Richard of Richard's Lawn and Garden told me on my L model put screw driver in spark plug hole turn engine over to top dead center set magneto to 2 dots bolt down I did that and it's the best starting small engine that I have had.
Greetings from 2022. I have my grandfather's 1963 Li. I had a devil of a time starting it, and it would kick back. I pretty much followed your instructions and also had to retard the timing a bit to get it to start. Now it starts on the first or second pull every time.
yeah, i think it can be repaired. welding and cast iron don't really jive too well, but i've done it, and it is only the exhaust flange. just don't expect it to be pretty. if you haven't already, you may want to get it to run first. just to make sure that kind of repair is even worth trying.
Great videos, thanks! Do you think the line on the magneto body is for setting the timing, without holding the drive shaft back? The two dots may be where the impulse actually fires.
I just picked up a 1965. It was sitting for at least 8 yrs. I patiently soaked and wiggled all parts that are suposed to move. I now can turn it over. and all levers and drive sseem to be operational. I have some compression. At some point in time the muffler got bumped. It broke one bolt mount edge of the cylinder. The other bolt along with some of the flange is still attached to cylinder. Does not seem to have effected the integrity of the cyl. Can this be welded /repaired? Best; Tom
Did you, by chance, adjust your lag angle when you had your mag apart? I understand that the lag angle assists in starting the motor. When I had mine apart, it was about 40 degrees off. Gravelys are set at 10 deg.
I did not adjust the lag angle, in fact I didn't even know about it lol. but I still need to trouble shoot this tractor a bit. though it does run, it's extremely hard to turn over on the compression stroke. in other words the, compression is through the roof, and I'm wondering if the internal timing of the engine is off, it spins free as a bird without the spark plug in it. thanks for the tip, I will look into the lag angle.
GeneralChaos1756 Check out the vid that rw3dog put up. It's like a 7 part series on his L8 rebuild. I think parts 5 & 6 deal with his Wico mag. He did an excellent job with the vid. His was the first mention I had heard about lag angle. Also, be sure to download the PDF from GravelyManuals.com for the wico mag. Yours is the 2533, isn't it? The manual does a good job of describing lag as well. Supposedly the main function is to aid in the initial start up. That's why when you were having issues getting yours started I figured thats probably where he should start looking. Mine, which I also found was an 8 speed, looks to have been pretty well cared for. Looks like it had been serviced before it had been taken out of service. When I checked the lag angle, however, it wasn't even close to being correct; which leads me to believe that even the technician didn't know about it. Let me know how that works for you.. Tell rw3dog I sent you.
Cattmann I'll have to check out rw3dog's l8 series. I do sub his channel, but that series must be before I found him. I will check the mag again, but I really want to figure out that excessive compression issue. it seems too that when I do run it, the machine will start to overheat and lose power...................as I type this, I start to wonder if it's getting waaaay too much fuel? I dunno, we'll see.
Hey molefarmer, i've added super detailed timeing procedures to the description. I tried not to be confusing, but if something isn't clear just ask, and i'll try to help you out. I hope this all helps, good luck.
That is a c8 not an L8. Mine is a 66 L8 7.6hp, the 1st run of the 7.6hp, in 67 they then called it the C model, and air filter was moved on the outside.
if it popped out of the carb, it could be a few problems. the timing might have been set to fire too soon, or maybe a bad intake valve. have you checked for compression? Also, are you positive that you have proper fuel flow, cleaning the carb, and new fuel lines and filter are always the first thing i do. Has the magneto been rebuilt? if so, i always replace the coil as well, a weak coil will still spark, but not strong enough to fire the tractor. I hope this give you a few ideas, good luck
Richard of Richard's Lawn and Garden told me on my L model put screw driver in spark plug hole turn engine over to top dead center set magneto to 2 dots bolt down I did that and it's the best starting small engine that I have had.
Greetings from 2022. I have my grandfather's 1963 Li. I had a devil of a time starting it, and it would kick back. I pretty much followed your instructions and also had to retard the timing a bit to get it to start. Now it starts on the first or second pull every time.
