OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions on Greenfield Ride On Mower Frames Greenfield -Idler Pulley & Belts

Hi all,

I've a Greenfield B&S 13-32, Evolution 3 Mk IIa about ten years old with 500 hours on the clock. Last week the mower threw a shredded drive belt. Over the last year or so its been difficult to get to go forward or back other than stamping on the pedal and then it was liable to stick in either direction.

Previously my "fix" which seemed to work for a while was blowing all the grass and stuff out and spraying the pivots with WD40 (which now I read is not a good idea).

I'm now forced to give it a go myself. So thanks for all the info on a a great site.

So I've got the replacement drive belt, as well as a cutter belt and took to replacing them both as the current belts are the originals. Thanks to this site, I photographed the layout before pulling the belts off. Good thing too, as I found that one of the flat idler pulleys attached to a bracket beneath the floor plate had siezed. I'm assuming the sticking problem was caused by the pulley gradually getting worse and worse, finally siezing and the belt being forced to run over the stationary surface.

I ordered two to replace the pair from a local mower shop. The manual lists the part as GT2243. After a bit more than a week I was told that you can't get the parts any more. Sounded like rubbish as the Greenie is only 10 YO. I rang Greenfield and a very helpful guy told me there's a misprint in the manual and the correct part is GT1009.

I'll try to get the right parts and hopefully that's the fix.

Anyway, Thought this may be helpful to others with a "sticky pedal" or trying to order the idler pulleys. A couple of phots are attached.

Final question, can I just clean off the WD40 gunk with petrol?




Thanks again, Steve O

A slipping belt should not cause a sticky clutch pedal on a Greenfield: sticky clutch as far as I know is caused by worn friction surface on the clutch, which increases the required clutch pedal movement beyond what the linkage can achieve.

The remainder of what you said had happened is consistent with a belt being worn out, probably mostly due to that seized idler, though belts do not last forever in any case. So, if you have both a worn/shredded belt and a sticky clutch, replacing the belt is the first step but very likely not the last.

For future reference, it is very desirable to find the belt size, rather than the Greenfield part number, so you can buy one over the counter from your local industrial supplies store next time. It should be cheaper that way. As you may know, installing the new belt involves pulling the tensioner (the horizontal pulley adjacent to the two clutches) all the way back toward the clutch shaft.

Removing oily subdstances from the center square part of the clutch shaft is desirable, but after doing that you do have to keep the shaft from corroding and jamming the clutch. I suggest you find an industrial product that uses a highly volatile hydrocarbon as the delivery vehicle to coat the shaft with graphite or molybdenum disulphide powder, then dries up to leave just the powder on the shaft. Long ago I used to use a product called Drislide for that purpose, but there are probably others (and Drislide may no longer be made).

Thanks Grumpy,
I'll see how the belt & pulley replacement goes. If still not OK I'll have a go at resurfacing the clutch plates.

Please keep us posted, with pictures Steve.

Our Greenfield archive needs to grow. If you find your clutch is slipping, our archive badly needs a documented report on adjusting the shim stack in the center of the clutch shaft. So far we have at least two good "how to" reports on taking it out, taking it apart, and putting it together, but they don't cover what the clutch clearance should be. I keep hoping there is a simple measurement of how much clearance is needed, so the overhaul would simply consist of measuring the clearance before overhaul, and reducing the shim stack by the amount required to end up with the standard, required clearance. If we can get a report (with instructions and pictures) on doing that, we'll finally have a good documented procedure for Greenfield clutch shaft overhaul.

You said you got a deck belt as well.


In the ride on section ive started a thread on the LH throw Greenfields decks and how the belt setup works, ive got the theory but not how it works in practice. Could you please post a few pics of the pulleys etc that make the deck work. If you could shed some light it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks, Bob.

Grumpy, Rodeobob et al,

Good news! I finally got the correct idler pulleys from a Greenfield dealer in Sydney, they fitted right in.

I managed to replace the drive belt after a bit of cursing which was caused by me letting the belt tensioner spring fly out of the location hole at the tensioner pulley end when I removed it. I found it impossible to force it back into the hole without removing the tensioning pulley bracket. So I had to take out the 3 the bolts from the bracket holding the tensioning pulley (which are also 3 that attach the idler pulleys I�d just patted myself on the back for refitting), put the spring in from the underside, refit the bracket and then the spring. Much huffing and puffing etc but the tip is..... don't let the spring fly off in the first place!! I also found it was easier to feed it in from the clutch end, then fit it to the engine pulley and work backwards towards the clutches and finally roll it over the tensioner pulley.

I�d lost the hook tool that comes with the Greenie so I used a sturdy tent peg that worked just fine to stretch the spring into place.

As for the cutter belt it was fairly straight forward. I�ve included a scan from the owner�s manual that shows how the belt runs. Also, the instructions etc for the drive belt.

I found it reassuring to check the belt runs for both by turning the engine pulley by hand noting that all was OK. SPARK PLUG OUT of course.

I checked the cork in the clutches and have about 2mm on one and 1mm on the other. I�m not sure of the original thicknesses so if anyone can let me know it�d be great. If I need to, I�ll have a go at the clutches and shims after this mowing season.

The wife reckons it now goes better than it has for ages. Yep it�s her mower, but I did test run it. We share the mowing and I use a 50� cut Honda Dixon.

