Newbie Mule drive question

[Hampton 95]

I have one on the 310-8 I bought. What's it for? 

[davem1111 2,030]

Don't you have a deck on the tractor?  The mule drive is to transfer power from the horizontal crank and PTO on the engine to the vertical drive pulley shaft on the deck.

[Ed Kennell 38,177]

                                                                            

 

                                  Here's the old style frame mount spring loaded mule drive.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          slt.

 

Your 310-8 has the newer attach-a-matic mount with a screw to apply tension to the deck drive belt.

 

                     

 

 

[953 nut 55,230]

310-8 is a great mowing   used mine this afternoon.

It can also be used for a leaf blower (home built).

Edited August 15, 2022 by 953 nut

[ri702bill 8,322]

Still reminds me of looking at an old Corvair engine... how the horizontal lower pulley drove the vertical upper fan pulley ... Fixed alternator and adjustable tensioner canted at oposing angles...

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by ri702bill

[Hampton 95]

I have the attach o matic. Thanks folks

[oldlineman 1,481]

yep I remember those cool cars.

[ri702bill 8,322]

5 hours ago, oldlineman said:

those cool cars

Some (like Ralph Nader) would disagree. My FIL worked at a local Chevrolet Dealership for years, and a LOT on these quirky air cooled cars.He started on his own and had a large following - mostly Corvair owners...

[ineedanother 1,369]

17 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

Some (like Ralph Nader) would disagree. 

I was gonna attempt to be witty and say something like cool at any speed but thought better of it. They are pretty cool though and have a huge following.

[953 nut 55,230]

6 hours ago, oldlineman said:

I remember those cool cars.

I remember they were downright freezing in the winter. Much like the VW Bug you could buy a gasoline powered heater if you actually wanted heat.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

I remember they were downright freezing in the winter. Much like the VW Bug you could buy a gasoline powered heater if you actually wanted heat.

They used to make coal fired foot warmers for buggies.  I had a chance to buy one but didn’t.  I wasn’t expecting to own an air-cooled car or a buggy.  It was a pretty cool piece though!

[8ntruck 7,004]

Actually, the handling problems that got the Corvair it's bad reputation was a lack of maintenance issue.  Letting the air pressure get too low in the back tires contributed to the snap overseer these were famous for.  GM had the handling issue fixed on the second generation of the car with a redesign of the rear suspension.  They made it very similar to the Corvette's indepndant rear suspension.

 

I had a '73 Spitfire that had a swing axle rear suspension like the early Corvairs.  It had lots of tailing throttle overseer like the early Corvairs.  Once I got used to it and figured out the warning signs that the limit was being approached, it was kind of fun to use that feature to throw the car around a corner

[ri702bill 8,322]

6 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

I had a '73 Spitfire that had a swing axle rear suspension like the early Corvairs.

I recall seeing those cars during hard straight line braking, the nose would dive, the back comes up, and the rear wheels almost tuck under the car like landing gear!!

[ri702bill 8,322]

9 hours ago, 953 nut said:

you could buy a gasoline powered heater if you actually wanted heat.

Outlawed in the 1960's due to obvious fire hazard during a crash or roll-over. And carbon monoxide issues...

[8ntruck 7,004]

6 hours ago, ri702bill said:

I recall seeing those cars during hard straight line braking, the nose would dive, the back comes up, and the rear wheels almost tuck under the car like landing gear!!

Yup.  Then add entering a corner to the mix.  The outside wheel would straighten up and the inside wheel would tuck further under.  When you felt the on side rear corner of the car lift, that was the limit and you needed to be prepared to add opposite steering lock.

 

SCCA required Z bars on Spitfires being run in their events to tame this nasty habit.

 

Probably ought to stop hijacking this thread and let it get back to the original subject....

[ri702bill 8,322]

Awww, OK, back to mule drives - mower belt goes on the larger pulley of the PTO, as pictured above... you'll wonder why it does not cut well if is on the smaller one!