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Atco Lawn Tractor Manuals

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Joe_G Thu, 20/02/2020

Hi,

I have some manuals that I have scanned in and can upload or send in to the site, if someone can tell me how.

The manuals are:

  • Atco Lawn Tractor Operating Instructions and Spare Parts Manual (Suitable for 6/30, 8/30, 8/36, and 11/36, but doesn't include the power take-off on the 12/36)
  • Atco Lawn Sweeper 30" Operating Instructions (also includes spare parts list)

Does anyone have available the manual for the 12/36 including the PTO or the powered sweeper?

I recently bought a 12/36 with a sweeper, which is now nearly completely disassembled, and the manuals would help a lot with reassembly!

Cheers,

Joe

Forums

olcadmin Wed, 04/03/2020

Joe

No problem, they are a good addition to the archive.

If anyone else can send me PDF versions of manuals I will gladly add them too.

Keith

Joe_G Fri, 22/05/2020

I'm nearly finished repairing and rebuilding the ATCO lawn tractor, but there are a couple of things I'd like to know.

  1. The alternator isn't charging the battery, and I can't get the flywheel off the engine to identify it. The engine is a Briggs and Stratton 12HP (Model: 281707, type:0212-01). There are two black wires from the alternator but the connector has been cut off and standard terminals are used. One wire reads 12V AC and is connected to the headlights, which work. The other reads 28V AC and should charge the battery but doesn't, which makes me suspect a faulty diode. Does anyone know what alternator I have, or what diode I would need? Would the diode usually be at the connector?
    Briggs and Stratton 12HP
  2. A couple of belts were missing, so I'm struggling to find replacements. Does anyone know the V-belts required? 
ATCO 12/36 belts
Description ATCO Part number Standard V-belt
Land drive belt L24814 (or L80188?) A90
Cutter belt L24812 B74? (current measures approx 1945mm external)
Transaxle to PTO belt L33738 ? (belt missing, pulleys measure approx 45")
PTO to sweeper belt L33835 XPZ1140? (missing, number according to Internet search)
Sweeper belt L33836 ? (current measures approx 940mm external)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Joe

wristpin Fri, 22/05/2020

Your engine should originally have had  a Dual circuit alternator with an AC output for the lighting and a DC output for battery charging . If the original socket had not been chopped off there would probably have been a diode incorporated into the harness but I'm a bit concerned about the 28 volt Ac  output as that is the sort of figure one gets when measuring between both wires which then feed into a separate regulator rectifier. Is it possible that someone has swapped the original Dual output stator for a later one ?

You say two black wires, but has one got a different coloured tracer stripe?  

 

hortimech Fri, 22/05/2020

AC will never charge a 12v lead acid battery, there should be a small square regulator bolted to the engine. The output from the alternator should be fed into this and the output should be DC in the range 13.8 to 14.4 (depending on battery charge).

Joe_G Fri, 22/05/2020

Both the AC voltage readings were relative to the chassis. I haven't tried measuring between the two wires - I'll try that next week. I suppose it's possible that the stator was swapped, but I can't check because I don't think I'll get the flywheel off without damaging it. I wondered if the 28V AC would read 14V DC through a diode. I might try with a 50V 10A diode like this ebay item. Maybe the original diode was cut off with the connector, or is nearer the stator and has failed to short.

There is no stripe on either wire, but there might be some text. I'll try and read it next time, when I can take the starter motor off to expose a bit more of the wire.

hortimech Fri, 22/05/2020

If you do pass the 28v AC through a diode, I doubt if you will get 14v DC, you will get a slight voltage drop, say about 1.5v and you will boil the battery, you need the correct regulator.

wristpin Fri, 22/05/2020

If there are two black wires with no stripe the chances are that someone has swapped the stator. If you  set the meter to AC volts and connect it across the two , you should see 28v at 3600 rpm. That will confirm that you then  need a regulator rectifier as in fig I  (eye!) on the chart. It will have two inputs and one DC output which will do both the battery charging and the lights.

 

hortimech Fri, 22/05/2020

The Atco ride-ons used a small square regulator, which had two wires, one input, one output, if I remember correctly the lights, when they hadn't shaken themselves to bits, ran from the ignition switch.

Joe_G Mon, 01/06/2020

I did some more voltage measurements at the weekend, but it hasn't made it any clearer to me! There are two black wires with no distinguishing features, I'll call them A and B.

 

Measurement V AC V DC
A to chassis 29.7 0
B to chassis 12.6 0
A to B 42 0

 

All measurements were made with connectors open. B is working fine to power the lights.

 

I've seen these regulators on ebay, which I'm guessing could be installed between A and chassis, but there's no mention of permitted input voltage. Any idea if it would work?

 

Best regards,

Joe

hortimech Mon, 01/06/2020

Not sure the regulator you found will work. If I remember correctly, your Atco 12/36 (powered sweeper, tendency to pull a 'wheelie' when you set off in first gear) doesn't have a dual circuit alternator, are you sure one of the two wires isn't a the engine cutout wire ?

The answer to your problem could be found if you gave us the Model, type and code from the engine, these could be used to look up what alternator and regulator should be fitted.

 

Joe_G Mon, 01/06/2020

That's the one. I haven't got the powered sweeper on yet (awaiting belts), but a wheelie would be fun!

It's not the cutout wire, which is yellow and green, and runs from the ignition switch to the other side of the engine.

The engine is a Briggs and Stratton 12 hp (Model: 281707, Type: 0212-01, Code: 89052611)