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Good afternoon all,

I have a castle garden XE70 ride on mower, been running fine until recently. When engaging the Manual Cutting deck (Lever) I get a lot of vibration and the engine runs really rough and loud. Have been reading around and I think it may be the clutch? Also, after around 10 minutes of use the mower seems to give up and cut out once warm. Leave it a couple of minutes and she fires back up. No cooling fins are blocked?

Any ideas? Thank you all in advance.

The part about "vibration and loud" I'd say check your deck belt. Could be worn out, missing chunks, uneven...etc. How old is your mower?

nathan211 make sure you have throttled up all the way, and your feed must be too fast. if your transmission speed (feed) doesnt match your engine rpm's (speed) you'll get vibrations, and the belt could be unevenlly routed around your pulleys and idlers. check all engine mounting bolts going thru deck. DO all that then get back at me. welderbytrade

Thank you for your replies, my first instinct was engine mounting bolts a couple were loose so I tightened all those back up, will check the belt tomorrow hopefully if I've got some spare time. Can't see the belt being wrongly routed as it worked fine until now. As for the feed as you say the engine rpm is always up high before engaging the cutting deck, without the deck engaged the mower runs and drives really smooth in all gears.

Are we ruling out the clutch then? Is there any general maintenance I should perform on the clutch? Fairly new to all of this ride on mower business if you couldn't guess

Appreciate your help all.

Get under and have a real close look at the blade.
A very small difference in the weight will cause some bad vibrations.
Slip the belt off and spin the blades by hand.
It should rotate cleanly and quietly.

nathan211 said:

Good afternoon all,

I have a castle garden XE70 ride on mower, been running fine until recently. When engaging the Manual Cutting deck (Lever) I get a lot of vibration and the engine runs really rough and loud. Have been reading around and I think it may be the clutch? Also, after around 10 minutes of use the mower seems to give up and cut out once warm. Leave it a couple of minutes and she fires back up. No cooling fins are blocked?

Any ideas? Thank you all in advance.

Click to expand...

You mentioned "Manual Cutting deck (Lever)" that would mean you don't have a clutch.

It is a Stiga garden compact in a different colour.
The engine sits on the mower deck like a push mower and has the same type of blade clutch as a walk behind
There is a pair of sliding sheaves that take the drive back to a small F & R tranny, no diff.
24" 28" 30" & 32" cuts so it fits through a standard garden gate.
designed for European 1/6th to 1/2 acre blocks.
Tubular space frame, 1 piece plastic body . Brilliantly cleaver design but impossible to work on

I don't know anything about these mowers, but after doing a little research I believe they are very similar to our rear engine riders. That being said I would check the following. 1. Check the condition of the engine to deck belt. If it is worn or has not been replaced in the last 5 years I would replace it. 2. Check the condition of the tensioner idle pulley. Make sure that it is in good condition and turning smoothly. 3. Check the condition of the spindle assembly. Make sure it is tight and there is no sloppiness in the bearings. 4. Check the condition of the blade. Being a single blade unit, the blade must be sharp and balanced. Any or all of these parts will contribute to your problem. When you post back, please include the model and serial numbers off the ID tag.

Now before we all go off on a wrong tangent and get Nathan really confused, below are a few shots of one I have in the shop right now naked.
Well in the holding yard to be precise while the owner decides if he wants the shell out $ 750 for parts.
Think of it as the mower Ryobi would build if Ryobi made ride ons.
A great little machine in the right yard, does it's job really well, is really comfortable & easy to use but impossible to fix.
And the owners really love them, but designed as a throw away.
Before the temporary diverted landfill from China flooded the market down here the cheapest ride on available.
Marketed as the ride on for :"those who can not afford a ride on" or "for yards too small for a ride on "
When we were on $ parity with the USA they were $1200 and a commercial Honda self propelled was $ 1600
A space frame built around the deck which has the motor bolted on to it.
A European B & S engine so you can not get a parts break down off the B & S web site.
Not a fun job. Stripped to the state it is in now is 2 hours of hard yakka & I am yet to "fix" the vari drive and reassemble the mower so 6 hours labour minimum.


In photo 4 you can see the stripped starter gear, the large starter and the tiny gel cell that is supposed to power it.
The vari drive pulleys are both sprung the same way so if you stop in high then change to low before restarting , both pulleys separate fully thus , no drive.
As stated previously , 4 hours labour to spring the pulleys so they grip the belt again.
If the blade gets out of balance and sets up a vibration in the deck, because the engine is bolted to the deck this gets magnified by the time you get to the carb which shakes so bad it floods which makes the vibes worse and the engine dies.
To service the engine you remove the top cover and disconnect it from the body then lift the body off the engine/ deck unit.
all well & good , but then you have to set up alternate fuel supply and find some way of securing the assembly from the top. clear of the ground as it wont start without the weight of the blade
As you may have gathered, not my favourite mower to work on and a local shop sold hundreds of them just before he went to the wall.
The other repair shop in this area refuse to work on them and the closest Stiga shop is 40km away.
Stiga has been through 4 distribution agents in the past 6 years so parts are next to impossible to get so I now order Castle Garden parts from the UK which get here in 6 to 10 weeks and cost 2/3 of the local price.

Thanx for the update Bert, I guess my research skills need to go to an updated version. Sorry, for confusing you Nate. Disregard my post.

Very interesting machine. Thanks for the pics Bert. Most excellent! :thumbsup:

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, Bert is does seem as though that may be the case to be honest. Il try taking the blade off and engaging the deck to see if I still have vibration. This will alleviate problems with belts/pulleys/clutch etc. Although I do think the cutting out is down to either a grotty carb or a worn coil pack.

again, I appreciate all of your comments gents. wont be able to look at it today its almost work time here In the UK

Will post within the next day or so.