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Any Gravely people around???


tec2484

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I have a chance to get a Gravely commercial 10 2 wheel tractor with a mower deck, Snow blower and sulkey (2 wheeled seat). for a couple hundred bucks. The owner says the pto won't stay engaged. It runs good, But don't know what to look for as far as the pto goes any one ever worked on one?


I'm sure I could part it out and get my money back but would hate to do that with it.
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I'm not a gravley pro but, the commercial 10 is suppost to be a very nice unit. The PTO is a pretty simple arrangement. I'm not sure why it wouldn't stay engaged. There are millions of these units around so parts shouldn't be a problem. I think a few hundred would be a good price for the package. Gravelys are real work-horses. I think all the attachments ever made are universal and will fit all model tractors (2 & 4 wheel). John
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Sounds like a good deal. The sulky usually goes for $75.00, snow blower around $100, and mower, depends on wich one. These have a Kohler engine I believe, parts for it should be no problem. As for the pto, I would say it is the engage eccentric that is bad. These are pretty easy to come by. To look at it, unbolt the front mounted attachment and look inside. They are pretty simple, good machines.
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Good unit, there is a guy in West Virginia that sells used parts (at a pretty good price). I have two gravelys and they are BUILT. I forgot name, i will go have a look and get back to you. JH Richards Gravely parts, Spencer,WV.
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John, That is interesting. I was born in Spencer WV. I grew up using Gravely walk behind machines. On the older ones we had the PTO was a manual engagement. Either flip a lever over, or pull a rod to engage.
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I found one like yours but it was much cheaper, got it at my local transfer station (the dump)!!! Has a tiller attachment with big ugly wheels way out on the front. I took the tiller attachment off to check things and it looked to me like there were bolts with springs that must be some kind of pressure release so if the attachment binds up it kicks out the PTO. I found some info on a Gravely website so give it a try. The price sounds very good for one of these with the attachments it has. I've been looking for a mower attachment for mine but not too hard as mine needs a head gasket as well and I've got too many projects right now. I found it interesting that on Gravely's the engine & transmission are all one piece it seems and they hold over three quarts of oil that lubes everything... The engine is kind of like a motorcycle as the cylinder is a seperate piece called a jug? http://gravelyinfo.com/ Best of luck...8D
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Rick, The springs you are talking about are on the override clutch. This is supposed to slip if the attachment jams. We ruined several attachments because my Dad would tighten the bolts till the springs were bottomed out solid and the override clutch would not slip.
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Hi A buddy of mine just got into these tractors they are workhorses found a website oldgraveleys.net he found all the info he needed give it a try.
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Rick, Those "big, ugly wheels" way out front are actually for a rotary plow atachment. If you unbolt the tiller attachment from the gear housing and remove the shaft, a longer shaft with 4 diamond-shaped blades at the bottom replaces it. This is the rotary plow. It spins and tears the soil ferociously, throwing it to the right and leaving a furrow. It will make a perfect seed bed out of virgin soil in one pass--no kidding. I believe it will go up to 8 inches deep and 8 inches wide, depending on soil conditions. The wheels out front serve as gauge wheels to keep it at a steady depth. I have one--it's amazing. DaveM
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Just talked to the guy and I'm picking it up monday after work. I will post some better pics then, The camera phone does ok but the regular digital camera will do much better. Thanks for all the non simple tractor help!
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Dave, Have you ever seen the double plow? Very dangerous! When one is spinning in the ground, the other one on the other end of the shaft is spinning in the air. When you get to the end of a row, you turn around, then flip a lever that switches the plows and you can plow in the other direction. My grandpa had one of those when I was a teenager. Gravelys are a workhorse, but not at all safe by today's standards.
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Rod, Never seen one of those, and really don't want to... The one I have is nasty enough. Has a dirt shield that keeps the dirt and, more importantly, rocks and other flying objects under control. I "unearthed" a HUGE chuck of concrete (previously used to anchor a clothes line) with mine once. Must've weighed 25 lbs. Pulled it right out of the ground and kept going. Does a great job when you go slow enough. I don't think anything can match what it accomplishes in one pass. DaveM
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Dave, Those plows are great for planting potatoes. Plow three rows, then drop the potatoes, plow three more rows, then drop the potatoes, continue until finished. When the plowing is finished, the potatoes are also planted.
