TO30 New Governor

I got the new governor today that I ordered from this site. First it came with 2 shims? And the nut is threaded wrong, so I used the old one.
I the new one supposed to be real tight in regards to the ball cage?? I mean the way it is they are real tight and don't really travel all the way out to the outer lip.

Mine only has one shim. Do the shims appear to be the same size? Maybe you got a bonus one thrown in by accident.

I think the balls on mine can make it most of the way to the outer lip. I'd try with just one for starters. If you don't have enough shim when you run the tractor, you'll know. The governor will essentially do nothing at all. You'll have to adjust throttle position to go up a hill, for instance. Kind of a pain to fix at that point, but you'll know if you need to add more.

Did the original have a shim?

The way I understand it, there is an early and late timing gear. The early ones were concave in the middle
and needed the shim. The late were machined flat across the surface and did not use a shim. None should
use 2 shims.

When the ball assembly is placed on the gear, the center should be flush, and no distortion as the nut is
tightened. If it distorts, pulls the center in, then it needs the shim to support the middle.

The balls need to be free to move to the outer edges.

No the original one did not have a shim. I wasn't sure if it was missing the shim but from what you said I suppose it may be the one that did not have one.

But the ball cage worries me because they do not move freely like the original one. Most of them you literally have to click into place (outer rim) and then click them back. This governor I received from (this website) just seemed really like tight (???) I guess is the right word to describe it. And I know they are supposed to move back and fourth freely for the governor to work like it is ment to. I was hoping that it was normal and would break itself in. lol

I suppose I could put the old one back in. I felt that the original problem with the tractor was the governor but after removing the timing cover I expected it to look worn or thrashed but it appeared fine to me. So the problem might be something else.

The original problem was under a load (pulling the implement) it would start to surge and then almost die. I at first thought it was the carb, (fuel delivery), then I also thought maybe the coil was maybe bad or over heating, but a friend looked at it and said it was the governor.
I think he might of been wrong.

I'll put it back together and see what is happening after that. I also bought a new coil, and plugs so if it is still doing what it was then maybe it is the carb. Thanks for everyone's input I really appreciate it.

Yes, that would be a concern, the balls need to move freely to work properly.

Did you try bolting it on and trying to move the balls? Maybe you could ever so slightly spread the cage, or send it back and get another one.

That part is a common fail item. The cage fingers break off, fall into the
timing gears and oil pan. Now would be a good time to replace it while
you're in there.

And I think the original problem is more performance related than the
governor. All the governor does is modulate the throttle position based on
RPM.