I can pop a photo in but my Greenfield Fastcut 34" does not have a tensioner for the drive chain , which seems loose though not appearing to cause any issues (yet) . there is only the drive sprocket and the rear wheel sprocket there.
there are some holes in the vicinity that it might have had one. or it is a matter of purchasing a new chain if problems occur.
(side note I had my belt on wrongly(sic) and all is better now and that burning rubber smell has gone away tough belts they are indeed
.. there was also a bad noise under the seat but it turned out that the seat was touching the clutch wheel when I sat down, either I raise it or lose more weight... do the two springs get weak over time I wonder... I can raise them or otherwise jerry rig it.).
worth adding, mine only has a (deficient at the best of times) handbrake on the left side that levers to the under seat right side to a bolt that pushes a flat bar break against a rim, not the chain tensioner brake shown (or referred to ) here
Hi Peter, Handbrake was not one of Greenfield finer points. I assume they thought the heel/toe setup meant the handbrake was sort of an afterthought. As for the chain adjuster are you missing the whole assembly or just the sprocket. The fix for the sprocket is to just replace it with a couple of sealed bearings for the chain to run on.
missing the whole assembly, I will post a photo here soon.
for the brake, fine using the clutch if the engine is running, but if you are trying to start on a hill and it is not firing up, you are going to go up or down the hill. (assuming we do not start with the clutch engaged) . ditto in a running then stalled situation.
the carby etc not working well and the only way was to squirt some petrol into the carb air inlet (cover and filter off), which got me home in 'limp mode'. I had to lodge a car ramp under the rear tire when trying to get up the hill by the fuel injection method after 20 attempts of going part up the hill, (20m 5 degree slope) stalling, then sliding down again. it was sad , I was saying 'loser' out loud every time. (the belt was on wrong was another issue at the time , so not enough power, then stall, then the heartbreaking slide back.) but I got there. maybe a modified block of wood at the back with a lever to go down behind the wheels, like in the good old horse and buggy days when hauling them up a hill with a counterweight like a tree coming down the other way , and a long piece of rope.
pretty sure I will be cleaning the valves soon. parts have been ordered.
Yes Peter, The lack of a decent brake on Greenfields has resulted in people being killed so you have to be very careful. The Greenies that were fitted with a gearbox were a real problem on hills if you had to change from forward to reverse, they can get away from you very quickly. I have fitted a hydraulic brake to one of them for this reason.. The chain tensioner is similar but no the same as the Anniversary models so if you can't find one you can make one up easily with a bit of flat bar. You don't need to make the adjuster part just set it manually and check the chain tension every so often
no tensioner, but if I ought to have one I can make one up. I have a slider for the belt system on a Subaru Liberty , and a welder.
I learned a good lesson today about using old fuel... on this mower, and a stihl av chainsaw. how old ? dec 2021 with penrite additive. I still must do the valves though.
slightly off topic but this guy rolled his Razorback (Protea) down a hill that he says was 90 degrees, it was 'only' 45 from what I can see. goats are good, if you have the fencing for it.
saved at time... a hard way to pay your neighbour a visit, in through the back door.
Doesn't have to be anything flash just something so you can take the slack out of the chain, not like it is going to fly off and kill you like it can on a motorbike
not flash at all. attachment below. the pulley is off skates, I have had them so long the outer part just peeled off in my hands. and dexion frame which allows for adjustments. drilled two holes, that was easy (I only really got around to learning how to sharpen drill bits last year) . welded the bolts onto the frame for easy of use and adjustment. it all depends on how long that nylon pulley lasts for. I might be better off purchasing the small drive sprocket and using one of those. maybe a spring tensioner. but I think this will work. I have plenty more skate wheels.
other things.
I did notice the wheel hub has some movement in it, around 1-2mm . and I was pleased the rear wheels, unlike the front ones, were easy to remove, just like a car.
tappet lapping gear etc in the post coming today... I will bite the bullet and just do it. having on again off again issues with starting the thing. ok if I manually put petrol down the throat, but I have used three carbies (another one in the post)... the original carby was the last to be good. I have yet to see a 'carby kit' or get into the gizards of one of these. it seems like things these days stuff up just sitting there for years , even if new and unused.
also the ignition coils... the new one stuffed up (after I burned the lead on another on the muffler (question, is it ok for the lead to touch any metal, even warm like the front valve head lid? probably best to avoid, but surely there should be some plastic bracket... there is a hole on the side of the valve head lid, probably there) .
the stuffed up coil , perhaps because I had the wire that attaches to it for the seat cutoff switch loose and last found it hugging the battery cable, can that ruin them with power coming up into the coil ? I have yet to check this 'key' thing. but it was running albeit without the power I wanted up the kill (drive chain maybe and tuning). the old/new carbie had stopped almost all the backfiring (but I am doing the valves anyway. this has 477 hours on it (I wonder if the odometer was not messed with) - I have only done 27 hours since I purchased it 5 years ago, and it has been idle, not working, for 4 of those years. one reason I gave up was the new carbies (not the one in the post) with the flood/backfire solenoids at the bottom , as I had no wires to go on to it, it was in no fuel by default. I used the cut it off from the inside techinque after doing some internet homework last month, which worked for a while. and I am assuming it does not matter to not have the safety wire in place (apart from safety) in terms of the ignition starting or timing. I have 4 coils, and one in the mail. 2 of them here the shorter leads (I stuffed up) which do not reach, with my stihl chainsaw coils you can remove the leads, just a screwing operation. what about these ones? it seems not or can two leads be connected. I assume not worth it. the current coil got it's spark plug cap from another coil (and might be one of my issues too)
also I had to tighten the drive belt up more as the left side (when seated) belt was twisting to flat. I used that red lever thing above hat I posted in the thread for tyre removal, it is rounded and hugged the tensioning pulley, and I got away with the large hammer technique (I had tried the kick with boot technique).
