How some of the controls work 1983 420 Steiner.

[Chex]

Hi its been awhile...
Asked to get a neighbors Steiner (Husband deceased) running,
I managed to get it in neutral and with a spare battery I had it turned over and fired up on ether. I'll solve the reason it isn't getting gas this week..That isn't my problem.

Can someone give me an understanding of the controls? Is there a parking brake? Also what lifts the front attachment? I can get more pics if needed. So I have the throttle on the left, the headlight (which works )on the lower left. On the right I assume that is forward and reverse. Is it pull back for reverse with the knob on top being pushed up? Is that a parking brake lower Right? The choke is upper right behind the motivator control.

It is a B&S 18Hp engine. I found one gas petcock lower driver side of the fuel tank. It has fuel at that point. I will be replacing the fuel line and filter and making sure there is gas getting to the carb , at which point I am sure it will start as it purred when I put fuel in the carb...It is just not pumping it there. If it is a fuel pump failure I'll ask more questions on that. I want to drive it to 600 yards to my garage so I can have space and tools to work on it. It needs an oil change and the hydraulic oil changed...I'll be using a JD hydraulic oil that I use for my JD 1026R.

The elderly woman wants to be able to plow her own snow...Even tho I let her know I'll be mowing her lawn and plowing her out for as long as she is there.

Any control info would be appreciated.
Thank you
Regards
Dave

 

[johara1]

If I wanted to move it, I would find neutral, it would be between hi and low range so it will move. take the deck off and let it sit there and drag it up to your place..... Jim

 

[Chex]

I found neutral otherwise it wouldn't crank over as it has a lockout. I wasn't sure if you could drag it in neutral without damaging anything. There is electric where its at so I can get it running where its at.

How do you put it in hi or low is that the lever top right you have to lift up on the knob...I'll have this running tomorrow unless the fuel pump is bad and I plan on driving it to my house...Neighbor will not need to plow snow this month, so there isn't any rush. Does the front just have a lever to release it? Than you take the belt off?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Hi its been awhile...
Asked to get a neighbors Steiner (Husband deceased) running,
I managed to get it in neutral and with a spare battery I had it turned over and fired up on ether. I'll solve the reason it isn't getting gas this week..That isn't my problem.

Can someone give me an understanding of the controls? Is there a parking brake? Also what lifts the front attachment? I can get more pics if needed. So I have the throttle on the left, the headlight (which works )on the lower left. On the right I assume that is forward and reverse. Is it pull back for reverse with the knob on top being pushed up? Is that a parking brake lower Right? The choke is upper right behind the motivator control.

It is a B&S 18Hp engine. I found one gas petcock lower driver side of the fuel tank. It has fuel at that point. I will be replacing the fuel line and filter and making sure there is gas getting to the carb , at which point I am sure it will start as it purred when I put fuel in the carb...It is just not pumping it there. If it is a fuel pump failure I'll ask more questions on that. I want to drive it to 600 yards to my garage so I can have space and tools to work on it. It needs an oil change and the hydraulic oil changed...I'll be using a JD hydraulic oil that I use for my JD 1026R.

The elderly woman wants to be able to plow her own snow...Even tho I let her know I'll be mowing her lawn and plowing her out for as long as she is there.

Any control info would be appreciated.
Thank you
Regards
Dave
View attachment 708929View attachment 708931

View attachment 708928

They need to quit selling ether. It has caused too much work in my life. I saw a 2 year old tractor 50 up, loader, nice rig. Ran out of fuel and tried to start on ether, needed rings and pistons that very same day. Cracked the piston and there went the compression. They traded it in and one of us mechanics bought it. I saw the old pistons. Didnt take but a few minutes of starting fluid out on grandpa's deer lease.

 

[Chex]

2 year old tractor is the key...Not much to worry about an engine that has run for 40 years.

Lets do this tho I am 62 and a retired OTR truck driver. We ran ether starters in our Peterbuilt's for 30 years. I mean it has ether starters canisters built right into the starting system. Never caused a problem...It saves us $100K's avoiding electric heaters and stranded trucks. I guess if you spent a half hour and a half a can of starting fluid you might have an issue. But a spritz to find out if you have a spark...yeah no. I think I already said it fired right up, instantly telling me it had a good spark and the engine ran good. That also told me it wasn't getting fuel..If you wanna pull the spark plugs go ahead.

Could we not waste time with that?

I appreciate a response...but any chance you can answer the questions I asked instead of a pissing contest?

Next week I'll post a Youtube video of how to work the controls on one of these and go over every control so the next person can find this info instantly...For right now tho it would be great to find an actual owner.

EDIT: Good someone at MTF posted the operators manual for me. Question answered.
Here it is if anyone else ever needs it.

 

[johara1]

The neutral lever. I mentioned is the one between low and high range, so it can be towed or moved. Neutral between forward and reverse should center itself there.
There should be a lever to un hook the the mower and a second lever to loosen the belt that drives the mower and slip it off the pulley on tractor...... Jim

 

[johara1]

Both those 420 manuals are way too new and I never saw one with a Brigs... but better than nothing.... Jim

 

[MountainBuck]

Per the manual that you posted, it specifically states to only use:

Steiner Trans-Hydraulic Oil or Texas Refinery
Corp. 6440 Universal Torque Fluid.

.. and furthermore NOT to use any other type of fluid. (page 17)

so I would reconsider using JD fluid.

 

[Chex]

Disagree about the oil...Whatever meets the same standard is fine....This thing has not had Steiner oil in it in 30 years...Deere and Harley Davidson say the same thing along with most motorcycle brands....Oil that meets the same standard is key...The gentleman who passed away had the oil he used in the tool box. My personal experience over 50 years is changing the oil at correct intervals matters more. Amsoil 5-30 hydro xl is what he has been using...How often the old gentleman changed it is a question...Oh and I did read the manual's


Anyway here is a vid got it running today.

 

[Chex]

The neutral lever. I mentioned is the one between low and high range, so it can be towed or moved. Neutral between forward and reverse should center itself there.
There should be a lever to un hook the the mower and a second lever to loosen the belt that drives the mower and slip it off the pulley on tractor...... Jim

Thanks Jim, over the last week figured out most of the controls. I'll be testing them tomorrow. Have not had much time to mess with this over the last week's.