The PTO clutch on my old JD 317 died recently , and today I got around
to figuring out why . The rivets that hold the clutch disk to the pulley assembly had vanished ! Wore plumb off down to nubbins is more like it .
So I jumped on the interwebs to see what it would cost to replace ...
and there ain't no way in hell I'm going to drop 250 bucks for this part .
So I got to inspecting and figured out that I could machine some
rivets from a piece of hot rolled 1/2 inch mild steel . And it worked .
Got the assembly riveted back together and installed then headed for a
pile of brush to test it . This is actually a mower deck that the PTO
drives , but I frequently use it to clear underbrush -mostly vines and
saplings under an inch in diameter - so I can get to dead/downed trees
for fire wood . Some of that duty will be going to the Yanmar ,
especially a couple of areas that are pretty open of heavy underbrush
and closely spaced trees. Rusty (the JD) does a good job of cutting a
path so I can drag out bigger pieces with The Gook (these machines were
built in 'Nam after our gov't stabbed us vets in the back) .
--
Snag
We live in a time where intelligent people
are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

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On Sun, 6 Jul 2025 21:30:55 -0500
Snag <[email protected]> wrote:

<snip>

So I jumped on the interwebs to see what it would cost to replace ...
and there ain't no way in hell I'm going to drop 250 bucks for this part .

Nice job!

I noted the price these electric clutches go for many years ago when
shopping for a "new" riding mower. Some have decreased since then but I question the quality nowadays...

I pop mine on once starting out, once more where I have to pass over a
rough gravely spot and then off when done (~2.5 hours). I cringe
listening to other people mowing with that clutch engaging/disengaging
every few minutes and knowing how much they cost😬

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

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On 7/7/2025 10:21 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:

"Leon Fisk"  wrote in message news:104glsm$2tkl8$[email protected]...

On Sun, 6 Jul 2025 21:30:55 -0500
Snag <[email protected]> wrote:

<snip>

So I jumped on the interwebs to see what it would cost to replace ...
and there ain't no way in hell I'm going to drop 250 bucks for this
part .

Nice job!

I noted the price these electric clutches go for many years ago when
shopping for a "new" riding mower. Some have decreased since then but I question the quality nowadays...

I pop mine on once starting out, once more where I have to pass over a
rough gravely spot and then off when done (~2.5 hours). I cringe
listening to other people mowing with that clutch engaging/disengaging
every few minutes and knowing how much they cost😬
Leon Fisk
------------------------------------

The electric PTO mowing clutch on my heavily used ~1987 Sears GT18
garden tractor needed adjustment (like everything else) when I inherited
it but otherwise still works.

Many of the adjustments are much easier on a lift unless you are a teen
or contortionist. The owner lived on an island off the Maine coast, far
from Sears service or most other tokens of modern civilization as we
know it.

I saved on the clutch only to find the new in March fuel pump has died
. The original had replaceable check valves - if you could figure out
which ones you needed - these are molded into the plastic top section .
The outlet valve isn't closing and it's fuel starved . And that little
bastard wasn't cheap , 35 bucks plus and it fails in like 3 months .
I briefly considered mounting an "IV bottle" to gravity feed but
that's a bit too "country" even for me .
--
Snag
We live in a time where intelligent people
are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

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On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 11:52:37 -0500
Snag <[email protected]> wrote:

<snip>

I saved on the clutch only to find the new in March fuel pump has died
. The original had replaceable check valves - if you could figure out
which ones you needed - these are molded into the plastic top section .
The outlet valve isn't closing and it's fuel starved . And that little >bastard wasn't cheap , 35 bucks plus and it fails in like 3 months .
I briefly considered mounting an "IV bottle" to gravity feed but
that's a bit too "country" even for me .

