Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

Just a quick update:

With the new high lift blades and a belt that is not slipping, this deck now puts out A LOT of air!

It is precisely the improvement that I was hoping for. When I run down the leaf filled street now, It leaves a perfect clean sweep behind and throws the leaves five and six feet off the road out into the underbrush. Just exactly what I was hoping for.

Meanwhile hooked up to the leaf vacuum, I did four loads in big heavy oak leaves including some sticks and twigs and debris, and never got a clogged discharge chute a single time. That is a first.

Woo hoo!

Great improvements I'd say. I feel the same way as you. The oem tensioner pulley is in the wrong spot. At any given time I can grab and easily spin one of the outer blades with just a finger or two. This is definitely on my list of deck upgrades. I always felt that my pullies were slipping on the belt. My rm48 needs some service as there is quite a bit of slop in the mule assembly and hope to fix it up in time for spring. Thanks for the idea.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Finally got around to modifying my RM48 belt drive. Just didn't get there last year with the little kids. Anyways it's a work in progress. Since I don't own a welder, I made my own bracket and made it adjustable. I intended the bracket to be flipped around 180 degrees but since there wasn't enough room, I flipped the bracket around. The bracket is not tapped which allows me to use a gear wrench to tighten the belt. I'm using an A96 98" belt. The tensioner bracket is mounted 4 7/16" from the main drive pulley, 2 1/8" from the front wall behind the belt. Guess I drilled the hole a little off from the intended 4.5" and 2". I plan to trim a small amount off the tensioner bracket where you would put in your 1/2" socket wrench. The spring coil also touches the bracket. I may trim the bracket to fit. TBD. Work in progress

That looks real good Matt.

Noel

Looks like a perfect solution Matt. Harry

Bob the original thread starter mentioned he used a square file to create the square holes for the carriage bolts. Having created a 3/8" square hole with a needle file in the past (only file I had small enough to fit in a 3/8" hole), I took the 20min trip to harbor freight and bought a square tapered file:
https://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-sq ... 96630.html
Well worth the trip. 3/8" round hole converted to 3/8" square hole in minutes. The two 5/16" holes I converted into square holes were more if a PITA since the square file linked is too big to fit in a 5/16" round hole. I ended up using a small round file to open up the 5/16" round hole to start the square corners. Eventually the square file will fit but the strokes are short due to the files taper.

The eye bolt is 3/8-16. Roughly 2" threaded length, roughly 4" long.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... 8-16x3-7-8

The bracket is held down by two 5/16-18 carriage bolts, 3/4"? in length.

I'll post dimensions of the bracket soon.

Limited progress today due to work/kids. I trimmed the bracket where the 1/2" socket wrench is inserted. Also trimmed where the spring was contacting the bracket. I may trump this spot a little more.

That will make a major improvement . Well done . Weather keep up and you will be able test it out soon.

Dimensions on the bracket. In most photos the caliper is just showing approximate dimensions.

Looking great, Matt, and very well written up.

Easy to follow, even with limited tools.

Bob