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 Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle

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biggasmowers
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prancstaman
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeAugust 11th 2019, 11:34 pm

Yup, a long one too.
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeAugust 12th 2019, 10:42 am

Glad to hear you got it fixed!

I hate fixing MTD's. Just so much to go wrong. I always liked the idler pulley engagement best out of all the decks I've seen.

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prancstaman
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeAugust 12th 2019, 7:35 pm

@Murraymountain I have only had MTD's to use for cutting grass, and I've seen those decks with the idler pulley engagement and think they would be better also. The 50" deck will be set up like that when I get it going. Maybe the electric clutch would work on my MTD too from the GT 6000, that would be real nice, LOL.
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PostSubject: Collecting parts   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeAugust 17th 2019, 9:27 pm

Hay People,
I'm stripping the GT 6000. Collecting the parts for this project and others. Pulled the motor, that thing is a heavy one. Threw it in my basement for storage till needed. It needs took apart, doesn't feel right when I spin it. Shouldn't be to hard since the previous owner had it apart but I don't know why or how far he did it. Took hood off for the hinges to put onto mine. Muffler is still solid enough to use too. And the snow plow attachment brackets for the 4x4 mower which looks like a quick release hookup. Pulled the entire wiring harness out to use for whatever, just threw everything in a ziplock bag to keep together. Bolts, nuts, washers are getting their own containers. I save them because that stuff adds up on projects, a good chunk of money is spent on hardware when I build all new, and that's a lot.

Pic of parts so far. I'll finish off the teardown tomorrow.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20190836

That electric PTO clutch might not work for this project I'm afraid to say. Too bad, looks simple enough. Works like a AC compressor clutch on a car. Just too long of a setup.

That's it, later.
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PostSubject: Rest of the parts from the GT 6000   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeAugust 18th 2019, 9:46 pm

Hay People,
Got the GT 6000 all apart. Snagged a couple more parts like brackets for the deck and the front end. All the steering was in good shape and will get stored and used later maybe.

Oh, working in the yard doing other stuff is when I found my gas container, LOL. Gave it the ole sniff test, yup! I set the empty container next to the gas container that still had gas in it. You can see how I mixed them up. Never fear, I wrote on the tops as you can see which is which. The evidence is there, LOL. I dumped diesel in the tank instead of gas, motor should be good to go when I fill it back up.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20190837

Took a pic of what was left. Transaxle and front axle. That front axle looks cool as hell. Ill probably have to use the GT front axle brackets to mount the axle but if I can't get it to fit right or work right I will be using that front axle for something. Hell, I would build a whole other project around that axle just to use it, LOL. My baby banshee build I'm planning on doing (still gathering parts) is just screaming for it. I wouldn't even have to heat and beat the thing, just a set of dropped spindles would be good. We shall see.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20190838
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prancstaman
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PostSubject: Start of a new season   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMay 14th 2021, 11:39 pm

Hay People,
Time to cut the grass again, LOL. Been a while for this project. Last year was cancelled, for mowing the yard, LOL. Which means there was not much to tell. One of the kids would weed wack the back yard when it was knee high almost the whole season, but the last cut of the season, I used the mower to cut the grass once, and I broke it. I found out your not suppose to drive over a cinderblock with the deck blades engaged. Funny short story there! I, well had, 4 of those flat cinderblocks placed around a baby pine tree way in the back yard and was cutting around the pine tree. Figured I would cut the grass between the cinderblocks and then bam!! Blade smacked the cinderblock! Didn't stop the blade, it just took a big chunk out of the corner of the cinderblock, busted the blade spindle, then hard vibrations, deck swaying side to side, motor screaming the whole time! And I only had like 5 more turns to do before I put up the mower for the 2020 season too. Bummer! I used a push mower to finish the cutting. I drove the mower over to the house afterwards and turned it off and left it there. When it started to snow, I threw a piece of plastic over it till just recently.

So about a week ago I surveyed the damage. I noticed last year before I broke the deck, the transaxle was hard to shift. Need to pull transaxle. The deck needs pulled. Busted spindle and patch up the holes in the deck. Just to get it cutting again.
You can see the hole in the deck. Chopping up branches tore that hole open way more in the deck. Flings grass on you while cutting the whole time.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210436

A quick patch for the fix.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210437

Next I remove the side discharge deflector because it gets in the way. The outlet of the deck, I bend the top down to keep the grass from shooting upwards. Works mostly but needs to be pointed down more. I'll take a hammer to it later on.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210438

I stripped the teeth on the spindle that hold the blade in place, when I hit the cinderblock. There was 6 teeth, I clean up 2 teeth with a grinder and weld them up to make 2 new teeth and shape them with a grinder so the blade will fit on it.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210439

Put the deck back together and put it back on. Next comes the transaxle. Busting bolts left and right to get it out of the mower.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210510

Then, busted a bolt and drilled out that center bolt since it was so rusty that the socket stripped it on. Looky, oh boy!!
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210511
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210512

Pretty much a clean it out, regrease it, reinstall it. I hate cleaning with gas.
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The busted bolts got nuts welded to them to pull them out. Got so good that I eventual just welded on the busted bolt until I could grab it with vise grips. 4 total. Cleaned up for reassembly.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210515drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210514

Back together. Threw the battery back in. Fixed the battery cable ends. It started right up, WOOPEY!!
Time to cut the grass!!
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20210516

Still need to fix stuff but for now, just cutting the grass. Later.................
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMay 15th 2021, 8:43 am

Nice to see an update on this one! Glad to see she's mowing again.


