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My Deere now has a band-aide

1666 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  bontai Joe
I was cutting the grass last night at my mom's with my 1978 Deere 316 when the mower deck quit. Ok, I'm thinking, I've lost a belt, I'll just drive back to the garage and put a spare one on. But when I looked the belts were all ok...... Hmmmmm...... shut it down and then turn the key to the on position and engage the electric PTO clutch. No sound! Hmmmm, wonder what happened to the clutch? Start checking out the wiring and find a wire worn thru. Not that big a surprise considering the tractor is 30 years old, and the big ol' Kohler shakes quite a bit at start up and shut down. But by the time I cut the bad part out, I don't have enough length to splice back together. Now remember I'm at my 74 year old mom's house. I have tools in my car, but not a lot in the way of supplies, so after searching for 1/2 hour for wire, I get her ok to butcher up an extension cord. Also can't find any electrician's tape..... Hmmmmm, what to use? Got some white cloth bandage tape and fixed her up for now. Was the repair pretty? Heck no! I'll get it done right later, but I did get the lawn done, had to use the headlights as it was dark by the time I got it "fixed". Just thought you guys would appreciate the story.
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I absolutely HATE electric tape ... while I do appreciate that it can come in handy as a temporary measure, it shouldn't ever be used as a permanent repair ... that's what solder and shrink tube is for

it may take a few more minutes, but it doesn't really cost any more than electric tape, and then you've made a real, permanent repair

so ... I love the white bandage tape idea! ... I'd use that over electric tape any day ... and as far as the extension cord, that's probably heavier duty than stock wire anyways - good call

and where's the photos??? - this sounds like an epic repair :wwp:
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