Wristpin

I was aware of that disc but I didn’t mention it as I thought that it was an early version that was superseded by the one on the arm. I believe that the lollipop was to act as a pressure plate to Sandwich the friction plate between itself and the pulley. The “stick” stopped it rotating. I’ve got several 300/350 manuals and parts lists but none of them show the lollipop nor the friction disc.

Howard 350 cone clutch brake0001.pdf I did hope that a Howard expert would come to your rescue. I’ve never owned a 300/350 but have worked on a few. A while back there was a clutch thread on another forum https://www.vhgmc.co.uk/forums/topic/howard-300-rotovator/ But I’m not sure that there is anything useful there for you. I will scan and post an image of the cone clutch set up with a brake. Having worked on a few over the years and being kind I would call the brake a bit of a lash up . Unless someone tells me that I’ve been doing it all incorrectly it seems a very fine line between disengaging the clutch and the application of the brake on the driven ( female) cone - needing frequent adjustment. It is also important that the thrust bearing is in good condition and not partially seized. Image to follow. https://myoldmachine.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=40650

Air filter elements , either sponge or paper are available from aftermarket suppliers such as JAPG or Garden Hire Spares.

I believe that Villiers Services do. No personal experience of them.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rwdlxdekndvti9e/MAG 2055 WS Manual0001.pdf?dl=0

Well, there was life pre Internet . My business career started with paper manuals, then microfiche, CDs, DVDs, downloads and now it’s “all “ in the cloud ; but only if someone has put it there. It’s a good job that some of us have hung on to the paper manuals - but not for much longer!

Sorry, didn't realise that this thread was still live. Main drive SPA 1900 Secondary SPA800 Front units SPA850 Rear unit SPA1120 I don't remember the belts being difficult to fit, in fact we fitted stronger springs for one customer who always tried to cut too much at a time. Little and often was the order of the day. The Lawn Ranger was replaced by the Turf Trooper which addressed most of the short comings of the original machines.

Very impressive but bear in mind the old adage that all the available kit (and clutter) will eventually fill all the available space!

Is an insurance company footing the bill? Either way a visit to a tractor breaker’s yard may be in order.

Right area but more round the cylinder fins the head. If the engine is back on the machine fitting the screw will require patience and dexterity as it will be right under the the cylinder. the circular cutouts go round the intake manifold between the carburettor and the block.

Cats in particular are a pain in the A***, there are three or for belonging to neighbours , some from quite a distance away , that transit through my garden an poo at will . Two nights ago a badger dug out a bumble bee’s nest in the back lawn leaving a hole about the size of two footballs. Nature in the raw!

If I’m reading it right, the OP has converted to magnetron but has not disabled all the old points setup wiring. All he needs now is for the coil windings to be earthed ( the twisted uninsulated wires with “ the strange connector” and one insulated “black wire” from the push on tag on the coil to the throttle operated kill switch . Any wires disappearing under the flywheel are no longer needed and may safely be clipped off. I do emphasise “ if I’m reading it right”, as someone else’s description and images are not the same as having it in front of one!

Your strange connection is an Earth / ground that should have a loop terminal to be clamped under a suitable screw. Your first image is of the coil armature and unless my eyes deceive me it is on back to front - may be not?

A good start will be to know what engine it has and even better an image of the fuel tank and carburettor.

Unfortunately the guy that I gave the charts to has dumped them. However I’ve spoken to a friend who worked for both Westwood and Countax. The shredded was made by Countax before they made tractors of their own but made most of Westwood ‘s accessories. The mounting brackets etc were a dealer fit and he recalls that there were two or possibly three brackets to suit different configurations of tractor. He thinks that the belt could have been a B section cogged one.

We used to service one or may be two tractors that had the bracket etc but never saw the shredder itself. I gave a former employee all my Westwood belt charts but I will ask him if he still has them.

This may be of use https://www.dropbox.com/s/89v934z542y9hp6/Villiers Diesel D2700001.pdf?dl=0

Foote were also used in the Ariens YT tractors in the 80s. We used to open them up and replace the grease adding a bit of semi fluid grease to ensure that it moved around in side the box rather than form a mould around the gears. I believe that Foot ceased production following a major fire at their factory. The box used in the YTs was a three speed and reverse plus a high and low range change giving 6 and 2.

Is the transmission of their own manufacture or bought in from the likes of Peerless or Spicer?

Shibaura ?

OK, with that out of the way let’s hope that the new points and condenser cures the problem. I recently had an intermittent ignition issue on a Kohler that was caused by the wire from the magneto to the points grounding out where it passed through a metal bracket. The insulation had gone hard and cracked . Rather than delving into the mag to change the wire I removed the terminal at the points end and slipped a length of heat shrink tube over the wire so that there was no more leakage to ground. Issue solved and job done for minimum time and parts.

Now you tell us! Solenoids with two small terminals are usually only used where the non live terminal is grounded via a safety circuit and not just directly to ground , so there may be the remains of a safety circuited wire floating around. What you have done could be to effectively by- passed a safety system that was designed to prevent the starter from being energised unless certain requirements are complained with - such as the operator on the seat or the clutch / brake held down. However it could be that someone has used a four terminal solenoid instead of a three terminal original. A wireing diagram could save a lot of guess work.

It seems odd that you should simultaneously have both a cranking issue and an ignition one . Faced with that issue and not being familiar with the wiring layout of a 141 I would mentally separate the the two systems and tackle the cranking first. The fact that you had to bridge the solenoid to ground suggests not just an ignition issue but a safety switch problem also. A wiring diagram would help but can you trace the wire that went to the terminal that you bridged to ground. Chances are that it passes through one or more safety switches on its way to ground. I’m not familiar with a 141 but likely candidates are the clutch, the seat or the PTO / blade clutch. If you have a multimeter , set it to continuity and hook one lead to the wire that you have removed and the other to ground and then work your way round any safety switches until you find the culprit. That should sort the cranking issue leaving the ignition . If the new points and condenser don’t solve that, identify the “ kill wire” . That is probably a wire from the points that runs to the ignition switch and is grounded when the switch is in the off position - maybe via a safety switch or two. Disconnect that wire and try for a spark but remember that if the engine fires up there is no way of stopping it.

Sometimes, the fuel filters do appear to be empty but fuel is actually flowing through them. Pull the pipe off the carburettor inlet and hold it over a suitable receptacle and with the tap (if fitted) turned on, and the tank cap in place watch the flow for at least half a minute . If the flow slows or stops repeat with the tank cap loosened or removed. If that improves things, check the breather hole in the cap. Blowing back into the tank outlet may improve things but the crud is still in there waiting to do it again. If that's the cause take the tank off and flush it properly.