Next thing is to get into the B&S engine. After replacing the spark plug and air filter, the manual says to clean out the combustion chamber. Being a complete novice�s apprentice, Can I get advice on what I need to do so I can have a go?




Thanks, Steve O

Hi Steve, many thanks for posting those pages from the Instruction Manual. I didn't even know there was one, let alone a good one. I'm not sure how things went awry for you in controlling the tensioning pulley while fitting the new wheel drive belt, but you did get out of trouble in the end. I hope you were wearing safety glasses when working with that big spring - this is a serious point, not a minor quibble, powerful springs are very dangerous. Also, you need to find or replace that hook tool, or you are going to injure your hands and waste a lot of time doing that job in future.

For others reading this thread: remember, while Greenfield's wheel drive system design has remained fairly consistent over the years, the mechanism for operating the forward and reverse clutch seems to have changed several times, so the details of how you manage the clutch fork may be quite a bit different for other models.

Steve, with regard to your engine it sounds as if you are following the Briggs and Stratton "Tune Up Procedure" given in their overhaul manuals. This calls for removing the flywheel, as well as the cylinder head, and also stripping and cleaning the carburetor. It is a fairly complicated procedure unless you are experienced in engine repairs - it was intended to be carried out by qualified motor mechanics employed full-time by mower dealers. If your engine is in top condition, not using more oil than it did when it was new, and running well, my personal opinion is that having the cylinder head and flywheel removed, and the carburetor stripped, by someone who is not experienced in engine work may do harm rather than good. If you have engine overhaul experience, and your overhauls are usually successful, the Briggs tune up is a good preventative maintenance procedure and helps reduce the risk of unexpected engine problems later. Also, if you want to learn about engine repairs and you don't mind having a few things go wrong while you are learning, it is a good place to start that learning process as well. If neither of these things applies, I can suggest a much simpler tune up for you to go through that is less likely to disrupt your use of the mower in the next year or so. On the other hand if you want to go through the full Briggs tune up, we will be happy to help you through it if you wish.

Thanks Grumpy,

A very valid point re the safety glasses (oops). As for the B&S engine, I don't have any experience but am willing to learn.

The motor seems to be in good nick and not burning oil. The matter of cleaning the combustion chamber is a tick the box item in the owners manual every 100-300 hrs, so I thought it may be quite straight forward. I would be hesitant at attempting any adavnced maintenance if its not really necessary though.

I have the owners manuals for the grenfield and the B&S and can post scanned copies if it would help the archive. If so, can you suggest a location on the site?

Cheers, Steve O Mac

It is not very difficult to remove and reinstall a side-valve Briggs cylinder head Steve, but unless you are blessed with one of the metal-covered head gaskets you will need a new one because it will split and part will stick to the head while part sticks to the block. You have to clean the stuck gasket residue off the sealing surfaces on the underside of the head and the top face of the engine block, both of which are aluminium, and this requires careful work with a scraper. Also, to do the job you need a torque wrench.

Here is the page from the overhaul manual:



Let me know if you have questions about this.

Grumpy, Thanks V much for the offer but as the engine is OK now I think I'll stick to the adage ....if it ain't broke etc... However when the time comes I'll sure be asking questions.

In the mean time I'll check out the Honda engine on my Dixon and that old Victa I inherited from Dad and if anyone needs a copy of the Greenfield owners manual, I'm happy to oblige.

Cheers, Steve O Mac

Hi Guys,

I Have the slipping clutch syndrome and my mower is the same setup as steves Evolution E2000 M11 with 20hp Vanguard Vtwin.

Question: I have started pulling out the drive assembly ect and have taken pics as I go so rather than start a new thread unnecessarily do you want me to continue with this thred ???

Also what pict and file size (jpg) do you prefer.

Rich

Hi Rich, this thread is a good place to post an illustrated overhaul process on a Greenfield clutch shaft. The heading is right and the subject has already been broached.

We are especially in need of information on setting up the shim stack in the center of the shaft to get a clutch clearance on both clutches that gives good driveability of the mower. So far we have only heard about trial and error methods: members have assembled and disassembled the shaft repeatedly, adding or removing shims until the clutches have a small clearance, and do not drag. I'm hoping that someone will be able to make use of feeler gauges and show us just how much clearance is needed to get the clutch pedal to work nicely. Of course we will be very happy to have your report and pictures of removing, dismantling, reassembling, and reinstalling the clutch shaft as well. Each member who does that job seems to come up with a slightly more refined technique, so it is a learning process that improves our archive as we go.

Hi Steve O Mac and anyone else who might pick up this thread.

I have inherited a Greenfield Anniversary 12-32 that I am guessing is getting on in years. I have a receipt showing belts were bought for it in 2000 so it is clearly at least 15 years old. It was part of a delivery of 10 that were in imported into the UK.

I have very little documentation on it other than a parts list and one page basic instruction manual and am currently having some difficulty getting a new cutter drive belt fitted. Looking at your thread attached and instructions which, whilst for a later model, is very similar to mine, I wonder what differences there may be with my model. In particular, I do not appear to have a tensioning spring for the right hand pulley, nor indeed does it appear to be able to slide.

I have included a picture of the mower below (someone may actually know how old it might be!).



Any help, tips or tricks would be gratefully appreciated, as you can see the instructions I have got are simplistic to say the least.

Cheers,

Chris