Mine would stumble at times and catch again. Usually on HOT days and
after running the gas tank maybe to half or less (filled before
mowing). It has a Kohler Command 25hp 2-cyl on it with a Crankcase
Pulse Fuel Pump. Just put up with it for awhile but it kinda bugged me.
I ordered a cheap replacement pump and a new air filter on a hunch. The
Air Filter looked okay but had oil from the rocker cover (vapor
recovery) contaminating it. Replacing the Air Filter got rid of the
stumble, didn't need the new pump. Has been a couple years now and
hasn't happened since. The vapor recovery is a direct shot into the
intake, bypasses the Air Filter. Think it was sucking so hard on the
vapor recovery that it was messing up the amount of "pulse" available
for the fuel pump...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

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On 7/6/2025 7:30 PM, Snag wrote:

 The PTO clutch on my old JD 317 died recently , and today I got around
to figuring out why . The rivets that hold the clutch disk to the pulley assembly had vanished ! Wore plumb off down to nubbins is more like it .
So I jumped on the interwebs to see what it would cost to replace ...
and there ain't no way in hell I'm going to drop 250 bucks for this part .
  So I got to inspecting and figured out that I could machine some
rivets from a piece of hot rolled 1/2 inch mild steel . And it worked .
Got the assembly riveted back together and installed then headed for a
pile of brush to test it .

Like a lot of things, rivets (not pop rivets) used to intimidate me
until one day I peened a piece of steel rod into a rivet to hold
together some tongs. I've applied the "skill" to a few things since
then. A hammer is an even more useful tool than I thought.

Anyway, good job.


This is actually a mower deck that the PTO

drives , but I frequently use it to clear underbrush -mostly vines and saplings under an inch in diameter - so I can get to dead/downed trees
for fire wood . Some of that duty will be going to the Yanmar ,
especially a couple of areas that are pretty open of heavy underbrush
and closely spaced trees. Rusty (the JD) does a good job of cutting a
path so I can drag out bigger pieces with The Gook (these machines were
built in 'Nam after our gov't stabbed us vets in the back) .

Sorry to hear that. I grew up hearing first hand recountings and tall
tales from Vietnam vets. Regardless of the reason for the war, thank
you for going.

My Uncle Paul was a radio man with a recon unit. He used to tell about
a recurring dream he had about coming up over a hill and seeing a
blinding flash, and then the dream ending. Then one day on patrol they
came up over a hill and everything looked exactly as it did in his
dream. They topped the hill, nothing happened, and they went down the
other side. He's not around to tell that story any more.

He told another one to explain some scars on his chest. He was dog
tired and crashed in his tent. He didn't even wake up when a rat was
chewing on him. His tent mate's M16 woke him when he blew the rat right
off of him. I imagine some of those scars could have been from muzzle
flash too. I wasn't there of course.


--
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

--
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On 7/7/2025 2:54 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:

"Bob La Londe"  wrote in message news:104h7sh$2mv7h$[email protected]...

Like a lot of things, rivets (not pop rivets) used to intimidate me
until one day I peened a piece of steel rod into a rivet to hold
together some tongs. I've applied the "skill" to a few things since
then.  A hammer is an even more useful tool than I thought.

Anyway, good job.

------------------------------------

In the blacksmithing class I learned some of the remarkable range of
things a smith can make with only a hammer and anvil, such as the lap-
joint tongs they use, and square cornered angle braces. Alexander
Weyger's book goes further to forging chisels with tapered sockets for
their handles.

The most remarkable hammer and anvil achievement is knights' armor. The curves can be formed by hammering over a depression in end grain wood or
a leather sandbag, as can repair panels for car fenders. The most
difficult panel I've made was for a rust-through where a rear inner
wheel well transitioned to a tapered shock mount tower, the thickest was
14 gauge steel formed into trumpet bells as the pivoting socket for
acorn cap feet on hoist legs.

I straightened out a badly dented motor housing end cap from learning
about some of that armor work in this very group. I walked outside,
tossed the motor housing cover in the sand, and knelt down to beat it
out with a hammer. It looks like it was beat out with a hammer, but it
looks better than you might think. Best part is the motor's separate
cooling fan now clears. That would have been between 15 and 19 years ago.


--
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

--
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www.avg.com

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