Ford 850 - Governor spring missing???

Hooks to the battery box and no that will not help with your hunting/surging issue that is either a fuel mixture problem or governor indicating it is time for it to be rebuilt. I know this because mine is doing the same thing and I an putting off pulling down the front of the engine to R&R it. I do wish Henry had left the governor on the outside of the engine like on the 'N' then it would be so much easier to R&R.

John, do you know where on the battery box the spring connects?

I had to recently replace the battery box because the bottom of the old one rotted out. (I guess that explains the missing spring).

What sort of symptoms should I be hearing because the spring is missing? The tractor has been running fine with a brush hog attached but only surges after pulling a plow.

Joe

There is a hole on/near the outer lip of the battery box that the spring hooks in, that spring is only there to prevent the governor from pulling the throttle control lever to a lower speed setting and so the friction washer under the bellcrank does not have to be set so tight it would be difficult to work the throttle.

Hmphf...

I'm glad John showed up. Guess what my 860 is missing?

...and I guess it explains things. My battery box is rotted out, too.

Steve (Magnolia said:

Hmphf...

I'm glad John showed up. Guess what my 860 is missing?

...and I guess it explains things. My battery box is rotted out, too.

Click to expand...

I learned about it the hard way when I brought Mutt home and the throttle was giving me fits (which ain't hard to do) :banghead3

By the way, Alfie...

You asked what the symptoms a missing governor compensating spring will provide...

It will make it more difficult to keep the throttle in position. Between the governor compensating spring and the detents on the throttle plate... there is tension kept on the throttle linkage to keep the throttle in place.

Here is the gov assy for the late model from the parts manual:

Thanks John. I now see that the "bracket" is a lever and that my ignorance shows:fing20:

Sheesh...I've got a lot to learn.

Thanks for your patience.

Joe

AlfieDog said:

Thanks John. I now see that the "bracket" is a lever and that my ignorance shows:fing20:

Sheesh...I've got a lot to learn.

Thanks for your patience.

Joe

Click to expand...

Hey, we all have been there and had to learn.. :fing32:

Surging can sometimes be caused by worn parts, (Gas engine). If you can move the lever (#9) in Johns drawing back and forth when the engine isn't running, the engine will (hunt), trying to find a happy medium, but because of the excess play in the system, it's always over compensating and will never settle down. Usually it won't hurt a thing, it's just annoying. If this is the case, it will stop hunting when put under a pull/load. The fix, probably a new fork and collars. PJ

Thanks for that info. Paul.

However, the engine is surging up and then back down only when under a heavy load like plowing. It does fine when brush hogging for example.

I brush hogged for about 4 hours the other week with no issues at all.
My nephew reported that during his last three attempts at plowing, the unit does fine for about 1/2 hour or so and then starts acting up and he can barely get the tractor back to the barn!!.

My nephew is convinced that it's "dropping" a cylinder or two (whatever that means) and that it probably needs a tune-up.

Any further suggestions on what I might troubleshoot are appreciated.raying:

Joe