312-8 won't move or moves very slowly

[Jsieao 10]

Good morning. I recently had a problem with my tractor moving fine in forward, but crawling in reverse. Then I started to notice the forward motion slow considerably. I replaced the drive belt with an original Wheel Horse belt.

Everything seemed good after that. The clutch pedal may have been a bit touchy, but nothing I couldn't deal with. Now all of a sudden it is acting up again. Yesterday I was mowing and it would barely move in reverse. After changing gears a number of times, it started acting up in the forward gears. Before I tear it down, I am looking for some ideas, so I start in the right spot. The belt isn't 2 months old.

[lynnmor 7,353]

Check to see if the pulley is slipping on the transmission shaft.

[pfrederi 17,866]

If the transmission pulley is OK check each hub for slippage.  (Mark the axle and hub then drive it around see if anything moved...

[oliver2-44 9,850]

As others have said sure sounds like a pully or hub slipping.  let us know what you find.

[stevasaurus 22,862]

There is nothing inside your transmission that would cause the issues you have.  It has to be the input pulley or one of your hubs.  It is most likely one of your hubs, the input pulley moves in a counter-clockwise direction no mater what direction you are going.

   If it was in the transmission, the axle gear missing some teeth or the same with pinions, you would have a lot of jerking or stopping and going but not slowing down.  Even if it was a woodruff key, it wouldn't just slow down.  Hope we are "all" right.  

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,405]

1 hour ago, Jsieao said:

 The clutch pedal may have been a bit touchy

Is the “touchy clutch” not coming all the way back after to move your foot? Maybe the spring providing tension is wiped-out. Or…sometimes these tractors have a gas shock to prevent dumping of the clutch and wheelies. Maybe that gas shock, also called a dampener I believe, is not letting the clutch/belt fully engage. 

[Jsieao 10]

Thanks to all for the quick and informational replies!!

This is a 2000 312. When I got it, it had a brand new gas shock. I removed it and replaced it with a new spring. I've had the tractor just over a year.

When I say touchy, after replacing the new belt, (maybe a month ago) it was "grabbing" very quickly. Sometimes as soon as shifting into gear. All was good until last week I noticed the tractor acting up after shifting into reverse. I will look at each of the suggestions when I get home from work this afternoon, as I have a section of lawn that is already higher than I like it!

[peter lena 8,720]

@Jsieao  , glad you replaced the gas cylinder  with a new spring , did you ever go over every movement point in your clutch linkage with lubricant ? you want to verify its getting lube in there when the rust runs out , that TOUCHY  clutch pedal tells me that's your issue . it should work and engage without effort , easily allowing a 3 gear start without any issues . any part of the engagement lever / rod set up should work with out effort . use the crc  red aerosol grease to finish your lube points , pete  

[Jsieao 10]

Ok, so no movement on the hubs or drive pulley. Looking at the tensioner pulley, there seems to be some play there. The first photo shows the position of the pulley after normal clutch pedal operation.  The second photo is after I manually pulled the pulley backwards. How do I adjust that travel for the pulley? The trunion on the other side only adjusts the pedal travel, correct?

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,094]

The trunnion only adjusts the pedal position for operator comfort.

 

Better check the lever the trunnion connects to. It is connected to the cross shaft with a roll pin that may have sheared allowing the lever to rotate on the shaft.

12 is the lever

13 is the pin

https://www.partstree.com/models/73429-312-8-toro-garden-tractor-sn-200000001-200999999-2000/clutch-system-assembly-8/

[Jsieao 10]

Thanks again for the helpful advice. The pin was indeed sheared. I was unable to find a spring coil pin at any of the local hardware stores so I ordered a package of them that will hopefully show up before too long.

I have something serving the purpose for the time being so I can get some grass cut.

This apparently had been the case since I got it over a year ago, as the clutch pedal is now in a more favorable position.

I probably should have hung onto that drive belt that I just changed out, as that wasn't the problem at all!!

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,094]

Perfect

[tunahead72 2,432]

On 9/9/2021 at 7:55 AM, Jsieao said:

... The pin was indeed sheared. I was unable to find a spring coil pin at any of the local hardware stores so I ordered a package of them that will hopefully show up before too long...

 

Just curious...  Where did you find packages of spring coil pins?  I know McMaster-Carr carries a good variety of these pins, but only in fairly large quantities (25 or 100 in the sizes I'm interested in).  Were you able to find smaller quantities?

 

[Jsieao 10]

51 minutes ago, tunahead72 said:

 

Just curious...  Where did you find packages of spring coil pins?  I know McMaster-Carr carries a good variety of these pins, but only in fairly large quantities (25 or 100 in the sizes I'm interested in).  Were you able to find smaller quantities?

 

I found them on Zoro. I was able to get a pack of 10. Do you need one?

[tunahead72 2,432]

No, but I do appreciate the offer.  I just installed a regular slotted pin in the shift lever on one of my 310-8 tractors.  It should work fine, the last one just like it lasted 10 years.  I'd forgotten Zoro sells that kind of stuff, thanks for letting us know.