any toro groundsmaster fans on here?

[Xfaxman]

I wonder what the larger control panel cover came off of?

 

[warleg]

I wonder what the larger control panel cover came off of?

It was an older Groundsmaster 72 I didn't realize it was bigger till I sent it to him. After seeing all the other great work Asymair95 has done I'm sure it will look awesome when he is finished with it. But I feel bad that I didn't notice the difference before I sent it.

 

[Asymair95]

PTO is installed!



Had to slit the old bellcrank lever to get it off.





New bellcrank going on.



PTO is back in the machine. Had to have my Brother come over to help me install it. It is definitely a two man job. Seems to be much tighter with no sloppiness, so hopefully that issue is taken care of.

 

[Asymair95]

More progress on the 325.



Changed the water separator. The old one was a carquest brand, which was interesting.



Replaced it with a R&R filter which I believe is Baldwin. Quality seemed good to me.



Got the PTO shimmed all the way forward as much as I could. Checked the pulley alignment with a straight edge from the face of the engine pulley, to the face of the PTO pulley. It’s better than it was before, but could still stand to come forward another 1/16”, but this will have to do.



Pulled the fork off because 1: It was sloppy a little bit and I wanted to replace the bushings. 2: It was installed upside down at some point in its past, so that obviously needed to be corrected.



Pulled the drive shaft so I could replace the PTO belt. Will have to go through the drive shaft alignment procedure when I get the engine mount back on.



The old belt was starting to get shredded, most probably from the pulley misalignment, and lack of positive engagement caused by the worn parts.

 

[warleg]

More progress on the 325.



Changed the water separator. The old one was a carquest brand, which was interesting.



Replaced it with a R&R filter which I believe is Baldwin. Quality seemed good to me.



Got the PTO shimmed all the way forward as much as I could. Checked the pulley alignment with a straight edge from the face of the engine pulley, to the face of the PTO pulley. It痴 better than it was before, but could still stand to come forward another 1/16? but this will have to do.



Pulled the fork off because 1: It was sloppy a little bit and I wanted to replace the bushings. 2: It was installed upside down at some point in its past, so that obviously needed to be corrected.



Pulled the drive shaft so I could replace the PTO belt. Will have to go through the drive shaft alignment procedure when I get the engine mount back on.



The old belt was starting to get shredded, most probably from the pulley misalignment, and lack of positive engagement caused by the worn parts.

Great posts and pics, it's a wealth of knowledge to see some of the things you've been doing. You inspired me to do all my filters and fluids!

 

[Asymair95]

Moving along on the 325d.



New PTO belt installed. Figured it would be easier to install now before the front engine mount bracket goes back in and makes it a nightmare. I eyeballed the belt alignment, and it looks fine to me.



Engine mount bracket cleaned up and going back in.



Mount bracket installed. I adjusted the belt finger to about 1/8” from the belt.



Drive shaft installed. I performed the driveshaft alignment check by placing a metal straight edge on the face of the engine pulley and layed it across the rear flexible joint extending to the forward flexible joint. There was about 1/4” gap between the straight edge and the forward flexible joint, which is larger than the 1/8” allowed. I loosened the forward engine mounting bracket I had just installed and let it drop down a bit. After completing the check again I was right at the 1/8” limit. This is different than the way the book tells you to correct it. They want you to add shims under the transaxle mounting pads to tilt the trans up or down the required distance to achieve the 1/8” max deflection limit.

 

[Asymair95]

Aif filter cover going on with a new filter already installed, and a new clamp. The old one was mangled pretty badly and missing the thumb screw.



New filter cover gasket going on also. All four of my groundsmasters were missing this thing. What I have found is that they prevent water from getting inside the cup if left outside in the rain, or washed.



This air filter has been welded already in the area they are prone to crack in. My other three were either cracked here, or showing signs of stress and will crack soon.



Wanted to get the directional clutch ready for install with a new bushing/spacer. However, the old spacer, and the new spacer don’t match.



The old one is longer, and would obviously not wear out as fast as a shorter one. Will check the part numbers again, hopefully this thing is still available.

 

[Rowski]

Wow wealth of information here on the Groundsmasters. I just purchase a used one 2001 325D 4wd with 2825 hrs. With the 72 left side discharge deck. A couple of questions. What would the cost of this machine been new in 2001? Just a rough guess. Recycler deck, Does it work well in northern grasses that are wet most of the time?

Many thanks!

 

[Asymair95]

Don’t know what they cost new, Xfaxman will be by, and he will know though. From what I have read, the mulching decks leave some clumping in wet grass, unless it is pretty short. If dry, it’ll cut a fair amount of grass and leave a good cut. I personally have never used one though.

 

[Asymair95]

Been off the 325 lately due to some health issues, but slowly getting back into the swing...very slowly.



Received the new clutch spacer in the mail. The parts guy said the short one I received was for a 322d, not a 325d. I figured they would have been the same, but obviously they are not. They did let me return the other one.



Draining and replacing the clutch fluid with this universal hyd fluid. It is what the service tech recommended at the local Toro commercial mower dealer. They do a fair amount of work on these still he said. I guess a few of the local golf courses have them. There was some oil still in there, but not a lot. Filling through the tiny hole is tricky, ended up using a syringe.



Pulled the neutral return mechanism off to replace the bearing and clean/lube things up.



The old bearing was completely shelled out and was causing lots of drag and wear on the V notch of the hyd pump arm. Cleaned things up, put it back together and she works like new again. Will need to do a neutral adjustment check once she is running.