What machine and cutter is it?
Kill switch doesnt kill engine
- Thread starter ipbr21054
- Start date
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A red one
I will try to find the details and edit it to suit.
Its a Lawnflite 703 - This one
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Its a rather large garden and I struggled with lots of different mowers over the decades, electric hover, petrol hover, electric a petrol push, self driving ones. It would take ages, was very hard work and they soon wore out. Then I spotted a used ride-on with a 'for sale' at the side of the road and bought it, it was too big and knocking on a bit, but I ran it for a decade, then bought the Lawnflite which is a bit smaller, selling my old one to a fishing club for around their lake. Both suffer from the choking grass duct problem. Even stopping two or three times to poke the duct clear, I can fly round with ease in 30 minutes on it and it uses less fuel than a push mower because its so much quicker. Its fun now, rather than a major chore.
I have similar issues with my machine (Mountfield 1436 Hydrostatic) which seems very similar to Harrys.
Unless the grass is really dry, I clog up all the time and I have to unhitch the box and get in there with an aluminium crook - 4’ long, 10mm dia so I get covered
If I do a half cut things are better.
Two customers like their grass collected, two others don’t so Im stuck with it!
I fitted two scalp wheels to the front of the deck which helps when Im on a slope.
Unfortunately the deck has severe corrosion now but they are available new. Its on the original battery (somehow) but it gets an hours trickle charge every morning.
The Briggs s.v. motor goes well and gets an oil change twice during the cutting season.
John
Unless the grass is really dry, I clog up all the time and I have to unhitch the box and get in there with an aluminium crook - 4’ long, 10mm dia so I get covered
If I do a half cut things are better.
Two customers like their grass collected, two others don’t so Im stuck with it!
I fitted two scalp wheels to the front of the deck which helps when Im on a slope.
Unfortunately the deck has severe corrosion now but they are available new. Its on the original battery (somehow) but it gets an hours trickle charge every morning.
The Briggs s.v. motor goes well and gets an oil change twice during the cutting season.
John
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Unless the grass is really dry, I clog up all the time and I have to unhitch the box and get in there with an aluminium crook - 4’ long, 10mm dia so I get covered
Mine had the anti-scalp wheels already. My grass is never, ever dry - its clay a few inches down and holds the water. If its a wet winter, it turns to mud, despite my attempts to add drainage. Last winter was exceptionally dry. I would like to be able to collect it, but taking the bag on and off so many times to clear the choke, makes it too much like hard work, so I just let it blow it out the back. Trouble is, it goes everywhere and I end up covered if its at all breezy. I tried simply removing the duct, which stops it choking, but then the cuttings end up blown all over the undersides, on the drive belts causing them to slip.
As said I might try making up a side cutting eject duct, or I could simply blank off the cutting deck where it is blown out to go through the duct. At the moment I carry a long stick, to clear the duct out.
A possible answer to our problems could be to fit blades that have a higher turned up lip to the trailing edge - to increase the air speed of the grass going up the chute......a bit far fetched I know and there would be a balancing issue too.
Obstacles like bolts or whatever poking into the chute certainly make the problem worse.
My machine (2002) doesn't like mulching particularly but an escape from the side of the deck would cure that.
John
Obstacles like bolts or whatever poking into the chute certainly make the problem worse.
My machine (2002) doesn't like mulching particularly but an escape from the side of the deck would cure that.
John
Would it discharge through the side if the contra rotating blades are directing the airflow into the centre though?
Well mine does blow it out from the side lip anyway, sort of - it just needs some metal work made up, to divert it out of the side. It has an open section in the rear edge of the lip. It probably just needs some tin bashed to form a duct to make it exit out the side. My other idea was to simply plate the exit over, so the cut grass is blown out all around the deck, but I fancy that might really choke the cutter up even more.
The present duct, which channels it up from the deck, over the back axle and into the bag, is plastic. It is only fixed at the very back by the exit to the bag and rests on the deck, so it can rise and fall with the deck.
Yeah they usually blow out the side cos they cant get rid grass of fast enough through the inadequate central chute.
Depending when yours was made, the revs were reduced by manufacturers to comply with eu regs so cranking them up to safe limit may help Also as I expect youve found that going in too high a gear in relation to engine speed aids blocking and a reason why I use my machinery reving on the max
Depending when yours was made, the revs were reduced by manufacturers to comply with eu regs so cranking them up to safe limit may help Also as I expect youve found that going in too high a gear in relation to engine speed aids blocking and a reason why I use my machinery reving on the max
I worked it out to around a 2004 model. It doesn't have 'gears', like my old one, just forward/reverse, PTO control, deck height, choke, accelerator, brake and throttle.
My old one, raised the entire deck up ad down. This one just raise the back end, front end just pivots.
I actually bought an electronic contactless tacho, to check the engine speed, because the deck was stalling so much, but couldn't find an easy way to get a reading from it. That, before I realised it was the PTO clutch slipping, rather than the engine RPM too low.
My old one, raised the entire deck up ad down. This one just raise the back end, front end just pivots.
I actually bought an electronic contactless tacho, to check the engine speed, because the deck was stalling so much, but couldn't find an easy way to get a reading from it. That, before I realised it was the PTO clutch slipping, rather than the engine RPM too low.
I have had a proper look and doing that would be more difficult than I thought. The exit from the deck, has a heavy steel short bit of duct on it, which rises up at 45 deg, to meet up with the rest of the plastic duct.
Hi,
Coil has arrived & when checking it using the multimeter my old coil / new coil has quite different readings.
Ive now put it back together & started second pull.
I can now kill the engine using the switch each time so 310 well spent.
On tick over i see the blades moving against each other,not fast but definately moving.
How does the clutch ive just fitted actually work then ?
Now getting it warm & going to set the H & L screws.
Thanks
Coil has arrived & when checking it using the multimeter my old coil / new coil has quite different readings.
Ive now put it back together & started second pull.
I can now kill the engine using the switch each time so 310 well spent.
On tick over i see the blades moving against each other,not fast but definately moving.
How does the clutch ive just fitted actually work then ?
Now getting it warm & going to set the H & L screws.
Thanks
Reduce the tickover speed so that the centrifugal clutch disengages completely and the blades will stop.
John
John
Ideally, have the tickover as high as possible but with the blades still......sometimes not as easy as it sounds but use the spring loaded screw to adjust the tickover whilst juggling with the L screw until you get what you need.
Your pattern clutch shoes may not make this easy.....if they are slightly bigger diameter than original then they will tend to grip the clutch drum prematurely.
John
Your pattern clutch shoes may not make this easy.....if they are slightly bigger diameter than original then they will tend to grip the clutch drum prematurely.
John
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