C-161 Manual Lift Lever

[cschannuth 3,816]

 I’ve noticed more and more lately that when I lift my snow blade with my manual handle it doesn’t always stay locked in the upright position. It seems to be getting worse over time. When I don’t have any weight on the mid hitch it seems to lock in place OK. However, if I jiggle the handle with no weight on it the button and mechanism that goes up into the locking slot actually  pops up a little higher. It’s almost like the spring is a little bit week. Once the button is all the way up and it’s locked into position it will hold up any amount of weight I put on it. Would anybody have an exploded view of that mechanism or have any ideas on what I might be able to try? So far I have lubricated the mechanism at the bottom of the handle where it goes into the slot and I’ve put a couple drops of oil at the top of the handle around the button itself to see if that would run  down and lubricate it enough to work more easily. 

[953 nut 55,081]

Try backing off on the height adjustment a couple turns. Could be too high to have the latch catch well.

[cschannuth 3,816]

23 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Try backing off on the height adjustment a couple turns. Could be too high to have the latch catch well.

 I think it’s pretty loose already but I will definitely give that a try. Thanks!

[cschannuth 3,816]

 Backing off the height knob didn’t have any affect. It still seems like it wants to stick just a little bit and it is definitely more sticky when there is a load on the lift arm. I wonder if something isn’t lining up correctly inside. 

 

I pulled the side plate off the 314 and everything looks the same but the pivot point on the 161 has a bit more play in it.  The 314 release button also has a much lighter spring tension and moves more smoothly. 

[JoeM 7,871]

Just a thought, make sure when you got the plow on nothing is interfering with rock shaft when the lever is lifted. Sounds like something is stopping the rockshaft from rotating far enough.

[953 nut 55,081]

Is your blade connected to the correct hole?

[cschannuth 3,816]

2 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Is your blade connected to the correct hole?

 I need to check that out closer. It’s the same place it’s always been connected in the past but I will definitely doublecheck. 

[cschannuth 3,816]

I think I figured it out. I added a stabilizer to the front of the tractor using an old hitch to keep the blade from wagging around and putting too much side ways pressure  on the rear axle. When the blade was locked in the raised position it appeared to have plenty of clearance under the stabilizer. However, when lifting the blade high enough to lock the lift handle it was hitting the stabilizer. I moved the lift point one hole lower and it seems to work fine. 

 

The down side is the blade isn’t as high In the up position. But it’s worth the trade off for a blade that locks and is stable. Thanks for the input folks. 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

9 minutes ago, cschannuth said:

I think I figured it out. I added a stabilizer to the front of the tractor using an old hitch to keep the blade from wagging around and putting too much side ways pressure  on the rear axle. When the blade was locked in the raised position it appeared to have plenty of clearance under the stabilizer. However, when lifting the blade high enough to lock the lift handle it was hitting the stabilizer. I moved the lift point one hole lower and it seems to work fine. 

 

The down side is the blade isn’t as high In the up position. But it’s worth the trade off for a blade that locks and is stable. Thanks for the input folks. 

Craig, if you add some 1-1.5" spacers between the axle and quick hitch it will allow higher lift height, there was a kit for the 520-8 to address the frame hitting the drive belt pulley ,but a bit pricey from Toro these days, Jeff.