Hello from Michael in Aix en Provence in France

[pick2610]

Hi,

I'm new here. To introduce myself - We live in Aix en Provence in the south of France where i recently retired after working on nuclear fusion in the worlds larges fusion reactor project. We have a house with 5 acres, but probable 3 of those are forest. A large portion consists of an olive grove with 100 trees and very bumpy grass underneath. I have a 2001 John Deere LTR 166 mower.
i will try to post my first serious problem in the appropriate section - if i can find it

hoping to hear from you,

Michael (aka pick2610)

my problemi is that i started the new mowing season by changing the oil, the plugs, air filter, gas filter etc. The engine worked a dream. Then I mowed most of the garden but decided to stop for the day . The next day I started it again and this time the machine shook badly when I engaged the mower so that i could nor mow. Then I removed and checked the mower unit. All looked fine except that the primary belt had a crack in it - was held together on the wide section only. So i exchanged the belt. On restarting and engaging the mower it was the same as befor - strong shaking. The only other problem that I can detect is that the belt keeper (L) and the belt guide (M) are missing. Could not get replacement yet> Can that be the reason?

 

[ILENGINE]

Belt guides missing won't cause the shaking you are talking about. Check all the pulleys for something stuck in the groove. Sometimes a stick or rocks will get hung in the pulley V. Other causes would be a bend blade shaft, bend blade, or something wrapped around the blade, which appears that you ruled out.

 

[mechanic mark]

Troubleshooting owners manual for your tractor, also check idler pulley bearings for being worn out.

Operating

 

[bertsmobile1]

Welcome.
the boys seem to have nailed most of the possibilities but as the landlord grown olives, what variety do you grow ?

 

[pick2610]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

On the basis of what you advised I took the mower apart and checked everything carefully. The only thing I found that was indeed a problem was that the timing belt had delaminated in one area. So I then changed that belt too, after having changed the drive belt before. I carefully cleaned and put everything together again.....AND.... when I try to engage the mower the engine stops even before the mower is fully engaged. I am devastated as I have done this before many ties....I am obviously doing something wrong but am clueless what it could be, I careful followed each step of the manual.

devastated!

 

[pick2610]

Welcome.
the boys seem to have nailed most of the possibilities but as the landlord grown olives, what variety do you grow ?

Thank you for the warm welcome. I hope that i will get my mower working before the grass is knee high. Regarding my olives, we bought the house with the trees already planted and they are all of different varieties. However, last year we had no olives as the olive fruit fly devastated the whole olive harvest in the south of France as well as in Italy. Hopefully better this year.

 

[pick2610]

Problem Solved

OK - so it was something stupid but it works now. The spark plugs were not screwed in tightly.. The engine sounded fine but under load it gave up. Easily fixed. I will know for the future.

Thanks to all.