A tale of mow

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Variomatic?

[Tim Lamb]

Excellent tool until the combine harvester ingests a car tyre that has been flung over the roadside hedge!

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

That deck belt, looks as 'tired' as my deck belt :-)

The easy way to work on the underside, is to simply tip it over on it's side, carburettor side uppermost. Put a milk crate or similar on the far side, lift so it rests on the crate, then gradually lower it to a suitable working angle. Much easier with two, but I have managed it on my own, using the 'motorbike lift' - legs bent, mower behind you, grab hold with gloved hands, and straighten your legs. Easier to lift, with the cutting deck dropped off first.

Turned on it's side, with the carb down, the intake gets sump oil into it.

[Davey]

Not on my mower. The 'Handbrake' is a tiny piece of metal that holds the footbrake down, I would not trust it with anything important.

[Davey]

A similar effect, but done differently.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Are you sure? Mine has a tiny disc brake, next to the diff, on the rear axle. I think it comes on automatically, when the pressure of the drive belt is released, but pressing the brake applies a little more pressure.

As a brake, it is not very effective, but it doesn't really need to be.

[John Rumm]

Mine has a button to lock the break pedal "down" - that does disable the seat interlock - so it will stay running without pressure on the seat. I tended to find that it would often vibrate lose though, and release the brake.

[John Rumm]

The deck belt is actually quite new (although I partly knackered that yesterday!) - that photo shows the traction drive belt which is probably

15 years old. (when I saw that I bought a new set in anticipation expecting it to go at any moment - it is actually still hanging on)

Since doing that I bought a "lift" that does cant it over to the side - which makes it a fair bit easier.

(you need to do it without too much fuel in the tank, else it can dribble out of the breather hole in the fuel cap)

[John Rumm]

I have not noticed it - but then again was not looking for it. It seems to stop when you take you foot off the accelerator. I had noticed the official brake pedal doing anything extra though.

[Sam Plusnet]

Different enough to avoid Patent infringement I wonder?

[Sam Plusnet]

That sounds like a terrible design for an interlock. Not exactly "Fail-safe".

[Davey]

I would say very different in the mechanics. No belt of any kind, to start with.

[Andrew]

Won't that have jammed up the header or drums and straw walkers long before it reaches the chopper though ?.

There is an interesting YouTube site called ZK MasterTech (USA) made by a John Deere dealership. One of their repairs was a JD combine that had ingested something unforgiving.

[Tim Lamb]

Yes. Generally. I had one roadside field that had to be walked prior to harvest each year.

The slatted elevator carrying crop to the drum was the usual stop point. Friction drive/slipping clutch protect most bits on the front of a combine. The chopper is a set of fixed blades with a second set on a rotating shaft. Bad news to back into a hedge!

[John Rumm]

I doubt there is still a patent active on the variomatic system. DAF were using that more than 40 years ago...

[Sam Plusnet]

But was there an active patent when earliest incarnation of the ride-on mower under discussion was first designed?