147 Fan ?

[Nightow1]

Never owned a 147 before, It has some bad vibration when driving it, to the point of my but going NUMB! I noticed the fan shroud was loose , fixed it, then that the Fan will spin on the drive shaft??? What I mean is that if I hold the shaft I can spin the fan with my hand, The pin seems to be in there still and the fan is spinning on the section after the pin, if that makes any sense. Also since I have it apart, IS there anything else I should be looking to fix or replace for Preventative Maintenance???

[J-Mech]

Flex Disc joints, bent driveshaft, bad couplers, input shaft seal leaking.

[Nightow1]

Ok so basically the whole darn GT lol.

[J-Mech]

No, just the drivetrain.

[SpringSpecial53]

If you get the engine out and turn it over, you might check to see if someone has removed the balance gears. The 147 was the first Cub to have balance gears in it. The balance gears turn on needle bearings and these tend to wear. If they get worn enough they can come loose and cause major damage. To prevent this some people just remove the balance gears. I purchased a 1650 that the balance gears had been removed from and it vibrated just like you describe. I would be inclined to think that is what was done to your tractor. My personal preference is to retain the balance gears (Kohler put them in there for a reason) and just install new needle bearings (which are available). Most of these tractors have a lot of hours already and typically have made it this far with their balance gears still in. Therefore if you rebuild them to original spec., they should run a long time with balance gears and be a lot smoother.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by SpringSpecial53

If you get the engine out and turn it over, you might check to see if someone has removed the balance gears. The 147 was the first Cub to have balance gears in it. The balance gears turn on needle bearings and these tend to wear. If they get worn enough they can come loose and cause major damage. To prevent this some people just remove the balance gears. I purchased a 1650 that the balance gears had been removed from and it vibrated just like you describe. I would be inclined to think that is what was done to your tractor. My personal preference is to retain the balance gears (Kohler put them in there for a reason) and just install new needle bearings (which are available). Most of these tractors have a lot of hours already and typically have made it this far with their balance gears still in. Therefore if you rebuild them to original spec., they should run a long time with balance gears and be a lot smoother.

Most anyone who rebuilds these engines will disagree with you. They are unnecessary, and a grenade waiting to go off. Removing them causes no harm and no matter what anyone says it doesn't change the engine vibration that much. I severely doubt that his engine has anything to do with a vibration like was described. Bent/misaligned driveshaft is most likely the cause.

[Terry C]

Jmech is correct as usual. My 149 does not have balance gears and my 129 does
I can't tell any difference.

[Terry C]

Originally Posted by SpringSpecial53

If you get the engine out and turn it over, you might check to see if someone has removed the balance gears. The 147 was the first Cub to have balance gears in it. The balance gears turn on needle bearings and these tend to wear. If they get worn enough they can come loose and cause major damage. To prevent this some people just remove the balance gears. I purchased a 1650 that the balance gears had been removed from and it vibrated just like you describe. I would be inclined to think that is what was done to your tractor. My personal preference is to retain the balance gears (Kohler put them in there for a reason) and just install new needle bearings (which are available). Most of these tractors have a lot of hours already and typically have made it this far with their balance gears still in. Therefore if you rebuild them to original spec., they should run a long time with balance gears and be a lot smoother.

Maybe your rubber mounts are shot

[mortten]

And I don't think the 1650 ever had balance gears. I haven't seen them all but I never saw an AQS with balance gears

[Nightow1]

How hard is it to remove the Balance Gears?