The Daily Yardman Thread

[BlazNT]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

I have some large mowing contracts so it is not too big. The mower is 10' long with out the deck and 13' 6' or so with deck on. It runs 10 MPH and can really cut some grass. I do not know how well the snow broom works because the only snow we have had in the 2 years I owned it melted off in less than 24 hours. I am seriously thinking of selling it and getting a Spartin Mower. https://spartanmowers.com/ The original makers of BadBoy mowers started this new mower and it is a beast.

 

[Roger B]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

Well since this is such an open thread I thought I would share a real story about a lawn mower repair gone wrong than right.
Purchased a John Deere F925 with a Yanmar diesel. Has a 72" deck and a 52" Snow broom. The only issue was the PTO would not work. It started and ran no problem. I start working on the PTO and through weeks of testing and trouble shooting the over-engineered machine, I found the solenoid not working. Found the price was around $300.00. No way am I spending that much money on that part. I kept looking and found out the only thing the solenoid did was move a lever that pushed a switch for the PTO. I disconnected the switch and wired in a toggle switch so I could turn it on and off. The year before mine had this setup so off I went. Test mowed and loved it. Parked it for the night. Next morning will not turn over. The battery is dead. Charge battery and back in business. Next day same thing. and so on. I connected my trickle charger to it every night. Then one night when I parked it in the garage, I went into the garage with lights off and saw a red light on. It was the Glow Plug light. I could not figure out why that night so I decided to worry about it later. Having another mower I put it on the back burner. I figured out if I removed the light bulb after a few days it would move to the next light in the cluster. IT was driving me crazy. After I removed all the lights then a relay starting buzzing. and whenever I turn the key to run it would blow the glow plug fuse. Well at that point I quit messing with the mower. Next, I found power coming into the fuse from the both sides. Every once in a while I would look at it and try to find what was wrong. This went on for a year. Using every excuse in the book to not fix it. Well, the wife and new child we adopted went on vacation and left me home alone. I am going to be 68 when my new little boy graduates high school. That is a whole different story for some other time. I decided I was going to fix that dammmmm thing this week while I have the freedom. and lo and behold I did it. I had to open up the wiring harness to chase down all the wires. But I finally found the wire touching ground. I did not start her yet just bumped the starter to see if she would turn over. I will check all the levels this weekend and start her up and get her out of my garage spot. That will be nice to have that back. Here she is in all here glory.
View attachment 32693

Chuck,

GREAT STORY!!! And I thought you said you just hung around and didn't have much to say!! I have found (repeatedly) that the electrical systems on these rather simple machines is often the most difficult part to figure out! And I spent ten years working on electronics in the Navy and 40 years working as a Master electrician! I can easily see it taking you such a long time to locate a ground.. And you did it the only practical way that you can! Take every wiring harness apart and trace out each and every wire. I am still faced with a ground in the electrical system on the JD GS-25. I can make it run by removing a certain relay and electrically, (via the schematic) I have identified three possible sources of ground, depending on which component has failed, I just haven't gotten around to coming up with a method of ID-ing the exact cause of the fault...Yet!!

As an aside, I have friends who had their two boys late in life and were approaching the age you mentioned by the time their youngest graduated H.S... I thought they were nuts to tie themselves to the needs of young children for so long in their later years, but I will say I believe it made them better parents. Their youngest is now in electronics in the Navy (unfortunately, not the submarine service) but now they are free and often come and stay with us for a week or two here in Maine or where ever we happen to be in the winter. That has been enjoyable.

My daughter and her husband adopted a little girl from Russia ten years ago. She's now twelve and has been an interesting addition to the family. I hope your new son brings joy to you and your family..

Roger

 

[Roger B]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

I am seriously thinking of selling it and getting a Spartin Mower. https://spartanmowers.com/ The original makers of BadBoy mowers started this new mower and it is a beast.

Chuck,

My step-son has a landscaping business and he will only buy Walker mowers. http://www.walker.com/?gclid=CL3kraiewtQCFUMdaQodOmQEwg

Over the years he's tried a number of different mowers, but has been loyal to Walkers for quite a while now. The JD GS-25 was one of his first mowers from way back. He's supposed to come over here today. He's bringing one of his landscape trailers as the lift gate has a crack in it and we're going to weld it up.

Roger

 

[Boobala]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

Just out of bein NOSEY, ..I decided to visit Roger's John Deere thread , That's where he asked for help with his JD GS-25 . Well, ONE ( 1 ) member offered up ! Not very friendly over there ,... I sure am glad I'm in with a group of GREAT FANTASTIC guys ..Roger, Tom, Chuck, Trev, James, and the "holdout" = "CLYDE " , YEAH you ...primerbulb..
I think you are the best guys a fella could have for compadres !! I enjoy visiting the site and seeing all the
comments being made, and having a good time while also trying to help other folks visiting the site seeking help with an issue... This sure is a GREAT ride and I hope it continues for an indefinite period, may God bless each
and every one of you ( you too primerbulb ) ( LOL ) ..:cool2:..:banana:..:laughing:..:thumbsup:

 

[Roger B]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

Good morning everyone

I finally made it through the gate. I first thought Boo locked me out for being AWAL. That was a fine piece of work Rog and thanks for the pictures they were great. Now what is the next challenge.

