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Ride On Mower Repair


Onoff

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Got given a Westwood T1200 in need of repair a while back.

 

Sorted the grass collection flail system ages ago with some 1" (not 25mm) box section I had from a clothes display rack I scored somewhere.

 

Had my son fit the starter motor gear set the other day. So that's the electric start back running once we sort the charging circuit so his next project is to sort the pcb:

 

SAM_5768.jpg

 

One duff fuse before the diode and a broken pin after seems the issue. £20 of components from CPC on their way He'll take the board back to bare bones, replace the fuse holders and fuses, LEDs with new value resistors to suit etc, then make good all the joints.

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Do those Westwoods have Briggs & Stratton engines? I have a Toro with a B&S that gave me problems starting until I learned how the decompressor worked. On some/most B&S there is a extra movable cam lobe that opens the exhaust valve at low rpm to make it easier to turn over. If the valve clearances are slightly out this cam doesn't work and the starter struggles to turn it over. Looks like the starter or battery is failing but it's really the valve clearance.

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3 minutes ago, Temp said:

Do those Westwoods have Briggs & Stratton engines? I have a Toro with a B&S that gave me problems starting until I learned how the decompressor worked. On some/most B&S there is a extra movable cam lobe that opens the exhaust valve at low rpm to make it easier to turn over. If the valve clearances are slightly out this cam doesn't work and the starter struggles to turn it over. Looks like the starter or battery is failing but it's really the valve clearance.

 

Yep, B&S engine. Starts like a dream either off a separate jump start pack or the pull cord. Got the battery up to 12V from nothing with 4 Batt Aid tablets in each. Have to see if it holds it's charge. Worst case I rig a solar panel to charge the battery. 

 

Alternator 1 feeds in on the red via pin 6, thru the fuse and out on pin 7 via the pink, fuse blown and pin 7 broken as in the photo above. Not quite my schematic but close enough:

 

bs.JPG.f8ed180656e2bb01cb3d38ba6b28831a.JPG

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I think my wiring is similar. All it really needs is a kill switch to short out the coil but there are numerous relays and switches for "safety" reasons (eg to stop you starting the engine unless the brake is on, the cutter is off and someone is sitting in the seat).

 

If you ever decide to replace the battery beware that Halfords sells two mower batteries that are identical except the +ve and -ve are swapped over.

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6 hours ago, Temp said:

I think my wiring is similar. All it really needs is a kill switch to short out the coil but there are numerous relays and switches for "safety" reasons (eg to stop you starting the engine unless the brake is on, the cutter is off and someone is sitting in the seat).

 

If you ever decide to replace the battery beware that Halfords sells two mower batteries that are identical except the +ve and -ve are swapped over.

 

Ta. Old battery though showing 12V after a charge has no real life so new battery time I think. Pic of the beast in question:

 

SAM_5771.thumb.JPG.6d6fae1dd4099ce6c643fb39066f0914.JPG

 

Been out playing with the mechanics of it today. Only started on it yesterday as the wife had been using it and said it was hard to get in gear. Took the blades off and sharpened them and tack welded one of the little blade ends back on that was loose.

 

For some reason the belt wants to jump off the rear pulley atop the gearbox all the time. Was just happening in reverse but now more often when trying to pull away in gear. I fitted an M12 bolt to try and stop it but it still does it. Amazed how as the shank is pretty much touching the pulley without impeding it. I'm pointing here to nyloc nut on the bolt I added:

 

SAM_5772.thumb.JPG.adbf7f20e831c9eb727d0a514d439782.JPG

 

And from the underside. You can see where the belt is sitting underneath having come off. Quite how it jumps off the pulley with the bolt there amazes me as I say. Seems more likely to happen if you let your foot off the clutch/brake quickly. Do it very slowly and it happens far less.

 

SAM_5776.thumb.JPG.3616a81a7c3fba9ef6ea90b112e4ce02.JPG

 

To get the belt back on I have to loosen that bolt every time now.

 

Garden ornament at the mo! :)

 

EDIT: That's the badger's handiwork in the background on the lawn. Every year we wake up to random patches that have bee excavated. Heard they're searching for the larvae of certain insects; leatherjackets, cockchafers etc. Not sure what other than they make a mess!

Edited by Onoff
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6 hours ago, Temp said:

Is there a lot of play in the pulley bearing? Otherwise hard to see how the belt came off.

