Gravely 8 hp convertible

[kiotidk45SE]

1). I have what I believe is a 8 hp convertible. ( it has the single lever for forward and back and the pto pull is on the dash.) It runs great, picked it up for $250 with the brush hog deck on the front and ride on sulkie. I will get some more information on it soon. Anyway I just moved from a farm to a house with about .25 acres to cut and wanted to use the Gravely if I can find a finishing mower deck for it. My first question is where to start looking for the deck.

2). I have not used to mower much because even at low idle, when I engage the PTO you can feel the gears grinding. You have to pull it very fast to put it in gear without the gears grinding but then I think its too much of a strain on the PTO gears. I have seen videos on you tube and the PTO gots in and out easily. Where should I start investigating why the PTO is no engaging like I think it should?

Thanks,

J.R.

 

[RichardTX]

For $250 you got a great deal.

There are two levers and a push pull control rod.

The right hand lever is forward - neutral - reverse.

The left lever is high - neutral - low.

THe control rod is your PTO.

To engage and disengage the PTO place the HI-LO lever in neutral and then engage the PTO.

The HI-LO affects PTO and ground speed.

Reading the manual for the tractor is a good idea. Manuals are at oldgravelys.net

Before you run it, change the transmission oil too and check the rest of the lubricants.

If you take care of the machine, it will last another 50 years....really! Engines wear out long before and multiple times before the transmission does. It is an excellent example of over engineering.

Check out Richard's for used attachments. gravelyparts.com is their website.

 

[kiotidk45SE]

Thanks alot for your reply. It never dawned on me to place the hi/low in neutral before trying to engage the PTO. We did change the trans oil when we first for it because it was white (alot of water in it). I have not started it this year yet, I am going to pull it out and see if I can get it going today. I just downloaded the manual and its all in there. Now I am starting to sound like a new guy to equipment. Anyway, I will check out Richard's site. I will be bringing the Gavely to the new house this afternoon (I have already moved all my tools down here) and get it ready to mow. I can mow with the brush deck for now even through I know it won't be as nice as the finishing mower. Thanks again for your help. Happy mowing.

 

[oldmech]

H1! For improve the finish mowing You can add a second blade at your bush hog in + Two more tips cutting Make a better job. Good luck! Oldmech

 

[kiotidk45SE]

Thanks for the advice oldmech. I will look into setting up a 2 blade system. I tinkered with the hi/low and engaging the pto yesterday but I could not find the neutral position. I know the linkage is badly out of adjustment, I will try to adjust it as soon as it stops raining. Any tips on adjusting the lever with the springs on it?

Thanks,

J.R.

 

[2manyrocks]

I've never had to adjust mine so I will leave that question for someone who can give you a first hand answer.

Now about using the bush mower as a finish mower...if the blade is sharp, it does pretty well anyway. OldMech is also correct that you can add a second blade if you wish.

The 8 hp Kohler Gravey is considered by some to be the closest kohler powered Gravely to the original Gravely in terms of weight/handling.

I was told to slow the engine before engaging the PTO and to do it in a swift pull. Then speed up the engine....

 

[RichardTX]

Neutral is midway between high and low. There is no detent for neutral so you have to guess and to be honest it just isn't critical. Just give the control rod a pull. You might want to check for loose fasteners.

Twin blades can help when lawn cutting. It does double the number of cuts per ft.

 

[Oneaxepony]

There really is no true neutral in the Hi / Lo planetary like there is with Fwd / Rev. With Hi / Lo, even with the lever set in the middle, there is always a little bit of 'grab' which means the PTO will turn (hence live PTO). Now if you put some resistance on the PTO the Hi / Lo planetary will slip - which is as close to neutral as you can get. This is not a bad thing. Gravely engineers designed the system to work this way and once you get used to it - it will serve you well. At least this has been my experience.

 

[kiotidk45SE]

Thank you all for your advice! I did put the hi/low as close to "neutral" as I could find, throttled way down, and pulled the pto in will minimal gear grinding. I asked the question as first because I did not think it was normal and I was afraid to knock a tooth off a gear by doing so. Its been raining here for 3 days so the old mower will get a work out as soon as it dries out some. I will be looking for a push/snow/dirt blade shortly to fix a few holes in the road. Has anyone ever seen a wheel barrow attachment? I could see this coming in very handy while starting my new landscape plan!

Thanks,

J.R.

 

[RichardTX]

Gravely did make a front mounted wheel barrow but it was not well received and thus production was canceled after a few years. What has remained popular is a garden cart.

I have never heard or seen any teeth every getting knocked off the PTO gears. I have seen them wear out but not broken.