[dieseldennis]

Some of you may remember the battery issues I've been having with my GT275. I last posted a month ago, and following up on that thread. Went a purchased a brand new battery. Not that I thought the old battery was that dead, but let's face it, the battery is the cheapest piece to replace.

Saturday I went to mow and it was dead again. I jumped it off and started mowing, but when I got off to pick up some trash, the PTO wouldn't turn back on. So I just parked it in the shed.

Today I bought a new battery, installed it, and mowed the lawn (about an hour). Then I grabbed my meter and started doing some testing.

Stator is putting out a strong 34.4V. Manual says minimum is 34V, so stator seems good.
Battery is brand new. Testing 12.6V after mowing the grass (and let's assume it was not charging while mowing).
I removed the two 15 amp fuses and checked them. They didn't look blown, but I replaced them anyway.

All things point to the voltage regulator. I tried doing a regulated amperage test by measuring the current in the small hot wire going to the battery. I wasn't reading any amperage in that wire, but that may be because I didn't have the tool to put a "load" on the battery like the manual said to.
The unregulated voltage test was inconclusive. It basically is a voltage reading of the battery while the mower is running. The battery was reading in the 12.5# V range at fast idle. It would read 12.6# V when the mower was off.

So does it seem to be the regulator? Any other way I can check? I checked continuity everywhere I could, so it doesn't seem that I've got a short in the system.

Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[kencombs]

That sounds like a defective regulator. You should see around 13.2-4 when running.

 

[dieseldennis]

Just wanted to followup and say that I did order a voltage regulator. I put it on this afternoon and fired the mower up. I was reading 13.6V at the battery and 13.4 amps on the small wire.

Definitely was the problem. Definitely fixed the problem.

 

[hec_in_omaha]

Howdy all,

Just wondering what you guys out there who use a model 43 front blade or 37-A snow blower use for skids on gravel drives? I have a gravel drive and the OEM Skids do not have enough surface area to float the blade. I am sure that the OEM 37-A skids will dig in to the gravel too.

Thanks in advance

Hec

 

[lt230s]

Hector,
My skids on my 43 were worn from my blacktop, so a friend welded some 1/4" thick x 2" wide x 4" long steel on to the old ones that I had laying around. Can't say if that is wide enough for gravel since I have paved driveway.
My 37A blower skids are getting in the same condition, so I will probably do the same to them.
John

 

[dbradenb]

I had 1/2" x 2" x 4" steel plates welded then hardened placed on the bottom of my 43 plow skid shoes at least 20 years ago. They worked fine on my gravel drive, and very well now that it is asphalt.
They now show only minor wear and should last a very long time.

 

[hec_in_omaha]

Thanks guys. This is what I came up with. I hope it works!

Hec

 

[lt230s]

Hector,
Looks good. They should be able to ride on top of the gravel with no problem.
John

 

[hec_in_omaha]

Here is a pic of the skid shoes installed. I hope the blade doesn't dig in the gravel now now!

Hec