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

I have a JD 1130 . My wife was using today and I noticed her shifting forward gears without stopping. Will it hurt the machine?  In the manual it says not to do it. She said she had done it several times  and it always worked . I just hope she hasn't caused any damge.

Yes, you have to release the drive lever and come to a stop, then shift it and you are good to go. Anything with a hydrostaic transmission (like Honda) is different you can adjust your speed on the fly. I think there are some other brands with the same type of transmission as Honda. But yes, she has to stop then shift.

The manual for my new Ariens says that you can shift among various forward speeds without having to stop first.  It does say, however, that you have to stop before shifting into one of the two reverse speeds.  This is not a hydrostatic transmission, but perhaps it differs from earlier multiple-speed trannys.

That's exactly right amazer.  As long as the machine is moving forward it won't hurt anything.  The drive wheel will just slide to a different position over the aluminum disc.  However moving to reverse with it engaged brings it to the neutral position which puts increased wear on the rubber drive wheel.  In the neutral position with it engage the aluminum disc is spinning with the rubber wheel at full pressure, but the rubber wheel doesn't turn.  Many basic riding lawn mowers used this same disc drive over the years including snapper.  Here is a quote from Snapper's manual for their riding lawn mower which uses a five speed disc drive transmission.

"During forward motion, the transmission shift

lever may be placed in any desired forward speed

without depressing the clutch/brake pedal."

The Toro guy was very specific that if you did move the lever it would not actually move faster until you released the drive lever and then it would shift to another gear and they were specific that neither I nor my wife should do it. I guess different brands have different rules. My bad.

I'm not sure how Toro makes their drive so maybe you're right about Toro.

On a related note, I have a question.  Our Ariens Platinum 24 has 6 forward gears.  The fastest gear isn't particularly fast.  It is faster than I would use for blowing more than 3 inches or so, but no faster than a medium-speed walk.  On 1970 vintage Ariens that had (I think) 4 forward gears, I recall that the fastest gear was at a very brisk walking speed (maybe even at almost a jogging speed), clearly intended for a brisk return to the barn or quick hike to a neighbor's drive.

Is it possible that my blower should be moving faster in 6th gear?  Perhaps there's a way to adjust this.  First gear is nice and slow, but 6th gear isn't fast enough.  I find that the speed difference between most of my gears is minute.

The friction disc drive was patented in 1904 by John Lambert. Here is a quote from the John-meister himself:

"In practice I have found that this combination of aluminum and fiber bearing surfaces gives the maximum
degree of friction and durability, thereby especially adapting the gearing for use on motor vehicles of the
heavier kind, where the friction surfaces are at times subjected to great strains, and must, therefore, have
a frictional contact of a high degree of efficiency in order to avoid slipping. It will be observed that the
aluminum is advantageous also, because it will not tarnish or rust appreciably, but will always present a
smooth, clean surface to the fiber periphery, so that wear will be reduced to a minimum."

and John oughta know -- his Lambert touring cars were quite sucessful. Here's one with the friction disc exposed:

 

 Now if John says they must have a high degree of frictional contact, I believe him.
So shifting while the disc is firmly in contact would cause excessive wear to the components.
Toro would agree -- they say not to do it in my manual.

Here's a snowblower friction disc:

 

It seems obvious from the size of the spring holding the rubber wheel to the plate that moving it without releasing
it is going to cause wear. After all it's tight enough to carry a load of 9, 10, 11 or more foot-lbs of torque.

Anyway that Lambert friction wheel would be an awesome mod for high speed travel over to the neighbor's driveway!

The friction disk drive is brilliant in it's simplicity.  When I first took apart a snow blower, I didn't get it until I move the gearshift lever and watched what happened. 

What really made me smile is when I shifted into reverse and it's so obvious what happens that you can't believe it at first.