Two days to sort the tractor /mower out

[HarryM1BYT]

I have been waiting for the grass and ground on the 'lawn' to dry out enough to be able to get my little USA made tractor on it, to mow it. I managed once, a few weeks ago. Last week we were away in the caravan during the mini-heatwave, so this week it should have been good and dry for cutting - except....

The tractor has given the odd bit of trouble for a few years. Engine not cranking over, the drive failing if you set it for the higher speeds. This week I couldn't even get the ignition circuit to come on, so time for some serious looking at the electrics and this week the garden is flooded again anyway.

I managed to download the circuit for it, but its a US diagram, rather poor quality and maybe drawn by an amateur, so not really much help. The tractor has a mass of safety interlocks, to prevent you cranking it over and to kill the engine under certain circumstances.

These things are very difficult to work on, especially if you are not familiar with them, not least because of the difficulty of raising them high enough to get to the underside. I struggled to winch the rear end up from a beam in the garage and jacked the from up to put it on crates, but amid the dirt and grass I just couldn't find any of the interlocks or the wiring. So took it back out to turn it on its side, to give it a good pressure washing, followed by a day outside to dry off, before trying again in the garage.

The cause I was then able to quickly find - The wiring to the cutter deck interlock had corroded, close to the switch. Both the starter solenoid circuit and the ignition pass through this, so it was killing both. A bit of crimping and soldering and that was sorted.

A side effect of the clean down and a bit of lubrication was that the drive now works at full speed. It must have been choked up with grass cuttings. It uses a variable ratio pulley system, maximum gear limited by a 7 speed and park lever. I can now race around the garden at 20mph rather than the drive failing every time I set it for the higher speeds.

I've had it around ten years, but after flooding the air filter with sump oil a few times trying to work on it, I only recently learned that it should always be tilted over so the carb and filter is on the high side. It is really not easy struggling to heave it over onto its side to work on it.

I just need to fix the headlight circuit now, which seems to be another plug and socket which has suffered corrosion.

Other than that, it has been a bargain. When its fully working, it flies round the garden and all done in sub-20 minutes. We went through hover mower after hover mower, after push mower and self powered mower - it would take half a day to do it all and cost much more in fuel before it was finished than the little tractor and riding around beats pushing or following a mower every time.

[Lancpudn]

MY RIDE ON MOWERS A PRETTY SIMPLE AFFAIR

[TR75]

We've just bought a 1988 Westwood to haul things around our land and cut the grass (when the weather is good enough). Starts on the button and apart from a little smoke for the first 30 seconds it runs faultlessly.

Like all other things mechanical though, they all require tweeking and tinkering over the years. It's quite amazing how sometimes the slight turn of a screw can cure the biggest headaches.

Good luck with your fault finding, Harry.

[MSS]

Originally Posted by Lancpudn

MY RIDE ON MOWERS A PRETTY SIMPLE AFFAIR

The sheep looks a little apprehensive about what happens next.

Originally Posted by TR75

We've just bought a 1988 Westwood to haul things around our land and cut the grass (when the weather is good enough). Starts on the button and apart from a little smoke for the first 30 seconds it runs faultlessly.

Like all other things mechanical though, they all require tweeking and tinkering over the years. It's quite amazing how sometimes the slight turn of a screw can cure the biggest headaches.

Good luck with your fault finding, Harry.

I've had a Westwood from new - purchased in 1995.

It's a properly engineered machine for the British weather.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by mss

The sheep looks a little apprehensive about what happens next.



I've had a Westwood from new - purchased in 1995.

It's a properly engineered machine for the British weather.

My MTD isn't designed for the British weather. I struggled for years with the grass collection duct, which feeds into the rear mounted collector, choking up with the too moist cuttings, before finally giving up on it. It would build up until it jammed the fan. I removed the duct entirely and now just let it mulch.

Too be fair, we have a very boggy garden whenever it has rained. There is clay just a few inches down, which holds the water.