Losing Hardware
 

So I'll start off by saying I still love my Cub. This summer has been hard on me and the Cub. I feel like she is just falling apart. I like to take care of my equipment and have done what I feel is the right maintenance. Greasing all zerks, changing oil, running pure gas with a little Marvel in it, overhauling the carb, new air filter, new Hyrdro fluid, and more. I mow/operate at a pretty low speed when working in/on the yard. I know running her fast over rough terrain is going to strain things. I have a lot of roots towards the edges of my yard. I have to traverse those at a snails pace. Again, I understand if you push equipment beyond its limits it will fail. I don't feel that I am doing that.

My main complaint is the tractor seems to be shedding all kinds of nuts and bolts left and right. I contribute this to vibrations. The engine is running fine and has all its power. I replaced the ISO motor mounts this spring with OEM new ones - all 8 of them. I thought that helped get rid of some vibrations, but I still seem to be suffering from a machine wanting to shake itself to pieces. I have not replaced the flex disc couplings. I have inspected the hardware on them and they seem to be fine, but since they are assumed to be original replacing them should help. Should I go to solid motor mounts too?

She has rattled loose the muffler twice resulting in fatigue cracking a repair done by the prior owner to a point of no return. So I replaced a muffler - those are spendy. Now my aluminum muffler shroud is all cracked up and the muffler elbow keeps coming loose. I am going to make a muffler prop to help. Replacing the aluminum shroud is a lot of money, so I am going to try TIG welding them back together at work when I get a chance. All of the tin shrouding nuts/bolts seem to want to rattle off even with lock washers and blue loctite. The loctite may not be setting fully before I operate it - so I will take some blame there.

I can't seem to keep the hood in proper adjustment and put in new hinge pins after one broke in half. I replaced them as a set. I added some automotive weather stripping around the instrument cluster where the end of the hood rests to take out some vibration/rattle. That was a great help and looks factory. The hood came loose Saturday and I was back to looking like Jed Clampett while I aerated my lawn for the final time of the year.

So, what have you guys experienced here? Anyone losing their minds over losing hardware? :bash:

Sounds like you are running a quietline. There are those here that are experts on dampening the vibrations. My guess is your motor mounts and possibly the driveline itself are the culprits. Also, what hp engine do you have--I believe I have read some of the larger engines never ran as vibration free as the smaller ones. Long story short, your hardware should stay put. Some experts will be along shortly. Post your Cadet model and engine size for them.

Thanks John. I have the rare (at least on here) 680 model with the cast iron 12hp Kohler K301 motor. I have done the mounts. I am suspecting flex disc couplings. The 680 is based on the 82 series.

I have a 1211 which is the same as your 680, I put solid engine mounts in it and I haven't had any issue with bolts loosening and breaking. I would remove the driveshaft and inspect the ends and the centering bushings, if the shaft is worn or the centering bushing has fallen out it will cause the shaft to run out of round which will cause all sorts of vibration. The flex disks just couple the parts together, they don't hold them centered.

Thanks Olds! I will take the drive-line apart and inspect. I am taking the mower deck off in preparation for the coming white stuff; so I'll be able to get a good line of sight on things.

So at the very least my self-aligning bearings are shot:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...113fedc8_b.jpg

I will be darned if I can't get the coupling to free itself from the input shaft to the hydro trans. Any thoughts? I gave it a good charge of PB blaster and am calling it quits for tonight. I read in the service manual it should slide rear enough to take out the drive shaft, but it didn't work for me. Does it come off by tapping it forward towards the motor?


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4550/...3a36f874_z.jpg

I assume you removed the pin? You might need to remove the engine mounting bolts and slide the engine forward enough to get the shaft out of the way, once the shafts out of the way you can use a puller to get the adapter off.

Yes, I drove the spriral pin out. I will take out the engine mounting bolts tomorrow and have at it. Thanks for the good help. :beerchug:

FWIW, I'm in the middle of rebuilding the driveline in a 782. Bearings at each end shot, shaft damaged on each end, rag joints egg shaped. At least your pump coupler is tight, I've got to bore mine out and bush it back to standard.

I'm also going to throw this fact in. And anyone whom disagrees does not belong on a garden tractor. Those heavy wheel weights COULD have really loosened up driveline components. A heavy amount of wheel weight can be hard on things after a while, and not using common sense. Just saying. This is for you, and not open for disagreement.

:IH Trusted Hand: