BBT's ... #5.

[ebinmaine 67,553]

@AHS contacted me a few weeks ago about this little short frame 8 HP he was thinking about selling. 

I figured it was a great addition to the Herd for Trina.  

It's her go-to year. 1967. Her go-to engine. Kohler 8.  

It has excellent straight sheet metal. Good bones, as they say. 

🙂

 

So here's the newest for her... 857.  

 

 

[JCM 9,174]

Nice. Send it to Pete for a rub down and lube job 

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,318]

Looks complete and not all molested! 
  Was going to ask if it runs but I see the fuel tank on the ground 

[WHGuy413 2,690]

That will make a great tractor for her. Aiden loves his 856.

[Pullstart 62,905]

Nice!  Jada loves her 857 too, with a fender pan or springer seat!

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,553]

7 hours ago, JCM said:

Nice. Send it to Pete for a rub down and lube job 

@peter lena we're calling your name bud!

 

😂

 

7 hours ago, Sparky said:

Looks complete and not all molested! 
  Was going to ask if it runs but I see the fuel tank on the ground 

 

It's very straight Mike. A nice overall start for whatever Trina decides to do with it.  

That fuel tank being out of the tractor is because @AHS had it soaking to clean it out. 

We'll pop that in and give the whole rig a once-over twice, then see about firing up.  

 

Not sure what we'll do with the mowing deck yet considering we don't mow with a tractor but Trina is VERY impressed that there's still a decal on it after all these years.  

[peter lena 8,632]

@JCM  no problem , that first recovery  effect on a  long forgotten horse , is quite interesting ,  it just quietly responds , done it  many times , imagine putting  lubricant on solid rust ?  replacing a broken shorted wire  ?  greasing a fitting ?  that penetrating oil spray down  must feel very good to it .  imagine  a trans oil drain after a  heat up drive ?  this is all  part of it , its never a one  and done .  but I  know it works , oily pete

[AHS 1,440]

6 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

@peter lena we're calling your name bud!

 

😂

 

 

It's very straight Mike. A nice overall start for whatever Trina decides to do with it.  

That fuel tank being out of the tractor is because @AHS had it soaking to clean it out. 

We'll pop that in and give the whole rig a once-over twice, then see about firing up.  

 

Not sure what we'll do with the mowing deck yet considering we don't mow with a tractor but Trina is VERY impressed that there's still a decal on it after all these years.  

The shaft drive on the mower deck is very odd yet interesting!! The decals are very well preserved… yet being 55 years old!!

 

[Handy Don 12,233]

28 minutes ago, AHS said:

The shaft drive on the mower deck is very odd yet interesting!! The decals are very well preserved… yet being 55 years old!!

 

Some very sharp pencils designed that mower deck. ALL the bearings it uses are still readily, for example. The only real deficiency I’ve uncovered is that there is no easy way to adjust for wear on the face gears on the cross shaft (I have done it using shims, but ya gotta do a lot of disassembly to get there).

I’d love to upgrade mine to a mulcher, but I’ve not yet found a set of blades with both a clockwise and a counter-clockwise blade. I’m considering modifying a spare set with add-on bits as an experiment.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Handy Don

[lynnmor 7,307]

28 minutes ago, AHS said:

The shaft drive on the mower deck is very odd yet interesting!! The decals are very well preserved… yet being 55 years old!!

 

The early years had the gear driven mowers but they learned that they were more trouble than they were worth.  A belt can be replaced in minutes and it is new again.

[Treepep 564]

16 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Some very sharp pencils designed that mower deck. ALL the bearings it uses are still readily, for example. The only real deficiency I’ve uncovered is that there is no easy way to adjust for wear on the face gears on the cross shaft (I have done it using shims, but ya gotta do a lot of disassembly to get there).

I’d love to upgrade mine to a mulcher, but I’ve not yet found a set of blades with both a clockwise and a counter-clockwise blade. I’m considering modifying a spare set with add-on bits as an experiment.