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PostSubject: 2022 update   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMarch 28th 2022, 10:40 pm

Hay People,
Little update on this. a rewind on the 2021 season. After the post, I mowed, it ate a big stick which jammed the blade and burnt the belt. Went to Tractor Supply for a new belt and put it on to finish cutting the grass that day. 2 months later, it ate another stick, jammed the blade and burnt the new belt. Parked it and used my push mower to finish the grass cutting. The end of 2021 season, LOL. And yes, I only used it twice for the 2021 season.
There it sits.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20211110

I need to put smaller tires on the back. When I drop the deck to cut, it drops too far and the belt flies off. Smaller tires should solve this, I think, LOL. And needs oil too. Our new puppy opened the drain plug and dumped the oil all over the ground during the winter. So, fresh oil it is.

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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMarch 29th 2022, 7:17 am

Looks like a bit of an interesting rig... 
Your puppy knows how to do oil changes? (or at least drain the oil) That is very impressive...
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prancstaman
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMarch 31st 2022, 8:55 pm

@TechnoChicken Yah, the puppy tries but does the job only half the way. Just yesterday he was rewiring the headlights but only got as far as ripping out the old wiring, LOL.

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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMarch 31st 2022, 11:12 pm

Omg, well he seems to like your tractor! There's a product called "bitter apple" to detur that, maybe you should hose the tractor with it or better yet get him his own tractor! Lol


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PostSubject: Start of the 2022 cutting season!   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMay 10th 2022, 11:34 pm

Hay People,
The start of the new season for me. I'm sure you all have already started, I'm a late bloomer, I guess. So, let's get to the problem list. Tires leak somewhat, deck throws and burns the belt. Lost first gear on the vari-drive, no clue where it went but it is MIA, lol

I'll worry about the missing first gear later. Need the deck working so the grass can get cut. My thinking is the back is too high and the deck drops too much which gives the belt a really bad misalignment. Popps the belt off alot. The belt burning can be solved just by picking the big sticks up, LOL. And maybe the bricks too.
Sorry for the bad pic, it was late. You can notice the footboards are angled down towards the front of the mower. The really small tires in the front don't help. It's 20" in the back and 13" in the front.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220510

I pull the back tires off. I grabbed a set of rims and mount a set of 16" on the rims. Big difference between the two. The 16" are pretty much shot but just want to see if it levels out the mower.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220511

Yup!
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220512

Next is, I want a set of wheels on the front part of the deck. I'm tired of the deck plowing into the dirt and grass and then get stuck. I cut the wheels and brackets off another old deck and weld them on.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220513

Finally, I need a new belt, or 2. Off to Tractor Supply. After 2 trips I get the right belt. Alignment looks good. so I air up the tires and try out the mower with some grass. Run 2 lines and both rear tires are flat. So I park it. Cut great though. Successful test.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220514

I had enough with the tires! They are dry rotted, full of slime and still leak (front), the back 16" tires was shot when I put them on. So, babies getting a new pair of shoes all the way around. Those pics will be later.
I got 2 belts this time, I zippie the extra belt under the hood so it don't get lost.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220517

OK, I built this mower because the motor was under powered. 12 hp Briggs. Motor runs great and just keeps going, but time for an upgrade. I got the opportunity to get a bigger motor and bought it. It is an 18 hp oppey with the cast iron sleeves in it. It already runs, just have to do the usual maintenance to it
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220516
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220515

The bigger motor upgrade will be later. I'll put the tires on and get to cutting the grass first. I got the rear tires in today and mounted them on the rims. Just waiting on the front tires, then I'll upload the pics for that.
Ok, it's late, I'm out. Later!!!
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMay 11th 2022, 5:34 am

keep at it, you'll get it all worked out it just keeps getting better and better.

Two seasons ago I hit a manhole cover in a leaf covered field while on an exmark lazer Z and it ripped the end of the blade clean off, oh man did it shake after that but did no other damage. Last season I mowed over a soccer ball sized rock that was in the tall grass up against a fence and bent one of the exmark blades into a 90 degree angle.
I find it less stressful when things like that happen on the work mowers instead my own mowers.LOL
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PostSubject: Re: Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeMay 12th 2022, 7:26 am

FatMike wrote:
keep at it, you'll get it all worked out it just keeps getting better and better.

