Ferguson Throttle Mods

[OldFart187]

My TO30 throttle lever assembly was modified when a previous owner installed power steering. The lever has only 30 degrees of range vs 65 for the original and it only goes 5 degrees between 400-2200rpm no load, is overly sensitive and hard to set any speed above idle. There are no mechanical stops except for the carb idle speed stop. Does the original have a high speed mechanical stop? The only solution I can think of to reduce throttle sensitivity is to drill a new hole in the lever's lower arm and move the rod pivot inward. The existing radius is 1.3" so to get 65 degrees, l need to drill the hole at a 0.6" radius. That seems way too short.

Another question is the lack of the lever assembly spring. What's it's function?

 

[pomester]

My TO30 throttle lever assembly was modified when a previous owner installed power steering. The lever has only 30 degrees of range vs 65 for the original and it only goes 5 degrees between 400-2200rpm no load, is overly sensitive and hard to set any speed above idle. There are no mechanical stops except for the carb idle speed stop. Does the original have a high speed mechanical stop? The only solution I can think of to reduce throttle sensitivity is to drill a new hole in the lever's lower arm and move the rod pivot inward. The existing radius is 1.3" so to get 65 degrees, l need to drill the hole at a 0.6" radius. That seems way too short.

Another question is the lack of the lever assembly spring. What's it's function?

Sounds like a governor issue - your linkage looks complete, except for the lever spring which does't have anything to do with your issues.
I see the adjustment is screwed way out at the governor to carburetor rod. I suggest you go thru the steps of governor adjustment carefully, the system is a bit fussy.

If you have an owner's manual, starting on page 31 there is detailed instructions for adjusting the governor. I found a copy of the owner's manual online at the N Ford club site which I cannot link to here.

 

[OldFart187]

The governor is new, installed during the rehab. All linkages have been set up per owners' and shop manuals. Before I tweak it further I want to get the lever range back closer to stock. I think that's a good part of the problem if not all of it. Even with the reduced travel It idles well and at full travel (in my case abiut 30 degrees), the governor does it's job, keeping the speed to about 2200rpm. So far, all testing has been done with no load. I did drill two more holes in the lever's rod attachment arm so as soon as my new ball pivot ends for the connecting rod get here, I'll reassemble it and do some more testing.

The main purpose of the governor is to hold the speed steady as the load varies. I don't plan to do any plowing or such but will use the machine for front end loader work so the governor is really unnecessary. If, after the fixes, tests and adjustments it's still finicky, I'll disconnect it and use an excavator cable throttle.

 

[pomester]

is overly sensitive and hard to set any speed above idle.

This points to the governor.