OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions on Greenfield Ride On Mower Frames First-timer - Greenfield Tractor 11 owner

Hi guys,

I've just become the proud owner of a new (to me) Greenfield Tractor 11 28 inch model which is also my first ride on. I fell in love with Greenfields in the early 90's when I was a kid, I have now bought my first property (37 acres, need to maintain about 1.5). We unfortunately had to spend our big tractor savings on other works so our budget for a tractor or ride-on was $0 (picked this one up for not much above that thankfully!).

This one has not been run for 18 months or used as a mower for a number of years. The previous owner topped up the oil, put some fuel in, sprayed wd40 all over the engine for some reason just before I got there. I took the air filter out, pulled it over a few times without the fuel on and gave it a quick squirt of RP7 and it started up.

I gave it a quick test drive, feels strong in reverse, not so much in forward, cuts well (well enough for our block). Apparently there might be a bearing on the way out and when in forward the drive plate is out of alignment... He also gave me a wheelbarrow full of spare parts including a few plates.

I'll have a search through the threads over the coming weeks but I just wanted to get a feel for what people thought would be the first step forward?

I'd love to start using it as soon as possible and my budget for repairs is only slightly above the budget for the initial purchase! But the last thing I want to do is break something simple.

I was planning on;

Drain the fuel,
Remove the tank and flush it out,
Drain oil,
Flush and refill with fresh oil (need to find out modern equiv),
New spark plug,
Maybe some carb cleaner?
Try and find a manual and parts list to see what needs replacing/fixing.

Some photos below (click on the thumbnails for big versions), she's a bit rough, but I'll happily spend some time getting her back to working order and a lick of paint... if I've not bought a lemon! I'm a sparky by trade but I try and turn my hand to anything.

Any tips, hints or opinions welcome!

Thanks

Felix

Evening Felix,

Welcome to the show! The beauty part about a Greenie Tractor model is the extent to which they are almost infinitely repairable!! Are just unstoppable!

It goes! If it runs strong and is relatively smoke free your off to a good start. Bit of an oil change, clean and oil the air filter, fresh spark plug never hurts, drop of oil on all the pivots and see how you go! Just run ordinary SAE 30. No need to muck about with multi-grade in our climate.

Get your feet under the table, so to speak, and if the forward clutch thing turns out to be a problem then there are a few good old posts on the subject and plenty of help available!

Cheers,

Felix,

Just found the photo on bucket that you took of the air cleaner sticker. It appears this thing has a paper element filter so delete reference to the above comment about oiling it. I was working on the assumption that it was a foam one. Should never assume

Sorry for the confusion.

If the element is in good order a good blow out with compressed air. If it looks a bit ratty then spot it a new one.

The suggestion above to oil the pivots is one I live by. A bit of oil on anything that moves can make it feel like a new machine if it's dry and rusty. Of course stay well clear of belts, pullies and the clutches.

Also, if the white nose cone for the front of the bonnet isn't in the barrow load of bit he gave you, I can pop one in the post for you. Freebie. Not a critical item I know but helps keep it tidy.

Hi prd thanks for the replies, that was my hope regarding the repairable nature of these machines over say a plastic fantastic Hardly Normal special.

I did notice a tiny bit of smoke at start up and the previous owner did say it 'burnt a little oil', exhaust was very hot as well. Might pull the muffler off and see what condition it is in, I'm not sure how, but I should probably check to see if it's running lean hence extra heat?? You need to set the flywheel magneto for timing on these engines right? Might head over to the engine section and ask some questions there.

I've given the element a clean as you said, came up great (might stick a thin prefilter on it). With regards to oiling the 'pivots' do you meant with something like 3-in-One Oil?

I've had a look through the spares, no nose, that is mighty generous of you, we'll have to come to an agreement on cost! According to the previous owner, he lent it to a friend and it came back with a broken bonnet (as seen in the photo) and no nose! Who needs enemies!

Photo of bits:

Hello Felix and prd
Felix, you are in good hands with prd.
He is 'da man' on Greenfields.

It's better to embed images on this site, rather than external.
Information on adding images HERE.

Many thanks for your interest in Greenfields.

-----------------
Jack

Hi Jack,

Thanks for the welcome! I'll embed in future, previous forums I've been on have preferred the opposite to keep space issues under control!

I've got a little shopping list for my next trip into town to freshen the engine up. I'll try and find a battery in the shed to give the electric start a crack tomorrow. Maybe a few more happy snaps as well. I assume it's a 12v system haha.

I'd like to find the manufacturer date as well, hopefully under the seat area somewhere.

Evening Felix and Jack,

There are better people here when it comes to B&S engine questions so be guided by them. My two cents is that a bit of smoke on start and idle is to be expected on an old girl like this. If it runs strong and doesn't smoke out the neighbours or oil the plug to the point where it won't start or run, rock on!

Hot exhaust, running lean? Be interested to see what others say here. Again, for mine if the machine has power, idles nice and accelerates when asked, I've just.........rocked on!

Magneto timing? From memory there is nothing to adjust??

Yup, 3 in 1, ordinary engine oil, even WD40 at a pinch.

Have you looked in the subscription section for manuals?

More than happy to give bits to fellow Greenies. Back story is that I've parted out a few machines and am regretting the amount of shed space the bits are taking up. You'd be doing me a favour if you took it. I noticed the bonnet was broken in the photos but it looks like a nice neat repair should be do-able.

