Tweet
Terberta PMd me earlier this week regarding this, so... Terb? Consider this your reply from me following the above threads.
If your belt is reasonably tight, and you're only getting the drive clutch to engage a little bit (considering that you said you've got 1.5" of space to go to the top of the driven clutch...) I'd hazard a guess that you might have a broken spring or two in your drive clutch. This is really quite easy to check. Take the belt off, and either compress the drive clutch by hand by pushing the outside sheeve in, or alternatively... with the belt off, start the engine and start the engine until the clutch closes up and sticks shut. Do this with the engine cover down just in case there's a broken part that wants to eject from the clutch at a bo-zillion mph.
Just close it up by hand if you're sketched out.
You'll be able to look at the three cam-arms and the six return springs once she's closed up (sheeves together). You can also take the clutch bolt out and take the three small bolts off of the clutch cover (assuming it's a Salsbury clutch) and look at it, but the latter method is way easier. Blow it all out with some compressed air and lube things up with some graphite lubricant, typically available at any auto parts store. Don't use any wet, petroleum based lubricant as it'll just attract dust/dirt and contribute to wear faster.
If nothing's broken in there, I'd wager your driven clutch is providing too much resistance for whatever reason. There are three plastic "cam-sliders" on the driven clutch that are readily available and easily replaceable (and often overlooked) that are a regular maintenance item. If they're worn down to nubs or non-existent, you might be getting some extreme resistance where the aluminum helixes are rubbing on one another.
Check out the drive clutch first and maybe post a picture of the condition of both clutches. The flat 18 Briggs isn't a real screamer, but you should still be able to get 20-25mph out of that machine without any problem, depending of course on the primary sprocket size.
If your belt is reasonably tight, and you're only getting the drive clutch to engage a little bit (considering that you said you've got 1.5" of space to go to the top of the driven clutch...) I'd hazard a guess that you might have a broken spring or two in your drive clutch. This is really quite easy to check. Take the belt off, and either compress the drive clutch by hand by pushing the outside sheeve in, or alternatively... with the belt off, start the engine and start the engine until the clutch closes up and sticks shut. Do this with the engine cover down just in case there's a broken part that wants to eject from the clutch at a bo-zillion mph.
Just close it up by hand if you're sketched out.You'll be able to look at the three cam-arms and the six return springs once she's closed up (sheeves together). You can also take the clutch bolt out and take the three small bolts off of the clutch cover (assuming it's a Salsbury clutch) and look at it, but the latter method is way easier. Blow it all out with some compressed air and lube things up with some graphite lubricant, typically available at any auto parts store. Don't use any wet, petroleum based lubricant as it'll just attract dust/dirt and contribute to wear faster.
If nothing's broken in there, I'd wager your driven clutch is providing too much resistance for whatever reason. There are three plastic "cam-sliders" on the driven clutch that are readily available and easily replaceable (and often overlooked) that are a regular maintenance item. If they're worn down to nubs or non-existent, you might be getting some extreme resistance where the aluminum helixes are rubbing on one another.
Check out the drive clutch first and maybe post a picture of the condition of both clutches. The flat 18 Briggs isn't a real screamer, but you should still be able to get 20-25mph out of that machine without any problem, depending of course on the primary sprocket size.
Comment