riding lawnmower burning up

[cody93]

ok, heres the story, i was given an old craftsman riding mower for helping a neighbor clean out his back yard. after towing it home i began working on it, after going through the carb and replacing fuel lines it was running, but the deck was broken, one the pulley shaft housings had broke causing the belt to not grip the pullies, ok, replaced that, another 45$. works good for a couple of hours then gave it to my neighbor to use while i fix hers(engine has a bent rod)

about an hour later, i see her running up to me say theres smoke underneth it, first i think its a stuck branch, then i tell her to start it up. and crap, its comming from the PTO clutch that drives the deck.. ok, mower will still mow, the electric magnet works, does not smoke when the engine is not running or no current aplied with the engine running so its not electrical.. mower still cuts but just smokes and smells bad, not gona run it untill im sure i know what to do. first i thought it was the clutch slipping so i tighted the 3 bolts on it till there was a .012 gap like it said it should have. worked better, no smoke, untill today..

question is, do i need to reajust or could a missaligned deck/pully do it? or a stuck blade?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Electric PTO clutch?

We just replaced one that died on a zero turn mower, there were no reports of smoke or smell but it is mounted on the very rear of the mower... judging by the looks of the thing it almost looks like there could have been a fire in there. There probably wasn't but it is all burnt and charred looking.

If it isn't taking it out on the belt (misaligned or stuck pulley) I would pick on the clutch.

 

[cody93]

electically speaking, the clutch is fine, it will engage and keep it engaged, with the mower engine off, it will engage and stay engaged forever untill the battery dies. im thinking that something is caught in the mower deck, cause it to not spin freely, thus making the clutch slip. if i have to replace the clutch unit on this thing, i'll just go back to push mowing.. guess ima drive it back home and take the deck off..

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You should slip the belt before you slip the clutch. I have seen belts nearly burned in half from something stuck on the deck, clutch didn't care.

Just like with a mechanical clutch, just because the pedal moves doesn't mean the clutch is going to hold.

 

[martin]

It sounds like you have a bad bearing somewhere in the deck. It should turn fairly easily engine off, pto off.

 

[dieseldane]

If it does turn out to be the clutch, I might have one that's I'd send you if you paid the shipping.

I don't need it anymore, as the mower is now used for this:

That's me there in the middle shoving everyone else around.

EDIT: What motor do you have? I don't know if it matters, but the one I have is a Kohler V-twin.

 

[Longview]

That's me there in the middle shoving everyone else around.

What exactly are you doing?

 

[doorgunner]

It's obvious.......dirt track/somebody spun out at high speed/your trying to get to the front of the pack to win the $10,000 prize!

 

[Jim Oaks]

There's a track near me where they do the whole lawn tractor pull thing with a mini sled.

As far as the smoke, have you looked at the other pulley's under there? I just had to replace (2) of mine that were plastic and had started melting from the belt sliding over them while the pulley was sticking.

 

[cody93]

i'm gona take the deck off today, the engine is a single cylinder briggs, i drove it home in the rain last night so i didn't get a chance to look at it very well. its fun when you dont have a trailer and your mower is over a mile away..

 

[87rangerxlt]

did you make sure the idler pully on the deck is not set up? they are made so cheap.

 

[dieseldane]

What exactly are you doing?

Lawnmower demolition derby!

For all the broke suckers who can't afford to spend the money to derby cars anymore. It's gaining popularity in my part of the country. I've got about $40 into the whole mower build, including the mower, and most of that was for a new innertube and spraypaint. Me and a couple of my buddies pretty much dominate around here, and taking home prizes of $300 isn't uncommon and there are rumored to be a few derbies coming up where first will getcha $1000!

 

[cody93]

ok, deck is off, and problem was found, idler pully shat itself.. i can see ball bering fragments inside of it.. and the belt was all chewed up cause of the seized pully.. about 75 for a belt and pully its ok, only invested 50 for it, i got it for free fore helping a neighbor clean his yard out. well, i'll know what i need to do now..

 

[dieseldane]

well, i'll know what i need to do now..

Make a derby mower?

 

[cody93]

the mower would probly end up being my DD if my ranger blows up...