You won't find a manufacturing date on the frame. The engine date is the only reference here. 1984. If it's the original engine this makes it a fairly late machine. The only number on the frame is stamped across the front axle beam channel. 4 digits and maybe a letter.

Cheers,

Cheers again prd, I've signed up and already printed the parts list for reference in the shed!

Yeah the bonnet has been 'spot' welded up before, pretty bad job, I should be able to clean it up and get it fixed.

I'll send you a message about the nose.

Well, another win, threw an old car battery on the seat and precariously held the wires (with wet dirty lugs), onto the terminals, gave the starter half a dozen clicks, nothing, few sparks at the negative, re-position lugs, half a dozen more clicks, then half an engine turn, then sparked to life! I call that a win! Worth buying a battery that'll fit now.

G'day again,

Another win! The Ol' girl keeps coming up with the goods!

So today's efforts totaled; an engine cleanse (Nulon type) and fresh oil, a quick carby clean (just with spray type cleaner) it was FILTHY, lubricating any pivots and some fresh fuel and I got to doing my first bit of mowing! Started first pull and cut great, even for an old set of blades (I'm not going for bowling green, just improve my chances of spotting snakes).

Few things I found that need some attention, but nothing stopping me getting on and riding. Not sure what the forum convention is, but I thought I'd ask in this thread.



First question, alignment, when the wheel on the right is facing forward, the one on the left is facing out. I couldn't see an obvious way to adjust this alignment?



As mentioned above, there is some drive issues. From what I can see when the pedal is pressed and the bit in the middle moves left or right depending on the direction, and the plate is pushed against the pulley, the whole pulley (worse in forwards which i think would be the pulley on the bottom of the picture) slides on the bearing. You can then push the pulley back and forth on the bearing...

I'm guessing that isn't meant to happen. The plates had good amount of material (cork?) on them, maybe 3-4mm?

Cheers

G'day F deL,

Play and wear in the steering is a bit of a perennial one. Wear in the steering tie bar and the bushes therein etc. Give the steering wheel a wriggle to and fro and you'll soon see where the play is. When I finally got round to dealing with mine I made a new tie bar and made new bushes and that solved that. I took the opportunity when I made the new bar to create a modification so it has adjustable stops. I'll take photos of it and post them later.

Also, in the photo wheels seem to 'lean' ? Worn and missing king pin bushes or collapsed wheel bearings can be a thing.

Unfortunately the bearings in the drive pulleys do come loose sometimes but first confirm that the bearings are actually sliding in the pulley and that your not just looking at wear in the bearing which can give quite a bit of wobble at the outer diameter of the pulley (which is 'normal' up to a point)

If the bearings are physically sliding in the pulley then something will need to be done, I'm afraid. The 'something' will depend on how badly the pullies are worn in the bearing bore.

Also, looking at the photo above, the belt in the top pulley has rolled over? If this starts to happen it's time for a new belt and it's a good chance it is contributing to your issues. Also need to check that the belt tensioner is doing its job.

Cheers

I need to further investigate the steering issue, it drives fine, but you can see it is off a fair bit. I'd be interested to see what your solution looks like Cheers.

Definitely not a 'wobble', the whole pulley is evenly sliding back and forth on the bearing (eg. the amount of bearing showing at the top is the same at the bottom), i should have taken a photo, however I'd just emptied the entire contents of the engine onto my workshop floor... that's a story for another time hahah.

The belt is flipped, I thought for a second they were different belts! I've got a 'spare new' one, but it looks rather second hand, I'll see if the profile and length are better. As for the tensioner, I assume that is up under the steering wheel?

I've got a bit more to do on the yard and then I might put it up on blocks and delve into it a bit more, maybe clean up some of the surface rust as well and look at repairing that bonnet properly (currently using a small g-clamp hah).

Evening FdeL,,

Drive pulley bearing thing is a pest. Almost certainly the pulley will be worn beyond redemption where the bearing sits. I have 'saved' a couple in he past that were only slightly worn with good ol' loctite as I didn't have any spares at the time.

The useful box here has a few in it. I'll have a dig around tomorrow.

Cheers,

This depends on the correct size being available, but there is an item called a 'speedi-sleeve', which is intended for repair of worn areas on shafts - where seal lips ride. http://www.skf.com/au/products/seal...ear-sleeves/skf-speedi-sleeve/index.html

Much used in industry, and even the automotive field.

They can also be used to repair bearing seats, as in that pulley, by gluing them in place with a good quality metal-filled 2-part epoxy resin, e.g. JB Weld or Devcon.

Available through bearing supplies joints. Not particularly cheap, but they do work very well.

Thanks Gadge,

I'd not heard of speedi-sleeves before. Be interested to try them out.

Cheers,

Speedi-sleves are fantastic and must have saved a million shafts over the years

Thanks guys, I've had a look a few videos of the speedi-sleeves, they look great. I also saw a video of Belzona 1111 being used in a bearing housing, they just whacked it in and pushed the bearing in (video below).



I've got a few pulleys in that wheelbarrow of parts, some look the wrong size, and some have bearings rusted in them, might see if they can be salvaged.

Just make sure you're sitting down, when you go to price that Belzona 1111! Smallest available pack size is 1kg, too.

Only an option if you have a maintenance fitter contact in industry who can scrounge some for you, really.

The Devcon 'plastic steel' range of epoxies are better value for money, and small tube packs are available from Repco branches.

Hahaha $568/kg...