Max II driving questions

[SCMay]

Doing some testing after getting my max back together.
Climbing, lets say a 30% hill grade, start at the bottom and in gear I give it gas and it climbs up the hill but the motor is bogged down a bit at WOT and goes up the hill but not that fast, and the revs only come up I'd say half way is that normal?

Then I tried a different method, in gear pulled back on the sticks, revved the motor then pushed forward and went fast up the hill, is that the normal process it get the revs up and then go?

Split shift is sweet, but the same thing with that is I have to rev the engine a bit, pull back on the forward side stick then to get it to spin pull back on the reverse stick and push forward with the forward stick. Is that normal?
With out doing that I can’t get it to turn on grass, but I can on loose stone.
Just trying to see if my engine is weak, it is an 18hp briggs, doesn’t burn oil but runs a bit rich.
Let me know what you guys think.
Thanks
Derek

[thebuggyman1]

My guess is that your belt is not adjusted correctly. ATV and Snowmobile Belts - by Dayco or the spring in your secondary could be weak, I'm going to change my machines out to red springs.
With the split shift sometimes it will turn easy and sometimes hard....actually this happens with regular turning too. It all has to do with how much grip the tires are getting.
Take it out in some soft dirt, spin and look at the tire patterns. You will see that your tires are sliding sideways. Some tires have more side bite than others too.
You will really like the split shift when turning in the water.

[Model Citizen]

Then I tried a different method, in gear pulled back on the sticks, revved the motor then pushed forward and went fast up the hill, is that the normal process it get the revs up and then go?

Just be careful doing this method, especially going uphill. Revving the motor & throwing the sticks forward is how we old timers do wheelies. (Works better with a 2 Stroke). So you don't want to do a wheelie going uphill & risk flipping yourself over. And always hold those sticks forward going uphill, always, no matter how slow you are going.

The 18 hp is a good motor, plenty of power. Maybe all you need is the idle adjusted? Around here we always check the simple stuff first.

Bridget

[SCMay]

Ok how do the clutches work?
I rev mine in neutral and the clutch on the motor moves in, then the one on the t20 moves toward the t20.
so when should the motor clutch kick in vs. the t20 clutch?
for low end torque climbing hill starting out, what do the clutches need to look like?

[thebuggyman1]

As engine rpm's go up the primary clutch closes, squeezing on the belt. More rpm's and it sqeezes harder making the belt ride up the pulley. This works against the spring pressure in the secondary. The tighter the secondary spring the harder the primary has to squeeze to make it ride up the pulley. Basically the movement in the clutches is a change in gear ratio....small dia primary/large dia secondary = low gear/ low hp required ..... If your belt is not adjusted right it allows the clutches to work out of sync, screwing up the ratio to engine hp.....

[Model Citizen]

Maybe you just need to move the motor back a bit to get that belt adjusted right, like Buggyman mentioned. Since you just got it back together, maybe it just needs some tweaking.

Bridget

[SCMay]

so what if the belt is a little loose what does that cause?
what if its to tight?
I have about 2'' up and down movment I see the the manual says 1.5'' so I need to tighten.

[thebuggyman1]

Did you read this: ATV and Snowmobile Belts - by Dayco
Here's the first paragraph: Tech Tip #1: Belt Deflection (Tension)
Belt deflection is very critical for proper clutch performance. If your deflection is too tight, the belt will burn on the clutch hub and you will lose top end. If the belt is too loose, it will allow the primary clutch to up-shift faster then the secondary clutch causing a low end bog and poor performance

[SCMay]

OK that helped, thanks
Now I did some testing and stopped on a hill had my engine cover off and looked at the belts gave it gas and saw the primary clutch move in a bit but the belt started to slip on the primary on the hill, had to give it more gas then it started to move the secondary clutch.
So does that sound like I need to tighten my belt even more?
Or is that normal for step incline, it is lot of machine to get moving on a step hill.
What is the trick to adjust the maxII belt? I ended up using a 2x2 piece of wood to wedge the engine back.
Is there anything you put on the belt to get it to grip better
Thanks for all the input.

[Model Citizen]

Don't know if your engine mount is slotted where the motor is bolted down. That's how you would make the adjustment. Move it back to get the right deflection & then bolt it down. If that doesn't make things better maybe your belt just needs replacing. If that doesn't work, maybe a clutch is bad. It's a process of elimination that sometimes you need to go through.

Bridget

[thebuggyman1]

If you were able to watch your belt while driving up a hill....in a MaxII....You're a better man than I. Amature contortionist?
I have no idea how much slip should occur, but I wouldn't put any kind of belt dressing on it.
The above link tells how to clean the clutch faces. If your belt is old the rubber may have hardened and isn't gripping as well as it should. Belts are kindof pricey, but much cheaper than clutches.