Sticky Clutch on Brush Hog

[smokypeete]

Hi Guys,

I have run out of hair to pull so I thought I would ask here for some advice.

Recently I purchased a very used, best guess, Billy goat BC2401H brush hog. After fixing the engine so that it runs, I noticed that the blade does not easily engage, the following is the behavior.

1. Turn the motor on.
2. Depress the leaver to engage the mowing deck, blade pulley does not spin
3. Nudge the blade pulley while the motor is running, blade begins to spin
4. Let go of the clutch leaver, blade continues spinning

I then tried to isolate the problem and remove the mowing deck belt, and solely looked at the mowing clutch attached to the main motor shaft. The same behavior as above was observed. The clutch would not engage when the cable linkage was depressed.

I then thought it was the cable linkage, so I started pulling on the clutch leaver manually. What i am noticing is that it is very easy to pull, it offers almost no resistance and the same behavior as above is noticed. The replacement part is here. But before I got out and spend $300 on a new clutch, I want to make sure I am not missing anything.

What do you guys think, I can post pictures of the assembly as well if that would help.

 

[smokypeete]

Ok, so I think I may have figured out the problem. The clutch has a little bolt protruding out of the assembly which mates to the mower frame and keeps the clutch from slipping. After pulling the engine and removing the clutch, I noticed that the nut had slipped up the bolt, despite the shake proof washer, and was about ready to pop off the head of the bolt. This caused the bolt to recess into the clutch and not mate to the frame, causing the clutch to slip.

Grabbing the bolt with a set of vicegrips and spinning the nut back on, seems to keep the clutch captive just fine.

Hope this helps someone else!