TO35 Governor repair

Last year I purchased a '59 TO35 - pretty nice tractor but it had some glitches to work out. I posted last year ago about some of the mechanicals

https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=1356586&highlight=

which included a new governor and a new/used front engine cover.

Throttle and governor operation was still unsatisfactory. Close examination showed movement/slop associated with the lever assembly where it exits the front cover.

The parts book shows two needle bearings, an oil seal, and a felt dust seal in which the lever/shaft assembly rotates.

I had the original front cover yet so i decided to disassemble it to examine the pieces.



The lever is held to the shaft with a roll pin. This later cover has a pipe plug in the front that can be removed to allow the pin to be driven out.



Shaft and lever removed - bearing to the left, small roll pin to hold bearing in position in middle, hole for lubrication on right.



"Using a suitable tool, remove the seal" - ya, right - it's a pig to get out. The front housing is some aluminum alloy and could be easily broken.





Disassembled assembly...



I thought this unit felt pretty good before disassembly - but close examination shows the shaft is worn and galled where the bearings ride - better picture coming up later - I felt that boded poorly for the refurbishment of the governor assembly that is on the tractor.



continued next post...

That mechanism is always under spring tension... the governor spring is always acting to hold the shaft against the needles in the bearings, in the same direction, and while any wear/slop/looseness is certainly NOT desirable, I think you are blowing it out of proportion as to causing governor issues.

A snow day today so I parked the tractor in the shop and removed the peripherals to expose the front cover.



Camshaft w/governor at top, crankshaft in the middle, oil pump on the bottom - Continental Z134 engine.



same process as before, but this is an early cover and there is no plug on the front to allow the roll pin to exit.



So I drive the pin about 3/16" until it touches the cover, then flip the lever and use a dremel to grind the end off the pin, repeat 5 times.






Until victory -


remove the seal and bearings like in the previous post - this seal was even more difficult.


This shaft is in worse condition than the first - galled and worn. Unusable.




So - here I sit tonight - I have new bearings and a new seal, all available thru Agco. The seal is $28. Neither shaft is good, altho the better one might be considered serviceable if I can't do something better.

I plan to take the worst one to a machine shop tomorrow and see if they can replace the shaft. Guaranteed to not be cheap. I'll post back when there's something to report.

The governor ball/cone assembly was broken when I got the tractor. The cover was broken, repaired, and leaked. The original cover/assembly could have been considered serviceable perhaps.

The replacement cover/assembly has visible slop in the mechanism. It wasn't obvious to me when I installed it, it may have just been gummed up enough not to exhibit when I tried to rattle it before installation.

I don't think anyone has ever contended that the Continental governor design is a strong point. Close tolerances must be maintained to have acceptable performance. This one wasn't working acceptably.

Wonder what would happen if you made a bushing longer than the needle bearing would work.
Some where I read that needle bearings on shafts that don't spin are not ideal.

Wonder what would happen if you made a bushing longer than the needle bearing would work.
Some where I read that needle bearings on shafts that don't spin are not ideal(reply to post at 06:55:09 03/18/19)

Click to expand...

I had/am considering doubling up the bearings - there's plenty of shaft and room in the housing that I could install a second pair of bearings on fresh shaft area, albeit not as well placed as the originals

I'd guess bushings would work too - I'll consider that option, thanks -

David

Dropped the worst shaft off at the machine shop - "sure, not a problem" - we'll see

My thoughts exactly, probably just needed lengthen the carb rod to make it more sensitive in the first place. On that engine making the rod shorter "deadens" governor action and lengthening the rod "increases" sensitivity..