Horse jumps out of gear

[ssehon]

I am trying to get my tiller running well enough to use and have a couple of questions.

1. Why does it jump out of gear? It will hold for a while then when it gets into a bind it jumps out in low wheel speed. It will jump out in high wheel speed just going along the lawn moving from place to place.

2. Reverse won't work. The reverse wheel drops down but just barely enough to contact the drive wheel. There is wear on the side that faces the handles and no noticeable wear on the front side. Can this be adjusted and if so where can I get the info? Thanks

ssehon

 

[2manyrocks]

When it slips out of gear, the usual suspects are 1) a worn/stretched belt and/or 2) improper adjustment of the adjustment bolt. The more worn the belt, the more sensitive it is to the adjustment.

If it's the horse model I'm guessing you have, there really isn't an adjustment to the reverse disk. You may need to replace it, and there are two kinds: a fiber disk and a rubber disk.

You might search through the manuals for your unit and see if the manual helps clear any of this up for you.PDF Manual Web Archive

 

[dcyrilc]

I'm having the same problem with not having enough tension on the belt and/or jumping out of gear going forward. I've followed the adjustment procedure repeatedly and checked the adjustment. It seems like the vibration from running lets the lever come up some releasing tension while running or popping out of gear. I'm burning new belts in half in about two hours of use. I've resorted to trying the lever down and still burned a belt in half. Any ideas would be appreciated.

ssehon,
For the reverse issue, check that the spring is compressing far enough to allow proper contact with the reverse disk. Also, as 2manyrocks said, you may need to replace the reverse disk.

 

[dcyrilc]

2manyrocks,

Can you post a picture of the linkage on your machine in forward so that I can compare to what mine looks like? I'll get a picture of mine.

TIA

 

[dcyrilc]

Here are the pix.

 

[2manyrocks]

Sounds like the belt is slipping and that is burning up the belt.

According to the manual, the distance between the front edge of the roller and the face of the mounting bracket should be 1/4 inch. If less than 1/4 inch, the belt may be too loose and may slip. If the gap is more than 1/4 inch, the belt may be too tight and the lever may pop out of gear when you till.

The instructions also say to push down on the forward reverse lever as hard as you can increasing the belt tension while you tighten the mounting bolt. Then you are supposed to check the gap. If you just push the lever down without holding it, the adjustment will be off a bit as I recall.

A new belt will stretch in fairly short order and will have to be readjusted a couple of times until you break it in. It's supposed to be checked every 10 hours per the manual.

I suppose that if you got a belt that was the wrong length to start with, it could throw this off because the manual expects that the factory belt of the correct length will be used.

Please measure your gap and see if this helps at all.

The photo is the one you posted with a line drawn to show the place to measure. While you're at it, take your adjustment block off and look to see if the face is worn. As I look at your photo, I'm wondering if your adjustment block is worn.

 

[dcyrilc]

Sounds like the belt is slipping and that is burning up the belt.

I think so too.

According to the manual, the distance between the front edge of the roller and the face of the mounting bracket should be 1/4 inch. If less than 1/4 inch, the belt may be too loose and may slip. If the gap is more than 1/4 inch, the belt may be too tight and the lever may pop out of gear when you till.

The instructions also say to push down on the forward reverse lever as hard as you can increasing the belt tension while you tighten the mounting bolt. Then you are supposed to check the gap. If you just push the lever down without holding it, the adjustment will be off a bit as I recall.

Did that while making the adjustment. Measurements check proper after adjustment.

A new belt will stretch in fairly short order and will have to be readjusted a couple of times until you break it in. It's supposed to be checked every 10 hours per the manual.

I suppose that if you got a belt that was the wrong length to start with, it could throw this off because the manual expects that the factory belt of the correct length will be used.

Please measure your gap and see if this helps at all.

The photo is the one you posted with a line drawn to show the place to measure. While you're at it, take your adjustment block off and look to see if the face is worn. As I look at your photo, I'm wondering if your adjustment block is worn.

The problem with looking at it is that I have nothing to use as a basis for comparing to. I was thinking that maybe the spring might be weak and not holding well. The picture I took was after the belt broke today and I was having my son hold it close to where it would be when adjusted.

I agree with the 1/4" measurement. My manual says 1/4" min and 5/16" max. I used two wrenches (1 which was a1/4" thick and 1 which was 5/16" thick to check spacing. I ordered the proper adjustment rod tonight along with a new spring and factory belt. I forgot to order a new throttle cable.

 

[bontai_Joe]

I am trying to get my tiller running well enough to use and have a couple of questions......... Reverse won't work. The reverse wheel drops down but just barely enough to contact the drive wheel. There is wear on the side that faces the handles and no noticeable wear on the front side. Can this be adjusted and if so where can I get the info? Thanks

ssehon

On all the ones I have seen the reverse disk won't touch unless you physically hold the shift lever down forcing engagement. Sort of a safety thing, you let go, it stops traveling.

