Fixing our Lawn Mower (I Hope)

snubbyfan

snubbyfan

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Having an issue with our lawn mower.


I fashioned a hunk of scrap mild steel to cover the hole.


Glad I have a drill press. Helps to put holes in the steel with a gimpy right hand,


Got the holes drilled and the hardware ready.


Drilled corresponding holes in the side of the deck.


Cigar break. Gran Habano Vintage 2002 Corojo Robusto.


Everything lines up.


Using lotsa threadlock.


All bolted together. Hope it holds.
 
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Oh it will hopd alright. It is fun doing stuff like that. SOmething else that would work is using 5200 instead of mechanical fasteners. Put a bead of 5200 around the edges and then clamp it with a couple of vice grips. Let it cure, then drill the hole for the axel. Easy peasy. I have mounted sights on shotgun barrells using black 5200 and they are still on there.
 
Good Job.

I feel your pain. I mowed my niece's yard this past Monday. They moved in it 2 months ago and a lawnmower was at the bottom of their priorities as a new homeowners.

I found a stump 2" high that was hidden by 10" of grass/weeds. It broke the rear mount on the deck of my riding lawnmower. A new "stripped" deck from JD is $630 with a 2 month lead time. I looked at 3 salvage decks that were in worse shape than mine that were $200-300. I spent $300 on a cheap wire feed welder. The past two afternoons I have cut out the thin damaged area and welded in a new blank then welded the cleaned up mount to the repaired deck. I sharpened the blades, lubed the spindles, unfroze the auto brake system, and painted it JD yellow. I will put back on and adjust it tomorrow afternoon.

A good deed never goes unpunished. It would have been less trouble to buy them a $300 push mowed.
 
snubbyfan said:
Having an issue with our lawn mower.


I fashioned a hunk of scrap mild steel to cover the hole.


Glad I have a drill press. Helps to put holes in the steel with a gimpy right hand,


Got the holes drilled and the hardware ready.


Drilled corresponding holes in the side of the deck.


Cigar break. Gran Habano Vintage 2002 Corojo Robusto.


Everything lines up.


Using lotsa threadlock.


All bolted together. Hope it holds.
Click to expand...

Dang! I wish you lived near me, I have a self propelled mower in excellent shape I would give you.
 
Looks like a good repair and should last the lifetime of you and the mower ! ;)
You’re still lucky to have a mower, mine was stolen several years ago and I haven’t cut the grass ever since! :cool:
 
Good job!

With that said. I'm not trying to be negative. Only a realist. It rusted apart, & the other 3 corners are the same age, & have been subjected to the same conditions.

Sorry. Please don't shoot the messenger.
 
You and I are cut from the same mold when it comes to our push mowers, Wayne. Mine runs good but I keep having to cobble together, using my best jury-rigging techniques, fixes for this and that. I'm proudest of my repair of the pull start spring assembly, which has held up for a couple of years now until, coincidentally just this week, it takes up slowly after a pull. I can live with that.:)

I've never owned enough property to justify a riding mower, and at my age (64), I'm kinda proud of the fact that I still get behind my push mower every week during the summer. Whether it's a mental thing or an actual physical limit, I find that completing my cutting job corresponds exactly with the point I run out of the energy to keep doing it.:o:o
 
Turn4811 said:
Good Job.

I feel your pain. I mowed my niece's yard this past Monday. They moved in it 2 months ago and a lawnmower was at the bottom of their priorities as a new homeowners.

I found a stump 2" high that was hidden by 10" of grass/weeds. It broke the rear mount on the deck of my riding lawnmower. A new "stripped" deck from JD is $630 with a 2 month lead time. I looked at 3 salvage decks that were in worse shape than mine that were $200-300. I spent $300 on a cheap wire feed welder. The past two afternoons I have cut out the thin damaged area and welded in a new blank then welded the cleaned up mount to the repaired deck. I sharpened the blades, lubed the spindles, unfroze the auto brake system, and painted it JD yellow. I will put back on and adjust it tomorrow afternoon.

A good deed never goes unpunished. It would have been less trouble to buy them a $300 push mowed.
Click to expand...
I've been thinking of getting a cheap "hobby" welder. I wouldn't need it often but a coupla tacks would have helped here. I'd like to have welded the bolt that I used as an axle in place as well.
 
gunzo said:
Good job!

With that said. I'm not trying to be negative. Only a realist. It rusted apart, & the other 3 corners are the same age, & have been subjected to the same conditions.

Sorry. Please don't shoot the messenger.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of that. Then I realized that I mostly turn left while mowing our yard and that was the wheel that took most of the strain. Probably just flexed a little over the the years and eventually fatigued and broke.
Anyway, I have leftover scrap steel. If it happens again, I'll just fix it the same way.
 
vigil617 said:
You and I are cut from the same mold when it comes to our push mowers, Wayne. Mine runs good but I keep having to cobble together, using my best jury-rigging techniques, fixes for this and that. I'm proudest of my repair of the pull start spring assembly, which has held up for a couple of years now until, coincidentally just this week, it takes up slowly after a pull. I can live with that.:)

I've never owned enough property to justify a riding mower, and at my age (64), I'm kinda proud of the fact that I still get behind my push mower every week during the summer. Whether it's a mental thing or an actual physical limit, I find that completing my cutting job corresponds exactly with the point I run out of the energy to keep doing it.:o:o
Click to expand...
Keeping stuff running usta be my job when I was a maintenance tech at the RubberMaid Commercial Products factory.
With my motor nerve condition, my wife mows the hilly bits and I take over for the flatter areas.
We have just enough of a yard to call it a yard so it doesn't take very long.
 
Around here you can find mowers with bad engines pushed to the curb. Usually they have been run with no oil, but the decks look like new.

Its an easy swap over to make a "new" mower.

Most mower decks rust from the inside out as the grass accumulates and hold moisture against the steel.
 
wheelgun28 said:
Around here you can find mowers with bad engines pushed to the curb. Usually they have been run with no oil, but the decks look like new.

Its an easy swap over to make a "new" mower.

Most mower decks rust from the inside out as the grass accumulates and hold moisture against the steel.
Click to expand...
Must have been over 20 years ago I was at a yard sale and saw a like-new push mower for $25. His kids had bought him a new one so he was letting this one go.

I told him that I had a good mower with the wheels busted out like SnubbyFan's, so really all I wanted was a deck, and so I told him I would just find a junk one.

As my wife and I started back towards our truck, the guy followed me and asked if I would give $15 for it. He just wanted it gone. So I took it. It started on the 7th pull since it had been sitting quite a while and it ran like a champ. Now it starts on the first or second pull. I have used it ever since.

So they are around for give-away prices.
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
... Something else that would work is using 5200 instead of mechanical fasteners. Put a bead of 5200 around the edges and then clamp it with a couple of vice grips. Let it cure, then drill the hole for the axel. Easy peasy. I have mounted sights on shotgun barrells using black 5200 and they are still on there.
Click to expand...
Would this 5200 stuff hold up well subject to the constant heavy vibration it would experience on a mower?

Not that the shotgun application wouldn't offer its own challenges, but unless it fires like a machine gun, I can't believe it is anywhere near the level of constant stress as on a lawn mower deck.
 
wheelgun28 said:
Around here you can find mowers with bad engines pushed to the curb. Usually they have been run with no oil, but the decks look like new.

Its an easy swap over to make a "new" mower.

Most mower decks rust from the inside out as the grass accumulates and hold moisture against the steel.
Click to expand...
Out here in West Virginia you'll usually find them up on blocks in the front yard next to the cars that're up on blocks in the front yard.

 
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