clutch alignment

[plott hound]

need a little advice before i button my old argo back up.while testing my clutches i observed that the driver clutch is offset from the driven clutch about 1/4".this seems to be perfect for when the sheaves open up but at idle,the driven is being drove when in neutral.this causes the trans to grind when its put into gear.when im in gear i can hold the brakes on and shift with no grinding.is this normal?

cheers.

[Mike]

It sounds like your engine may be idled a little too high causing the clutches to stay engaged. Could that be the case? If it doesn't sound like it is idled too high, try choking the engine before you shift and see if that drop in RPM allows the clutches to stop completely.

[plott hound]

thanks mike,i dropped the idle down so it would barely run.the driven clutch still spins though.did not try choking it yet,will mess with it through the week after work.i read a few other members having the same issues with older argos,they over came the issue by shifting into reverse then into forward.guess i gotta get the hang of it.

cheers.

[Paquette]

Would a narrower belt fix it ?

[plott hound]

dont really want to go to a narrow belt because everything runs nice and smooth as it is.i just have to feather the throttle and the machine creeps ahead.mike was righr,if i give it just a little choke i can shift with no grinding,

thanks guys.

[racerone3]

your belt/ clutch alignment sounds about right. the center of the pulleys shouldn't be exactly in line. the grinding when going into gear is a common complaint of the old argo tranys. i always used the reverse, then forward trick on the mid 80's argo that i had. takes a little practice to make the switch from reverse to whatever gear your looking for, but it's better than having it grind. mine had a false neutral between lo and high and i would sometimes hit that and then have to grind it into gear anyway. glad to hear that you have it up and running and the yard has been properly torn up... as often as i build and rebuild machines, ours stays torn up... the less i have to mow, the more time i have to play with 6 wheelers

[plott hound]

your belt/ clutch alignment sounds about right. the center of the pulleys shouldn't be exactly in line. the grinding when going into gear is a common complaint of the old argo tranys. i always used the reverse, then forward trick on the mid 80's argo that i had. takes a little practice to make the switch from reverse to whatever gear your looking for, but it's better than having it grind. mine had a false neutral between lo and high and i would sometimes hit that and then have to grind it into gear anyway. glad to hear that you have it up and running and the yard has been properly torn up... as often as i build and rebuild machines, ours stays torn up... the less i have to mow, the more time i have to play with 6 wheelers

thanks racerone3,mine to has a false reverse bettween low and high.thought i had a problem with the trany.when my clutches are at rest the belt sits to the left side of driver clutch looking from the back.was thinking about trying to shim the driver out,but if your saying that what i have seems normal i better just leave well enough alone.

[racerone3]

if you watch the clutches as they operate, your belt should move into better alignment as the rpm's increase. a quarter inch offset seems a little much to me though, i was thinking 1/8 to 3/16. i remember some discussion of it before, but can't find the thread

[plott hound]

well after messing around with different shims im no further ahead.defintely this gear grinding seems to be the nature of the beast.certainly no biggie,just wanted to find out for myself.