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Turbo Twister

Homemade mowers/brush hogs

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thanks... i was thinking more of a truck bed spray , or car under coating ... i don't really care what it looks like just as long as there's barrier .. 

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8 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

Just a quick ? ... what did you use for under coating this deck ? I've been thinking of under coating mine ... .. after all some of us actually wash the underside of the deck ... to keep rust down due to THAT crud (wet grass dirt ) build up.... seen quiet a few rusted out decks ... mostly around the spindles .... but I'm sure vibration (blade balance) is also an issue ... 

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I gave it 3 coats of etch primer, 3 coats of gloss black and I have yet to give it a few coats of laquer, when the weather picks up. Currently very wet here.

 

I painted on some rust remedy stuff, I used it on the quad too, its made by Loctite.. I'll get a photo of it tomorrow, it basically hardens rust back to solid metal (at least it's supposed to!).

 

Once I finish the wall repairs in the garage, I have to leave the props in place for a few days but I hope to get stuck into the engine removal next week as it looks like Ireland will be in lockdown for another 2 weeks.

Edited by Turbo Twister
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Got stuck into taking out the engine and electrics this morning (still at it!) The right side of the engine was caked in oily grass so the metal frame and that side of the engine are relatively clean.

 

It's a 465cc 10.5hp synchro balanced Briggs and Straton engine, made between 95-98 in America so it should pack a decent bit of power to the 2 drums. I also found out from my friend who gave me this that the blades on the drum should be loose to swing incase of a stone strike etc so thats that problem sorted.

 

First job is to remove all electrics and get them out still connected as a loom, then once the engine is out we can remove any unnecessary wiring and just keep what's required to have it start and stop on a key ignition.

 

Once I get the wires sorted I will attempt to remove the engine. I am thinking I will use part of this mower chassis to mount the engine as the bolt holes are already in place, plus it'll give me the clearance I need to sort out the pulleys. 

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I managed to get the engine out, I ended up cutting the frame as I couldn't get the dual pulley shaft off the engine shaft, but this could work to my advantage as I now have a frame to work with.

 

I re wired everything again to check if the engine would turn over but so far so have no joy, dad soldered something on the chip board for all the electronics, we suspected it may have been an ignition issue.

 

As he is was repairing it, I had a good look externally at the engine and have found a few petrol leaks, for one, the fuel pickup pipes are perished, there is also a drip coming from the carb area but I had the engine on its side for a few minutes to cut something off so I think it's just fuel that made it's way to the air filter housing.

 

**Update**

 

We checked the solenoid and starter motor for current and they both seem fine, but the engine wouldn't start, so I discussed the wiring with dad and he reckons that because the ride on mower has a safety cut off switch under the seat that I disconnected, the circuit board won't allow the engine to start. So tomorrow I will take the switch end off the seat and plug it in to see if this solves the problem.

 

I'll be back to work part time on Tuesday so the engine project will be put on hold for another while until I have time to work on it again.

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Wow.  You’ll took that board out the Briggs and Stratton ?   Throw that mudder away.  I am sure it can be by passed 

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7 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Wow.  You’ll took that board out the Briggs and Stratton ?   Throw that mudder away.  I am sure it can be by passed 

That's what I'm thinking too but we want to just get it started first, bypass it later. 

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2 hours ago, Turbo Twister said:

That's what I'm thinking too but we want to just get it started first, bypass it later. 

Ok , the way I read your post was it wouldn’t start and Zulu was soldering on the board To try and get it to start.  

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2 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Ok , the way I read your post was it wouldn’t start and Zulu was soldering on the board To try and get it to start.  

Zulu had to repair a few soldered points that broke off, if you see the round disc with some white silicone on top in the pic of the circuit? there were 3 legs under it, one of which had broken off so dad had to undo all of them to fix this, then solder them all back together again. He had to do this twice as the first time one leg failed to stay intact.

 

We then used a wire direct from the live feed of the solenoid to the positive of a battery to see would the mower start but no success. I'm working in a new neighbours garden today but I'll try to get at the electronics again this evening if I have time.

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@Fishfiles the circuit board is no longer a part of the wiring problem!! I rang the guy I got the mower from and he gave me a step by step guide of how to wire the key ignition back to the solenoid and battery. First turn of the key and the engine turned over. There is 1 small issue I have to fix tomorrow.. when I turn the key to the "pre start and on" position, the engine wants to start straight away, but you should have to turn the key further clockwise before the engine starts up, then the key should return to the on position. Dad reckons it's a quick fix by just switching a wire on the back of the ignition.

 

Once I get that sorted I will start cleaning the engine, carb etc..I will order a new plug, replace the perished fuel pickup pipe, air filter and change the engine oil too, I think theres a small engine oil leak but it might be easier to find when the engine is running to thin the oil.

 

Once I'm happy with the engine setup I will figure out a way to attach it to the mower deck.