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quote:
Originally posted by goatfarmer
Gravely, a product of the once mighty Studebaker Corp.
Boy I learn something every day! :D
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Hi, These are a very tough unit. I had one about 4 years ago with the rotary mower and a sweeper. Sold it for $1750.00 Al Eden
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Not only the double plow, they sold an actual saw that fit on the same power head as the rotary plow and/or rototiller. no guard , just a 20 inch blade spinning. The gravely was the first tractor I remember my dad having. He got tired of man-handling it and sought out to buy the first 4 wheel gravely-- the one that had rear wheel steering. He tested it out and almost drove it into the store wall. He told me that he bought the 64 landlord as a second choice and always missed the raw power of the 30 inch gravely mower Nothing better at claring brush with the brush blade. I am looking for one now to clear woods and field brush. Want to add that the cut of the. Simplicity was what sold him and a gravely will never ever cut as well
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The Gravely PTO problem is probably a aworn "shipper shaft". There's a detent ball someplace that rust or wear and will let that happen. About a $10.00 fix. I used to have 13 running Gravelys and assorted implements. Absolutely fantastic, powerfull, rugged, versitile, simple, loud machines. As to the double plow- I can't imagine what possible set up that would have been. When you plow with a Gravely it works jutst like a moldbord plow. The plow throws all the dirt to one side and when you get to the end of the row you do a 180 and go back the other way. The plow isn't designed to "flip over" so I don't know what set up that would be. They did make an extended shaft that allowed the plow to be used as a posthole digger. They had a regular post hole digger attachemnt too. The Gravely is a wonderful design for those willing to extend a bit of muscle in the pursuit of getting a job done. As an old guy I knew said, "You gotta be half mountain lion to run one". They, (with a Simplicty or 2 thrown in), are a viable option for anyone comptemplating a "homestead" or small farm truck type farm. Plows, cultivates, snowblows, sickle mower, brush hog, grinders, generators, flat belt pulleys, etc, etc, etc. I'm down to 2 and want to find more, but they're scarce around my area.
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Bret, The double plows were rather common in the part of WV where I was growing up. They were scary just to look at and extremely dangerous, but really speeded up the plowing in small gardens, especially if you did not want to plow in a circle as we did before buying the double plow setup. The conversion was a longer shaft, another plow unit, and the pieces to flip the plow to the opposite side and the necessary levers. It required two spinning plows so that the rotational direction was changed when the other plow unit was swung down on the opposite side of the tractor. This is the only way it would plow properly. Keep in mind that these units were for the older T-head engines, not the later models with the Kohler units. The two Gravelys that we had when I was young were first a 6 1/2 Hp unit, then later we got one that had 7 1/4 Hp. We had the double plow, the sicklebar mower, the 36 inch heavy duty rotary mower, and the sulky. We also had a set of dual wheels. Our last tractor originally was a pull start that we converted to electric start. It also originally had the PTO that had to be flipped in from the front, and we converted it to the pull rod mounted on the handle. The double plows were real units, I am not dreaming. They may have been aftermarket, I don't know about that. The time I was using them was from when I was 14 till about 17. I am now 56. Been quite a while. If you've ever started one by hand, with a leather strap, I guarantee you will remember it.
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I didn't even know they had electric start till around 1995!!! I well know the feeling of having the leather or web strap break or sting you in the face. A well tuned Gravely usually starts on the 2nd pull. Great machines. I just got my first one with a Kohler. It needs work.
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We had an electric starter in 1966. It was just a starter. The pulley for the strap start had to be removed and the strap part machined off, leaving only the pulley for the fan. Then it was reinstalled and a ratchet unit was bolted behind it. The starter bolted to the side on a mounting plate with a chain going to the ratchet. The starter would turn the engine, but the engine would not spin the starter, because of the ratchet. There was no charging system. The battery had to be charged with an auxiliary charger.
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Yep, that's the same setup my dad had aftermkt installed---think it was about '62 0r so cause I remember the unit before the kit. kit came with a hood, battery holder---got the remote lever for the PTO cause the battery was over that area of the unit.He also got a blitz fogger at the same time---the tank strapped on the handle. Wish we had kept it but mom sold the unit when dad died to pay bills. Someone got a stealo--had the rotary tiller plow, blower snow plow sulky 30" mower plus the cultivator plates. Mechanically a sound machine.
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