 

[2manyrocks]

This is a picture of a new, unused adjustment block. I'm not so good at measuring parts so please take my measurements as approximate. On the face of the adjustment block it is roughly 7/16 inch from the edge of the mounting bolt hole to the end of the face. The angle of the face itself appears to be about 67-68 degrees. (I misplaced the protractor I normally use so I could be off a bit.)

The angle of your adjustment block in your picture looks like it is worn to me. If it is worn, that would mean you can't really adjust it to the proper tension until you replace the adjustment block.

The tension spring might have lost tension as you suggest or the roller assembly may be gunked up.

I apologize, but I was wrong about not being able to adjust the reverse disc. The disc is mounted in a fixed position, but you can adjust how it contacts the drive by making an adjustment to the neutral position. The neutral adjustment procedure is explained in the manual with three pages of instructions and photos explaining how to do it. The best thing would be to download the manual off the MTD site and look at those detailed instructions.

 

[dcyrilc]

This is a picture of a new, unused adjustment block. I'm not so good at measuring parts so please take my measurements as approximate. On the face of the adjustment block it is roughly 7/16 inch from the edge of the mounting bolt hole to the end of the face. The angle of the face itself appears to be about 67-68 degrees. (I misplaced the protractor I normally use so I could be off a bit.)

The angle of your adjustment block in your picture looks like it is worn to me. If it is worn, that would mean you can't really adjust it to the proper tension until you replace the adjustment block.

The tension spring might have lost tension as you suggest or the roller assembly may be gunked up.

I apologize, but I was wrong about not being able to adjust the reverse disc. The disc is mounted in a fixed position, but you can adjust how it contacts the drive by making an adjustment to the neutral position. The neutral adjustment procedure is explained in the manual with three pages of instructions and photos explaining how to do it. The best thing would be to download the manual off the MTD site and look at those detailed instructions.

Thanks for the picture and description. I'll pull mine off and look it over well. I might just order a new one for the heck of it. I'll see how a new spring works first though as I've already ordered that.

 

[dcyrilc]

Another thought I just had is that I'm pretty sure that this is not the origional spring. The spring could very well end up being the problem. Should have my new parts by Friday. I picked up another belt today from NAPA. Took the Troy Built part number with me. This is definately not the same as the factory belt per NAPA, but they can order it. This belt will at least let me finish tilling the garden tonight so my wife will be happy and can plant.:thumbsup:

I'll keep everyone posted on how things go.

ssehon,
Any luck on yours?

 

[dcyrilc]

My parts arrived today. I think I found why mine doesn't stay in gear.

 

[2manyrocks]

I've been wondering how you were coming along with this problem.

 

[dcyrilc]

I've been wondering how you were coming along with this problem.

Finished plowing the garden with the wrong belt to keep the wife happy and been waiting on parts since last weekend. Got proper belt, adjustment tool, and proper spring. We'll see what those do. I can stretch the old spring by hand...no way with the new one. I still need to order a few parts, but they will have to wait a while.

I've been wondering how the OP has been comming on his. I hate the idea of hyjacking a thread. I hope some of what I've put here helps him out.

 

[2manyrocks]

So did the spring fix it jumping out of gear?

 

[dcyrilc]

So did the spring fix it jumping out of gear?

It's been too wet to even try using it. Our highs have been in the low to mid 40s all week and raining. Finally saw some sun today and temps got to the mid 50s. We should be in the low 60s this time of year. Can't wait for spring to finally get here. I don't care what the calander says, it's still winter. We were warmer in Jan & Feb than May has been so far.

 

[CR172]

I have also found on mine, after replacing the belts, if the belts are too tight, it will jump out of gear. The adjustment on these seems to be pretty sensitive. Too tight, jumps out of gear, too loose, slips...

 

[dcyrilc]

I have also found on mine, after replacing the belts, if the belts are too tight, it will jump out of gear. The adjustment on these seems to be pretty sensitive. Too tight, jumps out of gear, too loose, slips...

I'll keep that in mind when I get to play with it again.

 

[honorbound]

For jumping out of gear tighten the nut on the hi/low shifter. This is a self locking nut and needs adjusting once in a while. On the right hand side of the tiller, horse model.

 

[Spiros]

Howdy folks!
Just wanted to say thank you in advance for all of the wonderful info.
My father in law (86 years old) just dropped off his Troy Bilt Horse with this exact problem.
I had no idea what to do and I thought, Tractorbynet.
I will let everyone knows how it goes.

Thanks,
Spiros