OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Ride-On Mowers Rover Rancher 1755 Model

My ol' workhorse has had a bit of a makeover, so it looks the part when I demonstrate my slasher and grass rake.

Got hold of a Tecumseh 12.5 hp OHV engine, so that went in, and the front wheels are off a 11046 model (better traction when turning), and the deck of a 11050 model. All works well.






It's a bit hard to see in the pic, but I put an extension in the exhaust so that the muffler can sit outside the body, otherwise I would have had to cut the side section. Didn't want to do that!

That looks like a professional presentation, Greg, which should help impress the customers. I suggest you check the vibration amplitude of the muffler at various engine speeds: that extension may have created a resonance.

Thanks Grumpy, a good point about the resonance. Without the use of a meter to check it, it doesn't appear to create extra vibration, the extension also includes a mounting strap to hold the muffler solid. I'll get a better picture to show more detail. Apologies for that one.

Here's a better pic.

I can't really see the angle of the support strap, but of course it will help.

You can usually measure vibration amplitude in a situation like that with a simple device known as a "vibration wedge". This is typically a piece of paper taped to the object you want to test. On the paper is drawn a triangle, the width being whatever is convenient, and the height the maximum amplitude you want to measure. Say that is 1 cm, and the convenient width is 10 cm. Draw a triangle, filled in black, that is horizontally 10 cm and vertically 1 cm. Divide the width (base of triangle) into 1 cm divisions. Tape it onto the test object so its height is parallel to the expected vibration direction, base at right angles to that. Fire up the vibration-maker, and look at the wedge. If there is vibration, instead of looking like a triangle, it will look like a sort of straight-sided hourglass, with the zero point (where the left and right triangles intersect at 0 height) somewhere on your horizontal scale from 1 to 10. That point on the scale is the vibration amplitude in millimetres. Scan through the speed range of the object and see what the peak amplitude is.

If there is substantial movement transverse to the expected direction of vibration, the whole wedge will appear blurred. Usually though, with the situation you have, most of it will be along one axis and you should get a usable reading.

Thanks Grumpy, I'll give it a go.

Cheers.