Idk if it could work but the blades on my twenty some year old LT-155 have blades that  both turn clockwise and a counter-clockwise.  I know because I took therm both off not thinking to sharpen and put back backwards.  Took longer than I care to admit to figure that out.  Kind of worked but mostly just beating up the grass.  

[peter lena 8,632]

@Handy Don  think if I  were involved on the deck , would not hesitate to update it yet retain the look . had one as part of a swap , but it was so far gone , it just was not worth it . having said that , think a  hi temp grease in those bearings and  open gear set up , would make  a big difference . my experience  with any  belt driven unit  , is  COLLECTIVE DRAG , from every bearing , linkage / lever point ,  pto drive . the free up  that I  have found is  really not that hard to do . from pto lever start , to every driven bearing , if you are replacing bearings anyway , thats your opportunity , to clean out and re grease every one  of them , 650 deg  hi temp grease , is the  answer , no whining / noise /  effort / drag . regularly use my pto lever , just to  engage / use it , silent / smooth , thats how it sounds driving my decks . its an automatic go to , for any bearing , drag issue , the difference is  effortless,  pete    

[Snoopy11 5,714]

NICE score for BBT!

 

Don

[Handy Don 12,233]

3 hours ago, peter lena said:

@Handy Don  think if I  were involved on the deck , would not hesitate to update it yet retain the look . had one as part of a swap , but it was so far gone , it just was not worth it . having said that , think a  hi temp grease in those bearings and  open gear set up , would make  a big difference . my experience  with any  belt driven unit  , is  COLLECTIVE DRAG , from every bearing , linkage / lever point ,  pto drive . the free up  that I  have found is  really not that hard to do . from pto lever start , to every driven bearing , if you are replacing bearings anyway , thats your opportunity , to clean out and re grease every one  of them , 650 deg  hi temp grease , is the  answer , no whining / noise /  effort / drag . regularly use my pto lever , just to  engage / use it , silent / smooth , thats how it sounds driving my decks . its an automatic go to , for any bearing , drag issue , the difference is  effortless,  pete    

The gears on this deck cause vibration at different frequencies even with all new bearings very thoroughly greased (as mine are). If there was adjustabiity for the gear mesh spacing, it might be more “tunable” but as it is, only option is trial and error. All other things being equal, belts are quieter. 

 

5 hours ago, Treepep said:

Idk if it could work but the blades on my twenty some year old LT-155 have blades that  both turn clockwise and a counter-clockwise.  I know because I took therm both off not thinking to sharpen and put back backwards.  Took longer than I care to admit to figure that out.  Kind of worked but mostly just beating up the grass.  

I’m up for some research. I’ll look into the LT-155 blade set.

 

As currently set up with good sharp blades, my RM-368 does a good job as a mower but it does leave the cut grass on the surface of the lawn. With open rear discharge, I suspect the vast majority of the grass blades are out within a couple of blade rotations of being cut. If making a mulching deck, I’d also look to block the discharge to keep the grass underneath to get shredded. (I have a second shell that I’d mod for this purpose!)

[Handy Don 12,233]

5 hours ago, Treepep said:

Idk if it could work but the blades on my twenty some year old LT-155 have blades that  both turn clockwise and a counter-clockwise.  I know because I took therm both off not thinking to sharpen and put back backwards.  Took longer than I care to admit to figure that out.  Kind of worked but mostly just beating up the grass.  

Well, I just looked at the LT-155 manuals for the RD and SD 38” belt-driven decks and at some ads for their blades.

Not sure it these are what you are running, but everything I found had both blades turning in the same direction.

Frankly, getting a deck with two spindles turned by the same belt to have counter rotating blades would require some crazy routing to flip or twist the belt or have gearing (like the WH deck).

The decks I saw were also using splined spindles.

Please send pics of your deck (top and bottom) and its model. I am very curious now!

