changing the deck drive pulley on 701

[slyacer 3]

Hello guys....my name is Terry and im new to the forums as of about 30 minutes ago.

Last week i traded a Whites GT1855 Yard Boss with a twin 18hp briggs engine with weak oil rings. It also had 27 inch tires on back with hydraulic 55 inch deck and 3 point hitch. I traded it to a fairly decent 701 horse with a few minor cosmetic issues but nothing really major.

It has a kohler 8hp..(is that what originally came on these)? It runs like a sewing machine.....and ive never seen an engine that could idle so slow without stalling. I literally can listen to the points click and the valves open and close and can go through all three gears at this idle speed and walk beside it uphill. That amazes me.

It need a right foot thing. The peg is there but it doesnt have the foot. if anyone has one they can throw my way let me know....even if it may need welded or something thats split, fractured or broken in half because im good with my mig welder.

Its also missing the starter and flywheel gaurd....can anyone point me to one?. I know it has a few pieces missing that Ill need to pick up along the way. But right at the minute im flat broke due to some health problems keeping me from being able to work every day...(in the process of trying to get my SSI)

But anyway i traded my Whites even to the horse...another 8hp kohler that runs like new as a spare...(just needs a new coat of paint) a Honda 5hp side shaft engine that runs great....and some transmission parts for a Husvarna T50 rear tine roto tiller that im trying to scrap together so ill finally be able to raise a little garden. I turned down $650 cash for the Whites in order to make this trade...did i mess up?

But enough rambling. I dont know if all 701 style tractors are like mine or not.....but my deck doesnt finish mow very well....it turns slow and reminds me of a bush hog on the back of a tractor. Is this normal? I mean everything works as it should and i just sharpened the blades and replaced the drive belt to the deck but it still doesnt turn half the speed of a regular lawnmower deck.

A friend of mine told me to put a bigger deck drive pulley on the engine and that will speed my deck alot......but my problem is that i havent been able to find a double or triple pulley with a larger deck drive pulley without making my tranny drive pulley bigger as well. i need to keep those pulleys the original size right? But try to find a pulley setup that has a standard tranny pulley but has a deck pulley thats larger?

I do have a double pulley on the other kohler engine thats bigger on both the deck and tranny but that would mean having to shotrten the tranny belt by an inch or more to compensate for the bigger pulley.....also that would screw up my low gear ratio to my tranny and the tractor would be going to fast in low gear to control properly...and also if im on a hillside i want the engine to be able to hold me back so i dont have to keep riding the brake. The other scenario with this is that the larger pulley means i have to trim a couple inches off the belt guard that covers the tranny drive belt. because the cover on mine goes right up to the pulley pretty much and the larger (even though its just an inch larger) pulley will be hitting the guard bad and wont go behind the guard. but then again if 1 inch doesnt change the transmission gearing very much i dont mind trimming the gaurd to be able to have a better speed on the deck....But honestly i DO NOT like the slow speed of the blades.....and the deck bearings are like new and i can take my air compressor nozzle and blow on the blades and turn them...they turn that smooth.

But is that slow speed normal for these tractors?

And if changing the pulley doesnt speed it up a whole heck of alot...i may end up having to corral this horse and trying to trade the guy back out of my Whites (if he will) because i cant handle the grass that is left sticking up and cant mow lower than the high notch on the deck because the blades dont turn fast enough to make a smooth cut unless i mow in first gear. I know with my old Whites i was able to be in high range and could go as fast as the tractor would run and still cut on three on the deck and never bog down or have to go over the lawn twice to make it smooth.

My (soon to be wife) has been giving me down the road because she wants her yard to be short and done fairly quick. As far as the tractor working as a miniature tractor i couldnt ask for anything better because the thing pulls like a tank.

Any advice and help would be very very appreciated because frankly i cant handle much more hair kicked off my butt.....shes kicked the tar out of me ever since i traded.....im sore...HAHA.

Heres a couple pictures of my little 701

PS: does anyone have an extra brake pad they arent using? my liner dryrotted and fell apart on the ground. if anyone has a used liner or spare just the carbon liner i can epoxy it back into my metal casing.....im desperate.

Thanks very much guys for listening to my rambling on and on

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,757]

Sounds like you have belts slipping.

 

Be very careful - you are missing  the side panels on the mower. Don't want to see you missing toes. Those blades come right to the outside of that deck. We are instucted to shorten new blades for this model and rebalance. That may be why the panels are missing.

 

Manual

 

Garry

[slyacer 3]

i put a new belt and added an extra deck engagement spring. its not slipping.

the blades just are slow....not super slow...but only about half the speed of a regular riding mower and the grass piles under the deck more than blowing it out.

it like a bush hog....i mean it cuts grass and will cut tall grass...but its just slow so it doesnt make for a clean cut unless im running wide open in first gear....like i posted earlier...my other mowers can run in high gear and throws the grass out and the blades sound like an airplane....with the wh its like a house fan trying to cut grass....just too slow to be smooth