| Vintage Sears Garden Tractors |
I had been hearing a knocking noise coming from the starter side of the engine for a while. It
didn't seem to be getting any worse, so I just figured I'd look into it another day. Well, that day
came sooner than planned. All of a sudden today there were grinding, clanging and other
assorted bad noises coming from the motor. I shut it down quickly and pushed the tractor over
to the garage. It didn't take too long to find the problem; the mounting tangs on the starter
pulley had broken off. Not a problem, cause I had a couple more of the pullies laying in my
parts heap. The funny part was, all of them had the same new primer paint color. I wonder if
this is a high failure item? I wonder why it broke? Did I tighten the belt too much? Is it just a
weak part? I needed new mounting bolts too, as the old ones were almost sheared through.
BTW: I have found that the starter belt slips unless you use the toothed belt. I think it turns the
small radius of the starter pulley better, giving more grip.
didn't seem to be getting any worse, so I just figured I'd look into it another day. Well, that day
came sooner than planned. All of a sudden today there were grinding, clanging and other
assorted bad noises coming from the motor. I shut it down quickly and pushed the tractor over
to the garage. It didn't take too long to find the problem; the mounting tangs on the starter
pulley had broken off. Not a problem, cause I had a couple more of the pullies laying in my
parts heap. The funny part was, all of them had the same new primer paint color. I wonder if
this is a high failure item? I wonder why it broke? Did I tighten the belt too much? Is it just a
weak part? I needed new mounting bolts too, as the old ones were almost sheared through.
BTW: I have found that the starter belt slips unless you use the toothed belt. I think it turns the
small radius of the starter pulley better, giving more grip.
| Click picture to enlarge |
Click picture to enlarge
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