Two seasons ago I hit a manhole cover in a leaf covered field while on an exmark lazer Z and it ripped the end of the blade clean off, oh man did it shake after that but did no other damage. Last season I mowed over a soccer ball sized rock that was in the tall grass up against a fence and bent one of the exmark blades into a 90 degree angle.
I find it less stressful when things like that happen on the work mowers instead my own mowers.LOL
Same thing over here, did the first cut this year yesterday and I already got a hat so stuck in the blades I had to jack it up and pull the blade off to get it off, 5 minutes later I hit a golf club lying in the grass, the blade is still somehow mint? I just rip through any sticks smaller than 1/2", However the left side of the deck is somehow completely missing the tops of it's blade, pretty sure that's because that's generally the side I use to edge the 10 million trees planted around our property last year, there all covered in mulch so I think that side eats about 10 times more sticks
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PostSubject: Cutting the grass   drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeSeptember 5th 2022, 2:21 am

Hay People,
I finally finished cutting the grass for the first time this year, WOW, LOL. Never put the front tires on it yet but I put the new back tires on. The old front tires are still holding air, so not too worried about doing it now, but soon. Been trying to get the deck working right. Kept throwing the belts, burning the belts, breaking the belts. Finally figured it out on what was going on. Just took a couple days of watching it to see what was going on.

The culprit was this bracket.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220710

This bracket engages the and disengages the belt by pulling and pushing the deck forward and backward to loosen and tighten the belt. Since I put the 5-speed transaxle in, the case is longer than the f/n/r case. So, when the deck swings back to tighten the belt, it has limited space to swing back and ends up hitting the transaxle, so the belt doesn't tighten correctly. Smaller belts didn't work right because they wouldn't fit on. Can only go so small, for the belts. Then the drive pulley wasn't down far enough for the correct angle and the groove of the drive pulley was too small. The smaller tires on the back only worked soo much in helping the angle of the belt. That's the problem.

I'll address the bracket first. Need to shorten it about an inch for clearance. The linkage going to this bracket has enough adjustment to work for this shortening of the bracket, barely. Then weld it back together.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220711
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220712

If you can figure out what you are looking at, there is now a gap between the bracket and the transaxle. The deck is engaged with a new belt.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220713

The deck now swings back and tightens the belt the way it should. And not even close to the new tires or transaxle.

Next, I find a new drive pulley. No clue where it came from. Found it in a box in the basement. It's longer and has a deeper groove for the deck belt. I put it on the motor.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220810

The end result of the pulley switcharooney is it works great but the deck hits it when the deck is disengaged. Readjusted the linkage to make it work. You know the slots for the deck handle, I only use like 3 slots on it now. I'll get around to clearancing the deck later, so the pulley don't hit it when disengaging the deck. Think that did it. The deck now will stall the motor instead of it burning the belt or throwing the belt. Awesome!!

That'll do it for now. It's late and way past my bedtime. Later..............

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PostSubject: Start of the engine upgrade.    drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 Icon_minitimeOctober 14th 2022, 10:29 pm

Hay People,
Near the end of the cutting season. Mower mostly working, LOL. So in the thick of things, like changing the engine pulley and trying to get it to work, I managed to burn the engine belt real bad. The belt eventually broke. Got a new blue belt being an inch smaller an put it on. Readjusted things and now working good, so I finished cutting the grass. Shot some video too, to show what I am up against. Don't know when I will post it.

Anyways, figured since I finally got it running pretty good, as is. Figure I might as well start the engine swap. From a single cylinder to an oppey twin cylinder.

Got this whole mower just for that. Kid I bought it from said it was a runner. Thought I could just clean it up and bolt it up.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220814
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drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220815

Nope!!
Something was living in it and starter gear jammed up. That's not all. Pulled the heads and signs of running hot.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220817
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220818

The white exhaust valve in a black wet chamber is a sign of it running hot, but not for a long time.

After pulling heads, I spin the crank and there is a hard spot while turning. That means metal is fused onto metal somewhere inside. I didn't take any pics but the top piston rod has damage to the bearing surface on the big end of the rod.
All of this is fixable but I can't use the engine just because the crank output shaft is milled only half way and the mower pulley will not fit for proper alignment. I'll fix this engine and store it for later.

Looks like I need an engine. Got this one in the same deal. Kid said he didn't care about it so I gave him $10 for it. Everything is there. Not any better though, but it is 20 hp though with the right crank output.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220820
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220819

Checked it out. Full of dirt, starter looked good, stater looked good, missing exhaust, and carb was clean inside. Pretty clean inside too.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220822
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220821

Just like the other engine, this one had a hard spot in it while spinning it. So, it was running hot also. This one gets tore down also. Same thing with the top piston rod. Fused metal on metal. Plus, a busted piston compression ring. The crank is in good condition. I can polish the bearing surfaces, no problem there.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220824
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220823

I ordered a piston ring set for $36. I'll polish the piston rod and measure it up. If too big after, a new piston rod for this is $55. Any money spent on this to get it running reliably will be worth it for me. It is a 20 hp after all.

Figured I would clean up the starter and stator.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220827
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Noticed this while cleaning the starter. The covered wire is routed through the ground wire for the brushes. Don't do this, it will jam up the brush and the starter will stop working. I rerouted the covered wire above the uncovered wire and brush. The wires do not bounce around, they stay put wherever you put them.
drive - Vari drive with 5 speed transaxle - Page 7 20220828

Probably a winter project for both engines. I still got grass to cut and need the mower running for the rest of the season.

To be continued........... Later!

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