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Westwood lawn tractor scarifier attachment🔗︎

Background🔗︎

This post is predominantly about the scarifier cassette that replaces the sweeper cassette in the Powered Grass Collector (PGC) attachment. Westwood T40 However, I want to provide a little context. Westwood was the sister-company of Countax. Some suggest the Countax brand was more popular in main-land Europe and Westwood-branded machines were specifically for the UK market, however, they were both readily available and originally manufactured in Great Haseley, Oxfordshire, UK.

Ariens Edge 42In 2010, an American company, Ariens purchased Countax Ltd. Fast forward to 2023. Ariens have decided to kill the Countax and Westwood brand and machines. They are focusing on something called Zero-Turn. Ariens have made no official announcement, but the fact there is no reference to Countax/Westwood on their website confirms it. It's a rather undignified end for two well-regarded British brands.

Machine Compatibility

Ultimately, this post applies to machines that use the PGC+ system. Including:

Countax 2000 - Current Belt Westwood 2001 - Current
C38 (Honda) A49: 228001200 T2000
C300H (Briggs) A49: 228001200 S1300 (Briggs)
C300H (Honda) A49: 228001200 S1400 (Briggs)
C400H (Honda) A49: 228001200 S1500 (Briggs)
C550 (Briggs) A49: 228001200 S1600 (Briggs)
C600H (Honda) A49: 228001200 T1600 (Briggs)
C600H-4WD (Honda) A49: 228001200 T1600-4WD (Briggs)
C800H (Honda) A49: 228001200 T1800 (Briggs)
C800H-4WD (Honda) A49: 228001200 T1800-4WD (Briggs)
C25-4WD (Kawasaki) A49: 228001200 T25-4WD (Kawasaki)
E36 (Tecumseh) A49: 228001200 T40 (Loncin)
C40 (Loncin) A51: 228000200 T50 (Briggs)
C50 (Briggs) A51: 228000200 T60 (Kawasaki)
C60 (Kawasaki) A51: 228000200 T80 (Kawasaki)
C80 (Kawasaki) A51: 228000200 F60-4WD (Kawasaki)
B60-4WD (Kawasaki) A51: 228000200 F65-4WD (Kawasaki)
B65-4WD (Kawasaki) A51: 228000200 F250-4WD (Kawasaki)
B250-4WD (Kawasaki) A51: 228000200 F255-4WD (Kawasaki)
B255-4WD (Kawasaki) A51: 228000200
E36 (Loncin) A51: 228000200

Rant

With the caveat that I am an Engineer and not an accountant - so what would I know!

  1. Flippant, perhaps, but if they can't turn (which, obviously they can), they're not much use! Stupid name.
  2. These "zero-turn" machines have a massive glaring omission: No grass box. I don't care what anyone says, leaving grass clippings on the lawn (mulched or otherwise) is one guaranteed way to replace grass with moss!
  3. The main reason I've purchased and recommended Countax machines for the last +35 years is because of their USP, the Powered Grass Collector. Who doesn't love a beautifully striped lawn.

I am sure Ariens accountants think they know what they're doing, or more likely, don't care, but I won't be buying any more Ariens machines. An accountant has a different mind-set to us Engineers; one that wouldn't appreciate a striped lawn, or the effort that goes into producing the perfect stripes.

If you have a Countax or Westwood, my advice: look after it!

Swapping sweeper cassette for scarifier cassette🔗︎

Scarifier cassette
Scarifier cassette
Sweeper cassette
Sweeper cassette

Detach the grass box🔗︎

  1. Remove the retaining linchpin or R-clip from the arm and slide it off the boss . Tipping leaver connecting arm

  2. Move the arm from the operating ball joint to the storage ball joint. (1)

    1. The PGC frame has a dedicated storage position for this arm, holding it clear whilst the lid and net are removed. A small detail, but entirely typical of the quality of thought that went into the design and build of these machines

    2. Slide the catch down

    3. Clip onto the storage ball joint Arms
    4. Located thus Arms
    5. Repeat step 2 on the other side
    6. Holding the black bar on top and the back lip, open and lift the lid and net out of the pivot slots
    7. Set the grass box down to one side

Remove the sweeper cassette🔗︎

  1. Clean off any grass clippings residue around the sweeper
  2. Unscrew the retaining bolt retaining bolt The bolt will retract, leaving space to slide the entire sweeper cassette to the right retaining bolt retracted
  3. Grab the handles and slide the sweeper cassette to the right handle
  4. Lift up and pull the sweeper cassette out of the housing

Installing the scarifier cassette🔗︎

  1. Insert the cassette into the housing, using the locating slot and pin locating pins

  2. Turn the drive coupling so the grooves align aligned grooves Grooves

    drive locating groove drive locating groove

  3. Slide the scarifier cassette to the left, ensuring the pins on the drive coupling engage.

  4. Screw in the retaining bolt

Height control🔗︎

For scarifying, the tines need to reach deep into the thatch of the lawn. I find the lowest setting is required, but try a small area and adjust accordingly. Depending on your grass:moss ratio, your lawn may end up rather bald.

I did come across this YouTube video. At time of writing, I cannot confirm its legitimacy.

Re-attach the grass box🔗︎

Same procedure, in reverse

Re-installing the sweeper cassette🔗︎

Same procedure, in reverse. Don't forget to re-adjust the height for the sweeper.

Video 🔗︎

In this instance, I've put together a short video. Apologies for the quality. The Videographer was more interested in what I was doing than looking at where the camera was pointing 😄

Written by mankind, checked by AI

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