Ransomes Motor Triple MK4 mower drive

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hello!

I am a new member who has just treated myself to a Ransomes Motor Triple Mk4 to cut the village football pitch for my son and his mates.

It drives beautifully, but the mower cutters engage and seem to go on and off by themselves. I have tried to keep the mowers rotating by wedging a stick against the clutch drive leaver to hold it out but doesn’t seem to do much. It drives forward and back with no problems at all but the cutters seem to have a mind of their own when they should be working.

Any top tips or advice would be very gratefully received!

Thanks a million, Nick

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[trusty220]

Do all of the cylinders stop at the same time, or is it just one or two?

One tip that I did pick up when I used to work on them full time was to always keep the cylinders adjusted so that they cut paper. If you have long “beards” of grass folded around the front of the bottom blades then that could be your problem.

These machines will cut extremely well but they are in constant need of adjustment.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hi, yes all of the cylinders stop at the same time, speed up at the same time. I think it may be the mower engagement or clutch arrangement but no idea if this is hard to change or where I would go to get spares.

As you sit on the mower on the right the drive pulley that operates the cutters engages smoothly but keeps speeding up and slowing down and stopping even on a perfectly cut pitch which led me to think it may be the mower drive / engage clutch that is at fault.

Thanks fore the top tip though, much appreciated. First job I have done is to fit a little inkeeping tool box on the back as I completly understand what you say about adjustment!

[trusty220]

It sounds like the cutter clutch is slipping; this may be because the cutters are out of adjustment or the clutch plates and springs may be worn.

You are obviously attending to the on-cut adjustment, so if this does not cure it then you will have to remove the cutter clutch assembly. To do this you have to remove the four 3/8 UNF bolts holding the bracket onto the side frame. Take off the belts as well, and then the whole assembly should pull off the shaft. I say “should”, but quite often an older one would be seized onto the drive shaft so you have to get a large pry bar and use a bit of excessive force.

Once you have the assembly removed the only way to start dismantling is to put the end of the tapered key (holding the pulley on) in a vice and smack the end of the centre shaft with a brass drift to separate them. You should then be able to take the pulley off the shaft; the next part is to release the locking ring on the bearing and remove the bracket from the shaft. The clutch can then be slid off the shaft.

To dismantle the clutch assembly there used to be a special tool which compressed the three clutch pins so that the snap rings can be removed, then when the tension is released the clutch comes apart easily.

We always used to replace the pins, springs and snap rings when servicing the clutch. The “ears” on the outer plates used to burr over, and we always used to file these burrs off before re-assembly.

That should cure your problem. If you need parts I understand Bartrums Mowers bought all of the old stock from Ransomes when they got rid of their obsolete Motor Triple spares.

Good luck.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Thank you so much fort your advice, I really appreciate it! Have made a start today and will keep you posted on progress!

On a separate note – a rather bizzar question but when working these machines, what tools or favourite spanners did you keep in a tool box for running repairs?

Thanks a million! Nick

[trusty220]

You can dismantle most of the machine with a pair of 9/16″ spanners (most of the bolts are 3/8 UNF). You certainly need 9/16 to adjust the cylinders, so two of those are a must.

The roll pins in the “walking sticks” either side of the seat used to go regularly and we used to replace them with Spirol Pins (I think that was the trade name). They were made from spring steel sheet rolled around four or five times into a spiral and used to be a little more flexible than the normal roll pins. A pin punch and a hammer are essential for this job.

Otherwise, a pair of pliers, duct tape, welder and elastoplast would be a good move! Oh, and a book of swear words that are in common usage!

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