 

No, nothing, no apparent play. The belt is actually getting a little frayed and has a chunk out of it so maybe that's catching. Getting boring now but there is really NO gap between that added bolt and the pulley. I almost want it up on a car ramp and running to see what makes it come off.

 

Seems it's part number 1688 for the belt, only about a tenner for repro ones off eBay so I'll get a couple. Westwood kindly emailed me a user manual and parts list (hence the circuit diagram above).

 

A bitch to get in gear so something's going on there. There's a rod comes off the brake/clutch pedal and attaches to the side of the gearbox. Doesn't seem to be doing a lot at the mo as in you can depress the pedal but it's not rotating the shaft going into the box. That's a starting point I think. Sod's Law it's easy to get to if you remove the o/s rear wheel.

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29 minutes ago, Triassic said:

Mine needs a new cutter deck!

 

Tell me! I also have an aged MTD ride on. That gave up the ghost due to the cutting deck pretty much having disintegrated. I was welding thin air in the end. Salvageable if I was a better welder! Another rainy day project.

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1 hour ago, Triassic said:

I'm considering buying a new cutter deck skirt and a peice of steel plate and making a whole new one. As you say, a winter project.

 

http://m.g.ebay.co.uk/itm/391443848308

 

All I need to do then is make a template and find someone locally who can plasma cut the steel plate.

 

Much simpler than the MTD decks!

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@Coopers bought an MTD from fleaBay. It kept throwing its belt, too.

 

I fiddled with it for ages before I realised it was the wrong size belt -- not the length, but the width. £12 to Bearing Boys later, and it stays on. Now all I have to do is fix the engine so it stops stalling...

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41 minutes ago, richi said:

@Coopers bought an MTD from fleaBay. It kept throwing its belt, too.

 

I fiddled with it for ages before I realised it was the wrong size belt -- not the length, but the width. £12 to Bearing Boys later, and it stays on. Now all I have to do is fix the engine so it stops stalling...

 

I remember paying silly money for MTD belts from the local agricultural cum mower "John Deere" type places. Tried finding equivalents from Bearing Services (BSL) without success. They were always just the wrong size.

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Just had to pay out £100 on my Toro :-(. Under the desk there is small pointed box of metal that deflects grass up the chute. I caught the nose of that on a kerb bending it downwards 90 degrees. It ploughed a groove across the lawn before I noticed. Was a pig to get the deck out from under the mower because with that sticking down I couldn't lower the deck. Second time it's happened, first time I was able to bash it back into shape but this time it was  impossible so had to order new. Looks easy to make but for the double curves on the front. I imagine it cost <£1 to make in China. 

 

Cheapest supplier was this place in Germany.. https://www.ersatzteil-service.de/ 

 

 

599af9b77837c_Torodeck.gif.50798718142daa24a9b5a6f2bfdeb439.gif

Edited by Temp
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5 hours ago, richi said:

I fiddled with it for ages before I realised it was the wrong size belt -- not the length, but the width. £12 to Bearing Boys later, and it stays on. Now all I have to do is fix the engine so it stops stalling...

 

I get my belts from them. Always had good service.

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As you press the "combined brake clutch control pedal" forward:

 

20170821_155646

 

This assembly coming o/of the gearbox, behind the o/s rear wheel pivots, on the bottom bolt, backwards. 

 

20170821_155811

 

Looks ideally placed to interfere with the belt, being so close to the pulley.

 

Slack belt more likely to catch I'm thinking.

Edited by Onoff
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Just now, Temp said:

Almost looks new.

 

Yep, he did alright with it! :) Replaced the broken pin 7 on the connector with the unused pin 9.  The track side's a bit worn. Tried re-tinning  some tracks but not good even with flux. Pcb would be easy enough to remake if necessary. 

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Yeah! The refurbed mower pcb works, good lad! :)

 

All LEDs seem to do what they should in response to ignition, charge, cutter engage, lights and brake. Stuck a Capri battery on it just to test (but physically too big). Best price I've found is £45 delivered for a new battery.

 

59a46053a4038_2017-08-2819_25_40.jpg.9be8cfc34780c27cf502d122489b06f1.jpg

 

Had to cut off a cranked M8 bolt in order to fit the new drive belt so I'll make a new one tomorrow out of some 9mm bar I've here. I just couldn't get any purchase on the inaccessible, original, rounded, rusted nut.

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