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.
Well my Evo 3 12.5hp 30 inch cutter belt clutch assy did turn out to be different to the one 2 posts above in the Owners manual for the mk 2a.
There was no way to remove the cutter clutch idler pulley spring with a pick hook from the rear, the spring is fastened into the bracket with a nut on the end.
The forward anchor for the spring could be easily unhooked by removing a split pin, but I didn't. Couldn't see any advantage in messing with the spring at all.
I removed both idler pulleys and got the belt around them and into the guide things, it was quite a struggle with the clutching pulley to get the belt over it as the deck mount brackets run very close to it.
Then removed belt guide from the deck around the main cutter pulley and got the belt over that, then got the belt from the idler pulleys up to the engine pulley, dropped the bracket that runs across under it with the belt guide pins, and managed to push the belt over and into the groove with the handle of a big screw driver.
See pics, couldn't get a pic to show the rear end of that spring, but will try again later.
Next, new main drive idlers go on, then drop the big drive plate assy back in. But after Easter..
So close but no mowing today, got to start up stage, but motor would not keep running, fuel leak in the line just before carby, too close to exhaust for comfort !!
Got clutch pack in, first attempt to start there was a bit of a drag on the plates and belts, centralised pedal carefully, and then it was ok, engine just caught and fired, but would not keep running, found the fuel leak.
Getting the drivechain joined up was a pain, took a while, also getting old cutter blades off took a while.
I used the long hooked part of a silicone caulking gun as a spring tool to get the tensioner puller set up.
It starts up and idles good, slight pedal pressure gets it moving, forward and reverse, manouvers easily on light pedal at low revs, and gets up a good speed with more throttle and pedal, doesn't sound like there is any slipping.
But.... I can't mow...when I engaged the cutter there was clanging and banging and severe shaking of the deck, something is not right. Found the end of the blades were hitting the inside of the deck at one point, so I ground the ends of them a couple of mm and it was slightly better, but then threw the belt off.
The hanger for the clutch idler pulleys can be put on so the pulleys are more to the front, or more to the rear, maybe I put it back wrong way round? these are hitting the cutter idler pulley when its engaged. I can see shiny marks on the edge of the cutter idler.
My instant thought on reading your description is that the spindle bearings that support the cutter disc are collapsed or some other significant issue with the spindle mounting etc. But that is only a theory. Photos, as always, are a the thing here.
Try grabbing the cutter disc and try giving it a good solid wriggle up and down to see if there is play in the bearings or some other problem. Best done with the cutter disengaged so your not fighting the belt tension.
Good idea. I did check the cutter shaft for movement when I had everything apart earlier on, and I had the blades off twice on Sunday trying to trouble shoot this mess, and the cutter plate wasn't moving around unusually then.
Looking at pics 1 and 4 of my post above, #90743 on 31/03/18, see how the shaft with a nut and washer on it hangs close to the cutter idler pulleys.
That is the shaft for the clutch drive idler pulleys (which are absent in the photo, because the shop gave me the wrong pulleys.) I had removed and replaced that hanger to have a closer look and see if the raised section came off the shaft, allowing a different size pulley to slide on, it didn't.
On final reassembly, I went from this pic as the template of how everything fitted, not realising I had taken the photo after I had refitted that hanger so that the pulley shaft is more to the rear than the front.
I think this is the problem. Statically, the pulleys had clearance, but with everything running, they have been interfering with each other.
Will photo it when I pull it all out yet again. Im getting good at remove and replace on the clutch assembly....
I know little about sit on mowers, but have learnt that these Greenfields are well regarded on here. Looks like a nice unit well worth the persistence to get right. We're with you moweasy!!
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
moweasy, in the photos you mentioned above do you think there is evidence of wear on the cutter pulley? It looks like it has been radiused off (?) - suggesting there may have been rubbing in the past?
Something else to consider is play in the cutter height adjust mechanism. If it is all loose and floppy it will allow the whole deck to move around and move forward under belt tension. This includes looking at the deck mounting for play. Also, has your machine got the lateral stay bar at the back? It's a bar that mounts on the deck and goes into a slot in the chassis at the rear of the machine? Pretty sure your model is supposed to have it?
Of course none of this accounts for why the blades were physically able to contact the deck.
If I can post this pic from phone, there are 2 bars on LHS coming from the deck to a chassis mount just in front of LR wheel, looks like a repair has been done in the past to the mount plate there.
Two bolts, one loose and the other has nut missing. Two other nuts very loose where those bars fit as well. All that allows left side of deck to pivot forward if you give it a push.
