.
I'll pop over to the shed and get a measurement for you in the morning.
Re clutch pack nuts, I just found it in a post, someone using a 30mm. Prob not absolutely correct but close enough, as you say should not be too hard to move. I had sprayed inox anyway. Thanks again.
From the photos both the pulley and the pressure plate stuffed.
Options?
1.Someone with a lathe that can take the pulley diameter could skim it? I've skimmed pressure plates in the past but not the pulley. No idea what it would cost to do that commercially.
2.Replacement. I'll do some research on part numbers and see what we come up with.
Cheers,
P.S. Can't help wondering what part the grease/oil contamination might have played in all this. Of course it's all academic now...............
No contact for skimming the clutch plates no, i could go and get some quotes around the engineering shops,
But ... I just had a conversation with spare parts guy at a dealer in Brisbane, and he said to just run a small sander over them and smooth them up a bit, put new corks and should be ok. Claims he's done a few that were pretty badly scored and they work good!
As long as they're sanded down evenly, should work. I probably wouldn't be trying to get all the scoring out completely as some of the grooves run deep by the looks. Probably just aim to take off the worst of it?
They are not a highly precision piece of engineering so sanding them down would be a good option, even if you got a few high spots the cork will wear the high spots down, might be a bit grabby in the transmission at first but it should settle down if that problem did occur, but I doubt you would notice it
Yes engineers will cringe, but I'm willing to give it a go. Will be a goodt test case on what's possible I spose, that way others might benefit in future.
I'm wondering if perhaps you could take a bit more off the pulley? It's always tricky trying to make these sorts of calls from photos but that said the pulley still seems quite 'groovy'
Support is most welcome as I am coming into this with training wheels. Yes I will give the drive plate some more sanding, Will check sander paper grade, what would you reckon I should be using?
I'm thinking you might have to start out with something aggressive, say 80 grit (?) and then perhaps finish with 120 grit. You'll want to at least remove about 75% of the groove depth. Use the grooves themselves and the 'stippled' casting marks inboard of the wear area as indicators of how evenly your removing the material- needs to be nice, flat and square and to that end you'll probably end up removing the entire area from the outer edge of the wear area to the centre of the pulley. One of those little palm sanders with the triangular sanding pad is ideal. Also, as a technicality use aluminium oxide paper if possible but not really critical.
I'm more than confident that this will work if done evenly.
Thanks for the link, Gadge. I'd not seen that one before. It's a good reminder that facing the damage off is the best solution.
Cheers,
P.S. Keep an eye on the sandpaper as you go and make sure it's not clogging up with sanding residue. Clean often and replace the pads as often as needed. The concern is that if the paper clogs up it might start to bite in and doing more damage . Go steady with the 80 grit and keep an eye on what it's doing. If it's too coarse go back to the 120.
Will reassemble clutch pack on the weekend, but before plonking the assy back in the frame, I have been alerted to another problem needs attention!
The previous owner advises the cutter engage lever needs to be held in position to keep it engaged. I tried it when belts were still on and it does not lock in position. The lever was very sloppy and wobbled around. Must be lots of wear in the linkage.
Searching various words didn't pull up any relevant threads, any suggestions welcome. Will dive under the frame for a closer look on how it works on Saturday.
Both nuts must be done up firmly and no interference when the pulleys are spun when it is at rest. If it's not free with both nuts done up snugly then another spacer washer is required between the spring and the pulley bearing on the side that is rubbing. You should always have at least one washer between the spring and the bearing and add additional ones for adjustment. I suspect the side that you sanded down will,only need the one washer due to the extra clearance you created by sanding off material. If you have more than one washer on this side you might be able to steal one to put on the other side (I'm assuming it's the unsanded side that is rubbing).
If you are still short of spacer washers I can put a couple into an envelope for you.
I'll do some research on the cutter clutch for you.
Oh dear- I have messed up. Thank you so much for advising on this. There are a few shims and washers left over so I should be fine for those thank you. Will fix it Saturday and advise.
Difficult to get pics of cutter clutch as I hadn't cleaned it up underneath yet. The previous owners grass still had it all clogged up. Will get to that as well. Thanks again for your help prd.
Clutch pack back together and looking correct this time!!
Ended up with one washer on top of the spring on the side that had the sanded-down drive disc, and one washer plus one shim on the other side.
See pic new corks visible, plates spin free, springs returning the pressure plates to neutral position well. Minimal movement but clearance seems good.
Am now wrestling with the cutter drive belt, trying to get it hooked up while everything is out of the chassis.
Gotta confess I've not had a lot to do with the cutter clutch setup on your model but would like to help if I can. To that end we'd need to see some photos please.
In the meantime there is an Evo owners manual in the manuals section that might help. It gives instructions on how to change the cutter belt and how to adjust the system- and from the sounds of it the original problem the previous owner had with it might have been an adjustment issue (?)
Go to the bottom of the 'Questions on ride-on mowers' forum to the manuals section. On the second page is the greenfield stuff.
Yes I downloaded that page on the cutter clutches from the manuals section for Evo 11a Owners manual. The clutch set up looks the same as mine, although very minor differences in the belt guides and bracketry.
For reference, the diagrams in the parts manual for Evo 111 12.5/30 seem to match the look of my Evo 111 12/30 "patent pending" model, again some very minor differences. If you squint your eyes, its the same!
Will get pics for the site tonight.
I went my own way to get the cutter belt on, not working out, will start over as per the instructions from that manual.