Very cool, glad I could help.
good deal I got just like it. I've got to time mine
Great job explaining starting issues. You gave me a a good direction to work toward. Thanks for the video.
no trouble mark, thanks for watching. you can also find gravely service manuals at GravelyManuals.com, or OldGravelys.Info.
yeah, i think it can be repaired. welding and cast iron don't really jive too well, but i've done it, and it is only the exhaust flange. just don't expect it to be pretty. if you haven't already, you may want to get it to run first. just to make sure that kind of repair is even worth trying.
thanks for showing this. I have to install a new magneto and was lost on how to set the timing.
it is for both, on these older tractors the transmission and engine share the same oil
big Johns way works every time
im tryin to set timming on a this ol gravely at first it popped thru carb I reset not its not firing any hints
Thanks General!
Great videos, thanks! Do you think the line on the magneto body is for setting the timing, without holding the drive shaft back? The two dots may be where the impulse actually fires.
I just picked up a 1965. It was sitting for at least 8 yrs.
I patiently soaked and wiggled all parts that are suposed to move.
I now can turn it over. and all levers and drive sseem to be operational.
I have some compression.
At some point in time the muffler got bumped.
It broke one bolt mount edge of the cylinder.
The other bolt along with some of the flange is still attached to cylinder.
Does not seem to have effected the integrity of the cyl.
Can this be welded /repaired?
Best; Tom
I repaired mine by TIG welding with nickel rod. Jupiter by Rockmount.
Did you, by chance, adjust your lag angle when you had your mag apart? I understand that the lag angle assists in starting the motor. When I had mine apart, it was about 40 degrees off. Gravelys are set at 10 deg.
I did not adjust the lag angle, in fact I didn't even know about it lol. but I still need to trouble shoot this tractor a bit. though it does run, it's extremely hard to turn over on the compression stroke. in other words the, compression is through the roof, and I'm wondering if the internal timing of the engine is off, it spins free as a bird without the spark plug in it. thanks for the tip, I will look into the lag angle.
GeneralChaos1756
Check out the vid that rw3dog put up. It's like a 7 part series on his L8 rebuild. I think parts 5 & 6 deal with his Wico mag. He did an excellent job with the vid. His was the first mention I had heard about lag angle. Also, be sure to download the PDF from GravelyManuals.com for the wico mag. Yours is the 2533, isn't it? The manual does a good job of describing lag as well. Supposedly the main function is to aid in the initial start up. That's why when you were having issues getting yours started I figured thats probably where he should start looking. Mine, which I also found was an 8 speed, looks to have been pretty well cared for. Looks like it had been serviced before it had been taken out of service. When I checked the lag angle, however, it wasn't even close to being correct; which leads me to believe that even the technician didn't know about it. Let me know how that works for you.. Tell rw3dog I sent you.
Cattmann I'll have to check out rw3dog's l8 series. I do sub his channel, but that series must be before I found him. I will check the mag again, but I really want to figure out that excessive compression issue. it seems too that when I do run it, the machine will start to overheat and lose power...................as I type this, I start to wonder if it's getting waaaay too much fuel? I dunno, we'll see.
GeneralChaos1756
When you removed the spark plug, did you look into the cylinder and check for carbon build up?
Cattmann no, I haven't looked into it much yet. we moved recently and all my tractors are in storage. I'm hoping to get to it this summer.
what charges the battery?
+sonofthunder 333 these older tractors don't have a charging system, you have to manually charge the battery now and again.
Hey molefarmer, i've added super detailed timeing procedures to the description. I tried not to be confusing, but if something isn't clear just ask, and i'll try to help you out. I hope this all helps, good luck.
I see an oil filter on these tractors. Is it for engine oil, Or transmission oil? Nice tractor.
That is a c8 not an L8. Mine is a 66 L8 7.6hp, the 1st run of the 7.6hp, in 67 they then called it the C model, and air filter was moved on the outside.
if it popped out of the carb, it could be a few problems. the timing might have been set to fire too soon, or maybe a bad intake valve. have you checked for compression? Also, are you positive that you have proper fuel flow, cleaning the carb, and new fuel lines and filter are always the first thing i do. Has the magneto been rebuilt? if so, i always replace the coil as well, a weak coil will still spark, but not strong enough to fire the tractor. I hope this give you a few ideas, good luck