[Retired Wrencher 5,463]

Looks nice and strait Eric. She will like it. May a Marvel rub down and some TLC. I have the cousin of that, the Commando 8.

[ebinmaine 67,553]

6 minutes ago, Retired Wrencher said:

Looks nice and strait Eric. She will like it. May a Marvel rub down and some TLC. I have the cousin of that, the Commando 8.

 

 

We took a 5 minute look at the tractor yesterday. 

It'll need a good cleaning of course. 

There's a very nice rodent's nest between the fuel tank and dash panel area. 

Several wires will need replacement.  

The deck is in need of major work IIFF we were going to use it... But we won't. 

 

The transmission seems tight and happy. 

The engine turns and has resistance to the hand so it has compression.  

The steering system is quite possibly the tightest one we've seen yet.  

 

I don't know what order in Trina's "project line" this little gem will be yet. 

It'll be a VERY good worker for her.  

@AHS Thank you for giving us first offer on this one. 

You're a good guy.  

 

[Treepep 564]

On 12/28/2022 at 5:47 PM, Handy Don said:

Well, I just looked at the LT-155 manuals for the RD and SD 38” belt-driven decks and at some ads for their blades.

Not sure it these are what you are running, but everything I found had both blades turning in the same direction.

Frankly, getting a deck with two spindles turned by the same belt to have counter rotating blades would require some crazy routing to flip or twist the belt or have gearing (like the WH deck).

The decks I saw were also using splined spindles.

Please send pics of your deck (top and bottom) and its model. I am very curious now!

The passenger side has the belt drive pulley.  The blade drive belt under cover on the driver side goes through several pulleys and reverses the direction of cut.  Good example here.  https://www.mylawnmowerforum.com/threads/help-deere-lt155-42-freedom-deck-problems.21705/

I downloaded the picture of the deck but cannot get it to load.I believe they are spinning front to back if that makes sense.  Either way best of luck to you!

[peter lena 8,632]

@JCM  A LUBE JOB  AND A LUBE RUB DOWN WOULD  GET THAT  DRUNK ! BUT THAT OILED PATINA  WOULD BE THE DEAL , PETE

[squonk 41,137]

Those gear drive decks cut great with new blades. My back yard grows like crazy and my recycler deck doesn't cut well to the height I want. So I cut it one way with the recycler then get the 857 out and cut 90 deg. the opposite way for a nice fine cut.

[peter lena 8,632]

@JCM  just the idea of bringing that back , everything working  no rusty  linkage areas , cables that slide , hot oil flushing , stabil fuel set up , tank and bowl cleaned out , fuel filters, fuel check valve , rear diff , flush out , bring it back to life , of course add  rislone zink to the oil . new wiring set up . some led lights , yeah I  could do that . thats what I  would do , pete

[Handy Don 12,233]

8 hours ago, Treepep said:

The passenger side has the belt drive pulley.  The blade drive belt under cover on the driver side goes through several pulleys and reverses the direction of cut.  Good example here.  https://www.mylawnmowerforum.com/threads/help-deere-lt155-42-freedom-deck-problems.21705/

I downloaded the picture of the deck but cannot get it to load.I believe they are spinning front to back if that makes sense.  Either way best of luck to you!

I can see in that linked thread and from extra research that you’re referring to the 42” deck which does indeed have counter-rotating blades and uses a double-sided cogged timing belt with cogged spindle pulleys along with two extra idlers to keep the blades synchronized and a separate PTO-to-deck drive belt. Slick engineering and it is a mulcher.

[953 nut 55,281]

13 hours ago, squonk said:

Those gear drive decks cut great with new blades. My back yard grows like crazy and my recycler deck doesn't cut well to the height I want. So I cut it one way with the recycler then get the 857 out and cut 90 deg. the opposite way for a nice fine cut.

           Mike, you are supposed to measure twice and cut once.                               However you are getting more seat time this way so yours is a sensible method after all.