[AT] Garden Tractor pulleys

[Larry Goss]

Congrats, Dennis.  I wish this one had been so easy.  I finally gave up on the belt exchange  I'm going to contact the owner and have him take it to a dealer who has the tools for removing that pulley.  It's supposed to drop off, but this morning I put an "industrial" puller on it and bent the flanges like a pretzel.  I finally decided that it wasn't worth it for me to break a sweat over and that a dealer could have the priviledge of doing the work.  Given enough time, I'm sure I would be able to get the old one off, but it will have to be someone younger than me.  If it was restorable or collectible in any way, then I would continue working with it, but since it's an MTD multi-brand product, I quit.  I'll buy the replacement pulley and give it to the owner, but someone else will have to do it.

This afternoon, I dragged home a John Deere 214 that had the variable speed drive acting up.  That's another of those dual belt nightmares.  But this time a shot of WD-40 cured the problems.  But the tractor is so old that parts of the mower deck fell off it as I removed it so I could work on it.  The mower deck has very severe and very extensive stress cracks all over it.  My welding equipment isn't heavy enough to do it right.  The welding is not going to be that simple, either.  It's very extensive.  It's probably time to retire the machine.

Larry


----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis Johnson <moscowengnr at yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, July 11, 2008 14:11
Subject: [AT] Garden Tractor pulleys
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com

> Larry, I had an experience 2 days ago that was a lot different. 
> I have failed a PTO clutch on my JD 116. I got it jacked up, and 
> was ready to install a puller to remove. I even had my hammers 
> handy to help assist. (have done it before and needed both 
> puller and hammers).
>    
>   This time when I got the belt off, and the retaining bolt 
> removed, the PTO clutch just fell down mainly by gravity. I was 
> surprised. That is the fasted that I have ever been able to 
> change a PTO clutch on a lawn tractor.
>    
>   Regards,
>   Dennis
>    
>    
>    
>    
>   LOL!  But you don't "tune" a tractor with a sledge 
> hammer either,
>  Charlie.  I tell the guys on another group that's 
> devoted to MY tractors
>  (Power King's) that if they have to use a hammer for 
> operations. they're
>  probably not using the right technique.
> 
> But having said that, I have a riding lawn mower hanging from my 
> engine hoist like a piece of dead meat while I try to 
> remove the engine
>  pulley.  Removing the pulley has to happen so the 
> drive belts can be
>  changed.  It's too bad the original assembly did not 
> make use of any
>  anti-seize grease.  As a result, a ten-minute job 
> will now take four to five
>  days and cost $30 in new parts that should not have been needed.
> 
> Larry
> 
> 
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