# Toro 724 (model 38050) - Question about clutch spring location



## jera223 (Mar 9, 2015)

Hi Everyone,
Here's my first post, and I'm desperate as we are not out of the woods with the snow for this winter, here in upstate New York! I'm relatively mechanically inclined, but not nearly as much as I'd like to be. I know just enough to be "dangerous", as they say. Ha ha.

Today I was using the Toro 724 and it wouldn't "stay" in neutral. The shifter would basically fall into gear. I know that most typically, the shifter would have to be held in gear, and the default position it would return to was neutral for obvious safety reasons.

I looked at the exploded part diagram, and was fairly certain that it was the clutch spring, part 11-4640. Sure enough, after removing the bottom metal panel, it was sitting broken on the bottom of the traction compartment. I can see from the exploded part diagram where the clutch spring interfaces with (i.e. hooks through) the corner of the pivot shaft. Can anyone advise me on where the other end of the spring attaches? The diagram gives no indication at all 

I've also looked at the service manual and just can't figure it out. "Forward to a tab on the chassis" but I couldn't find anything that appeared like a spring had been there.

It's a Toro 724 (model 38050) with serial number 5001837.

Thanks a million.


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## jera223 (Mar 9, 2015)

I may have found my answer. Is this the "forward tab on the chassis" the service manual refers to?

Thanks.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forum jera. Here is a link to a picture that classiccat posted showing the connection point.

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/snowblower-repairs-maintenance-forum/44017-toro-824-a.html


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

BROTHER GRUNT is the man that always has the TORO master plan in hand. they might even come from a tan van.


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## jera223 (Mar 9, 2015)

*Problem solved*

Thanks, everyone. I am thinking my 724 snowblower is somehow designed a bit differently than the 824 referenced above, because the picture didn’t match what I had. So, here’s an alternative approach to solving this issue.

The photo I posted earlier (close up posted again) showing the tab on the chassis where the small end of the spring attaches is the correct location. It would be great if the service manual were more clear as to where the spring mates with the chassis!

It was a pain to install the spring. The service manual implies that the main wheel axle must be removed, and I agree that's the easiest in terms of getting access to the pivot axle. I didn’t want to disturb my 30 year-old snow blower any further than I had to, so I opted to install the spring with some long forceps and avoid prior axle removal. The spring has a rather large spring constant, and so this was not so easy to do. My recommendation is to:


On the long end of the spring, bend it out so the end of spring makes a 45 or so degree angle so it’s easier to thread through the hole on the pivot axle.
Then, insert the long end of the spring into the pivot axle hole (again, I used sturdy tweezers. Note this is nearly impossible to do if you already connected the other end (the "chassis" end) of the spring, so connect this longer end first.
Then, bend the long end of the spring back so it makes a "U" shape. You really don't want the spring coming undone from the pivot axle any sooner than you can control.
Then, using a pair of angled forceps, I went up through the exterior hole in the chassis and pulled the small end of the spring through the larger chassis hole (pictured above), and let the small end of the spring seat itself in the small hole. This requires some hard pulling, again, due to the large spring constant.

This worked for me. Not easy, but now that I’ve done it I could probably do it again. The entire job took me an hour but I had a lot of false starts, connecting the small end of the spring first, and making some fixtures in the basement -- none of which worked because I'd mistakenly connected the chassis end of the spring first -- to help position the spring.

Anyway, the shifter now works as intended, and I have some positive force against the stops in the neutral position -- as intended by the manufacturer.

I didn’t empty the oil and now it’s all over the garage floor, from when I inverted the unit for repair. So I even started the process of changing the oil! Kill two birds with one stone.


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

Welcome to the Toro Hanger of SBF Jera!

Sounds like you're learnin'!! 

Yeah, your chassis is a little different. I can see how that would be a pain. Mine literally took a minute to change through the belt hatch...not to rub it in or anything


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## jera223 (Mar 9, 2015)

Yeah, this is not something i want to do again anytime soon! But like I said, it'd be easier now that I've done it once of course. I'm learning.....


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