Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Can someone please explain how exactly the disc-o-matic works so I don't take mine apart to try to figure it out for myself?

Note: I know how to USE it, but am not quite sure how exactly it functions.

Hell, I understand DSGs, Auto trannys, SMGs, manuals, and CVTs more than I understand this.

Im sure if you wanted a faster reverse you could just cut out a new notch. ?

fatboy wrote:
If you look at the picture you'll see that the friction disc is located to the right  on the pinion. So  even if the assembly is shifted all the way to the left, the friction disc is still near the center of the hub. So it can't go too fast, even if you removed the shift gate altogether. There are some other mechanical detents and safeties built in that  I ignored, along with reverse - those are in Disc-O-Matic 102....

Yall have given me a great idea, though. I have a spare tractor unit. I'm going to call up a friend of mine at the Museum of Science in Boston and see if they'd like a display.

Wow, a reason to actually go to that goddamn museum(I have been over 1k times in my life).

Great description.  I always wondered how the tranny works in a blower. 

Yes, the rubber wheel does sometimes have to be replaced if it starts breaking apart. Here's a picture.

This was replaced by my friend Jim, who has a heated shop...I was going to do it, but it is too cold out for me...this is a summertime job....Jim did it for me yesterday....it is a friends snowblower.

Frank D.

faithfulFrank wrote:
That's ugly!

I sometimes wish that reverse was controlled by a mechanism that is separate from and independant of the speed control. That way you could have just as many forward as reverse speeds. Either that or a shift lever that moves further. There are a lot of times where I want to move the machine backwards and "R2" is just too slow If its a safety issue then you could make it so that to go faster than "R2" you have to make a concious effort of some sort. I.E. Move lever to right, push forward and then continue moving it right.

hi everyone,

can somebody explain this disc-o-matic system ?

do you need to stop the snowblower's moment in order to switch gears ?

thanks for any info.

Zippo.  Hi, there.  Yes, you do have to stop to change gears.  Same for reverse.  Only the Honda hydrostatic trannys allow you to shift as you keep moving.  But then, they don't have power steering.  Weird.

Update:  I wasn't so clear when I posted my first comment.  I was thinking of saving unneccesry wear on the rubber portion of the one disc.  You can shift while moving, but I'd prefer avoiding that possible extra wear.  It's certainly not a mechanical problem to change forward gears, or the reverse gears, but never go from forward to reverse, or vice versa, unless you stop beforehand.

coasteray wrote:
Actually you can shift on the fly. Just not from forward to reverse or vice versa or you could rupture the friction disk.

PK