one question, the fuel filter, does it matter which way it goes on? like the new coils which no longer have stamped on them which side up, the filter is silent on it too.
I am nothing if not persistent.
it was fun while it lasted and I look forward to getting it going again. after the big floods here last year the local Greenfield dealer had no mechanic, that and other issues of these times make me more determined to be my own mechanic.
these greenfields still sell for $2500, new over $8000 and any of them will have to be worked on at some point in time.
though i think by now I could have trained a pack of 10 goats for mowing and carting.
another question (sorry if too many here) . if I still cannot get it running I am considering purchasing a new motor. probably go 18hp up from this 13.5 . one reason is fuel economy. will a new motor be any more efficient than a well maintained old one? I purchased a replacement mower 3 years ago for an old tiller, and even though it was not used for 2 years, it started first go. maybe they have improved in some ways (or I got 'packapoo ticket' lucky).
Hi Peter, Good job on the tensioner and if you run out of skateboard wheels just get a couple of small bearings to fit on the bolt, don't bother with the sprocket. The rest of what you have written is doing my head too much chopping and changing. If you have a carby that is working but have to put fuel down the carby to get it started that is either the choke is not fully closing or the primer is not priming. Coils , just extend the HT lead if it is too short.If the existing motor is running and not smokey then why think of replacing it? That is enough for me for now.
started on the valves today, and, as this guy says, throw those silly suction cap sticks away. I could not get a cup to stick no matter what I did, including the belt stick spray I have used on the rideon. I figured myself to use a drill, and I went about the same speed. what I did not do was the fast one to spread the paste before reversing the direction.
whilst you can remove the valve springs manually, I think the puller was useful. those two little plugs are tricky.
I am aware doing different topic, but not worth opening a hundred topics as I encounter my learning curves over multiple issues.( also I remember I have a grand pianos (which I destroyed) legs which had metal wheels, small ones. that might do too for drive chain tensioner if the nylon is too weak.
I used skateboard wheels as a chain tensioner on trail bikes a long time ago , they were the red ones and they did wear a bit after time , not sure how long the white ones will last but the long lasting tensioners are only about $5.
I used skateboard wheels as a chain tensioner on trail bikes a long time ago , they were the red ones and they did wear a bit after time , not sure how long the white ones will last but the long lasting tensioners are only about $5.
Cheers Max.
are any of what you are referring to on ebay? I did look and not find. there is not much room between the wheel and frame to put them.
ps broke a bolt getting the head back on after doing the valves. I fixed the Aldis torque wrench, and ordered a digital one to calibrate. I tore the other non working Aldis one (they never lasted more than a couple of years and hardly used) apart in rage with a grinder, then looked for youtube videos. just a bit if grease and calibration was all it takes. you'd think if they cared they would put a grease nipple into the things. I broke the bolt using an ancient torque wrench that worked with a rod parallel to the handle and differential bending, an arc of a guage. waaayyy out of 'calibration'. took around 5 hours , some broken tools and drill bits to get it out. AND I happened to have a suitable bolt lying around to replace it.
this is 'the carpet guy'
and manual calibration (I shall do both). same carpet
mind you there are a couple of ball bearings left out, so I shall have to learn and do again. and mine is different from his, rather than a roller for the clicketyclick mechanism, there is a rectangular item.
mower did not want to kick over with the spark plug in it, will look at the valve lever settings again tomorrow. I will use the screwdriver method for tdc and in 1/4" it is either that or the decompression in the crank case area. I suspect it has more compression than before with the valves lapped and will have more power.
ps the $50 digital tachometer worked, but no batteries included, nothing in the manual on what batteries or where to put them, barely worked with fully charged rechargeable AAA's, and the manual mentioned recalibrating every 12 months, but nothing more said on how or where to do that. about what one would expect. but at least this time I did not break any bolts.
happy result today.. my mistake was to have my top and bottom valves the wrong ways, and hence the settings. I have taken notes (for 'never again') a little bit surging with the governor, but this is a better mower than I purchased it as. the guy who sold it to me at 470 hours had to fiddle with the throttle to get it to start. obviously now, those valves needed lapping. I might think about changing the governor springs (external ones) . but with this power now I can do my slope (10 degrees up and down I will go) under the power lines.. what I call bamboo wars. will need a better handbrake solution though. I wonder if I got a sprocket chain tensioner and make that a brake, might anyone have a photo of the models that do have a brake in that area?
also this part is too clean to be something not taken out recently... any ideas? the hole is too small for the push rods. and I only have one of them... the outside has a spring thing on it.