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Sounds like you'll need to swop the ACC /Ignition wire with the Start wire ---- I think I would want to hear it run before spend money and a lot of time on it 

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On 5/5/2020 at 10:13 PM, Fishfiles said:

Sounds like you'll need to swop the ACC /Ignition wire with the Start wire ---- I think I would want to hear it run before spend money and a lot of time on it 

We had to replace the starter motor and there was some wear on the top of the old one. I got a second hand one for free from the same friend who gave me the engine and it worked! Only problem we had when the engine did start was how to turn it off🤣🤣🤦‍♂️

 

We think a small kill switch or emergency push button on the coil wire should do the trick, similar to what I did on the chipper a few months back.

 

I found the oil leak, it was the drain nut washer that was the problem. Its copper, so I heated it red hot before cooling it, so far so good so hopefully that fixed that issue!

 

I have ordered a new air filter as the old one is manly dirty. Now that I know it runs I can start figuring out where to put the engine on the deck, that is after I clear out the garage again to get st the deck!

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your getting there ! thanks for the update! you mentioned the air filter .. does this call for a two stage inner paper element, and outer wrap around foam ? 

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52 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

your getting there ! thanks for the update! you mentioned the air filter .. does this call for a two stage inner paper element, and outer wrap around foam ? 

Initially, I thought it just had a paper filter but after looking at a diagram of the filter housing I noticed a foam band is wrapped around the outside of the filter so I have ordered both of those items, so to answer your question, yes it'll be a 2 stage air filter.

 

I was going to do some work on it tomorrow but seeing as I'll be 30 I think I'll take the day off😁 (that probably won't happen) lol

Edited by Turbo Twister
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1 minute ago, Turbo Twister said:

Initially, I thought it just had a paper filter but after looking at a diagram of the filter housing I noticed a foam band is wrapped around the outside of the filter so I have ordered both of those items, so to answer your question, yes it'll be a 2 stage air filter.

I was going to do some work on it tomorrow but seeing as I'll be 30 I think I'll take the day off😁 (that probably won't happen) lol

 

After doing the homework , Are you oiling the foam filter ? 

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36 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

 

After doing the homework , Are you oiling the foam filter ? 

I'm not quite with you Fish, what is the advantage to this?

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 plus ^^^ light coating of 30 weight motor oil on the foam is what my 15 horse requires  ... i Cheet ... with a light coating of bel-ray foam oil, besides that engine Doesnt have a oil filter .. so I'd oil the foam for extra pertection 

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oiling the foam helps trap very fine particulate matter.... just figure it works the same as the OILED foam element on your 300. 

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have seen some model engines  recommend oil and some don't ---- if you don't have spray air cleaner oil , then you apply some oil to the foam and squeeze out the excess and make the oil  migrate around to cover the foam 

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6 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

have seen some model engines  recommend oil and some don't ---- if you don't have spray air cleaner oil , then you apply some oil to the foam and squeeze out the excess and make the oil  migrate around to cover the foam 

my 55 truck had an oil filter, soaked in oil. plus my 64 ford tractor, a different way to collect dust. 2000ES has an oil soaked filter., i put the wrong oil on it once, melted the foam. Oh Well. hits happens. least it got expelled through the exhaust., though i did have to rebuild the carb. for some reason. bottom line is use the proper oil, for foam filter.

my 55 an 64, had metal filters on the air intake. i think it was a good design., at the time, an maybe still is.

i used 30w Pennzoil, an could never find out why the foam filter dissappered/melted. perhaps after 8 years, the foam filter cover just fell apart, on its own. it turned to dust. no telling where it was made.

 

 

Edited by LedFTed
just because

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k & n filter oil would be just fine ...foam filters are not soaked in oil! but rather coated good with the excess squeezed out. (as stated) as a rule ... if you have oil drops in the air box, you've not done it right, or used the wrong oil.

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On 4/18/2020 at 3:40 PM, Turbo Twister said:

Came across this on FB today, what are your opinions??

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That will leave a streak of uncut grass between the two blades or the blades will hit each other.

 

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Some progress photos of yesterday!

 

I managed to refit the bearing houses and two blade drums, the bearing roller for the driving belt and I had started drilling out the 16mm holes for the top link pins but the drill bit is like butter so I have to keep sharpening it. Going to purchase a better bit. One these holes are done I will get started on fitting the engine.

 

It's starting to look more like a mower again than just lots of pieces lying around!

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just waiting for an update on your progress. now i got to ask a dumb question; how do the blades turn in opposite directions? i'm thinking about a lot, so have not got back in a while. i just cant see it with one belt. your progress looks nice.

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I see what you are talking about 'Ted , seems both would turn the same way 

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On March 28, 2020 at 2:21 PM, Turbo Twister said:

 

I think the way the belt works is it goes around the drive belt, then twists over that centre bearing to the opposite side of the far sprocket so that they rotate opposite directions to throw the grass evenly out the rear chute. They would have to be dialed in so that the blades from both drums don't clash. I would think this is a bit trickier to do if it had 8 blades attached.

 

The guy I spoke to earlier who has a donor engine said I would have to fit a tensioner pulley between the engine and final drive, so that when I start the engine from a stop, the drums don't rotate until I release a tensioner pulley. I would think the best way of fitting this is with a spring that you can lock when untensioned and just release it to engage cutting mode?

 

^^^^^ page two, post two 

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