NoBaMa,

Welcome back buddy! I thought you'd flown the coop! I was afraid you were put-off by my calling you "Boo-Boo".. I wouldn't have blamed you, but I did feel bad.. I'm glad you're back..

Have you ever dropped down to Southern Alabama to Mobile to see Battleship Park and the USS Drum? The Drum is the oldest US submarine on display. I visited her back in 2004 when we were touring the whole country in our 23' tow-behind trailer.. She's in pretty good shape as they have her hauled out.

Roger

 

[Roger B]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

Just out of bein NOSEY, ..I decided to visit Roger's John Deere thread , That's where he asked for help with his JD GS-25 . Well, ONE ( 1 ) member offered up ! Not very friendly over there ,... I sure am glad I'm in with a group of GREAT FANTASTIC guys ..Roger, Tom, Chuck, Trev, James, and the "holdout" = "CLYDE " , YEAH you ...primerbulb..
I think you are the best guys a fella could have for compadres !! I enjoy visiting the site and seeing all the
comments being made, and having a good time while also trying to help other folks visiting the site seeking help with an issue... This sure is a GREAT ride and I hope it continues for an indefinite period, may God bless each
and every one of you ( you too primerbulb ) ( LOL ) ..:cool2:..:banana:..:laughing:..:thumbsup:

Geez Boo, you're gittin' all mushy and stuff.. You in touch with yer feminine side this mornin' , or what?

Rog

 

[Roger B]

Re: Kevlar Belts

Kevlar belts will outlast a standard belt running in good conditions by orders of magnitude.
However they will break, split etc just as fast when missaligned twisted or subjected to cutting .
Kevlar has a very high tensile strength but the rubber used to fill the belts is the same.
Thus for instance a std belt on an electric PTO will have a very short life and generally snap.
I use mainly Stens belts in standard inch lengths.
Kevlar belt will handle being a couple of inches too small a std belt won't.

The problem is the size of the cords in the belt and where they are.
Most std belts have the cords right at the back, just under the cover where as mower belts have the belts much deeper in the belt so they can bend backwards.

Bert-Man,

Thanks as always for the 'straight-skinny' on Kevlar belts. We can always trust in you for gen-u-wine information.. I took the Predator engine off the newest Troy-Bilt yesterday so I could installed two of the new Kevlar belts. I did notice that the one original Troy-Bilt belt that I did have (P/N GW-9245) was quite a bit 'deeper' than either the aftermarket belts that I found on the older machine, or the two new Kevlar belts. After I had it back together, it took a bit of adjusting to get the tension correct, but now seems to work great. I went out and roto-tilled my old hen yard as it the only piece of land we have here that isn't mostly rocks! Do you have Troy-Bilts 'down under'? Rugged made machines, but I'd like to think they could be a little more user-friendly for anyone to work on. They are easy to repower!

Roger

 

[Roger B]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

Boo you name should be called Sherlock for you have solved the mystery

James S

James!!!

I had an eccentric uncle when I was a kid and he had a cat named "Jimmy-James".. It was a yellow stripped cat. Then there's Jimmy Dean!! And Jimmy Carter - (who I am ashamed to admit 'was' a submarine sailor!) However, he was a 'Nuke' submarine sailor and knowing that and knowing him, should give you some understanding of why I got out of the Navy when they were going to send me to 'Nukes'!! That is not to say that 'all' nukes are a bunch of pussies, I have actually met a number of 'Nukes' who would have made great diesel boat sailors and I am proud to call them my brothers, but Jimmy Carter?? . . . Not so much... he was a hell of a peanut farmer... Nuf said...

Roger B

 

[Boobala]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

Geez Boo, you're gittin' all mushy and stuff.. You in touch with yer feminine side this mornin' , or what?

Rog

FEMININE SIDE !! ?? Better watch that language !! I would ALMOST consider kickin your &@%$ up into your
watch-pocket ... WELL not THAT severe, but I put in a word with the genie that she should turn the hairs
on your arse into barbed wire !! ..( LOL ) Nah it's just that I can't believe comparin this thread to your JD thread
the difference in the response, our "gang" makes all the difference !! Did YOU ...ever expect all this when you made your first post about the Yard-Man and the carb. ??? ...........:thumbsup:

 

[NorthBama]

Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild

OHHhh ....... Like in , King James (version of the Bible) ... Like James (Jimmy) DooLittle , ( led the infamous one way
bombing raid on Tokyo ) ... like in , Jimmy Hoffa ... ( who still won't return phone calls to his office )..JIMiny Cricket
(Hung out with that Pinocchio kid ) and down in MargaritaVille Jimmy Buffett ( where EVERYBODY gets wasted ) Of course there are so many more GREAT ..James , Jimmy's , Jimbo , But now I can sleep again ... I dreaded a guy named Sue !!! ( LOL ) ..:laughing:
Hmmm I think I got close at one time ... James Lewcious ! ( YOU put dat weeelbarrowww DOWN !! ..YOU know very well , ..you don't know nuthin bout sheenereee..!!!

Boo you make me laugh. Almost choked on my oatmeal this morning.