I had my last power mower seize up tight, thought I'd force it, broke the connector rod then she sure spun freely! Good tug on the rope and the shaft spun for two or more minutes.
I am a little disappointed with this new mower, the Honda engine is probably quiet enough, hard to tell with the roar the blade makes spinning. I didn't realize that it doesn't have a throttle, long time since I bought a mower I guess. the rear wheel drive is variable speed though. You have to fully choke it for each start, the choke disengages immediately the engine starts. Can't get used to not having a throttle though, just seem wrong. I tried connecting a rope to a point about mid way along one side of the lawn and using it as a sort of pendular arc guide thinking I would reverse the process after about half way and then just have the corners to clean up. Didn't work all that well holding to the end of the rope but it might if I bore a hole on the edge of the deck between the front and rear wheel and maybe install an eye that I can clip a dog clip to. The handle is about four feet long from the front wheels maybe a bit more, just not good enough when holding the rope. A better solution would be to have a pivot point immediately above the middle of the mower so one doesn't have to bend over and get so near the machine I'll have to give that a little thought. Maybe I'll be buying a welder to stick some steel together, form a tripod over the top to clip to then just a sliding cleat on the rope to shorten it 20 inches each time I finish a sweep. Any thoughts? ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Kennedy To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 3:29 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] New mower, Old one R I P. I'd check the oil first. If it seized up it's always heat related. Low oil causes tremendous friction which converts to very high heat. A less likely cause would be debris behind the different shrouds. Grass clippings and so on can get into the cooling fins and retain the heat from the engine. This happens more on push mowers though. Beyond this it would depend on the engine. Is it a cast iron sleeve? The older fully aluminum engines would lock up pretty easily. That just wasn't one of the better combinations. When you get around to checking it out, take the shroud and screen off the top so you can try turning the engine with the fins of the flywheel. You may be able to break it loose. If it's still tight, there is a large nut on the end of the crankshaft that you can put a wrench on. Unless it welded itself together you should be able to put some force on the nut and make it turn. I'd doubt very much if it was something like a broken rod. If the rod breaks, the engine will still turn in most cases. At least part of the way around. Of course this is all guessing for now without looking at the engine. But I'd feel safe in guessing it is the rod seizing to the crank journal or the crank seizing to the bottom end bushing if it doesn't have ball bearings. ----- Original Message ----- From: Max Robinson To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:51 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] New mower, Old one R I P. Hmmm. I just might do that. I'm very curious about what happened to that engine. Regards. Max. K 4 O D S. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net Vacuum tube site: http://www.funwithtubes.net Music site: http://www.maxsmusicplace.com To subscribe to the fun with tubes group send an email to, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rodger Hood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 11:00 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] New mower, Old one R I P. > Hey do like I do. fix the old one when you have time so that you are > never without. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Max Robinson > To: Blind Handyman > Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 8:36 PM > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] New mower, Old one R I P. > > > The riding mower died yesterday. Sue was driving it and reported to me > that > it had quit. The starter wouldn't turn it over. The battery is brand new. > I couldn't turn it by hand either. I quizzed her in more detail which > revealed that it had started to vibrate and then stopped. The engine > didn't > coast down to a stop, it stopped dead. That seems to be its condition. I > assume something broke inside the engine. Probably a piston. Given an > over > winter I could likely tare it down, order the parts from Brigs and > Stratton > and fix it. But with the growing season still going strong I don't think > I > could do it in time to suit Sue. Having a mower shop do it would likely > cost as much as a new mower. We went today and bought a John Deere. The > engine in it looks like a Brigs. > > Regards. > > Max. K 4 O D S. > > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net > Vacuum tube site: http://www.funwithtubes.net > Music site: http://www.maxsmusicplace.com > > To subscribe to the fun with tubes group send an email to, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ------------------------------------ > > Send any questions regarding list management to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 > Or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various > List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ > > Visit the archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following > address for more information: > http://www.jaws-users.com/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Groups Links > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. 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