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So I think I messed up my lawn mower royally - do you agree? Not a mechanic question. . .

episodic

episodic

Lifer
Was mowing, and forgot about a pipe sticking out of the ground behind a bush. The blade hit it full on and immediately stopped the lawnmower with a huge thud.

Now, I can't pull the starter cord at all. I got under it and rotated the blade - and it is very hard to push now. . .

This was a 99$ walmart mower . . . is it just shot? Or something simple I can do?
 
Replace the blade bushing grommet gasket fluid. Fix 'er right up.
 
Ok serious answer. Best chance is to remove the blade and make sure there's no visible obstruction. If the problem is right there, maybe you can replace the blade and/or whatever it's connected to cheaper than you can buy a new mower. See if it turns more easily with the blade removed. I'm guessing that whatever is wrong will be serious and prohibitively expensive to fix on a $100 mower though.
 
There is a pin just under the flywheel. It is called a shear pin. It was put there for that purpose, to shear when you hit something, avoiding engine damage. Replace it and you will be good to go.
 
Might have bent the main shaft...and that is never a good thing, no matter what kind of shaft it's done to.
If you do get it going again and it shudders hard, this may be the cause - the blades will be rotating off center then.

And possibly damaged the engine itself. A $99 Walmart mower? Be glad it worked as long as it did, and buy another one.

But I'm not an engine expert by any means. 😉


 
Originally posted by: Rastus
There is a pin just under the flywheel. It is called a shear pin. It was put there for that purpose, to shear when you hit something, avoiding engine damage. Replace it and you will be good to go.
Click to expand...

damn didn't know that - google says that sounds right. I always made sure there weren't any hard objects in front of where I mowed.
 
Also never manually turn the blade backwards. I did that once and it forced oil out of the engine. After a a bit of fixerupping it STILL runs. Well, I ended up just changing the oil as it never got changed in like 30 years. The motor smoked up at some point but I let it go and it STILL runs after all that. That thing will never die. It's a Briggs and Straton.

I wonder what happens if I put nos in it.
 
Originally posted by: dudeman007
Just put some NOS in it.....make sure you get the blue bottle
Click to expand...

Slap a couple racing equipment stickers on the deck, and you might get a few more horsepower outta that engine too!! 😉
 
Originally posted by: Rastus
There is a pin just under the flywheel. It is called a shear pin. It was put there for that purpose, to shear when you hit something, avoiding engine damage. Replace it and you will be good to go.
Click to expand...
Good advice, but there may be more problems.

I did the same thing many, many years ago. The previous owner of the house had installed a sprinkler system. On my first mowing in the house I discovered that one of the sprinkler heads was not buried deep enough. The crankshaft was bent. I took off the blade and when pulling the recoil rope, the crankshaft was wobbling around.

I called a couple of shops for advice and everyone said put a new motor on it. One shop suggested I call a third shop because he'd heard they had equipment that could straighten the bent crank. I called and they said to bring it on over.

I got there with it and they verified that it was bent. He went back into the shop to get the "special equipment". A big f'n hammer! After three or four wacks, the crank spun with no wobble at all. Real high-tech. In my case the key was not sheared. YMMV.

I used that mower for nine years and sold it to a co-worker who used it for 6 more. It was used when I bought it although only slightly. It was a 21", self propelled, electric start Snapper with a Briggs & Stratton on it.
 
It was a $99 Wal-Mart mower. There could be any number of things broken, and each one would probably only succeed in giving you a headache. Go back to Wal-Mart and get yourself another one.
 
Originally posted by: Rastus
There is a pin just under the flywheel. It is called a shear pin. It was put there for that purpose, to shear when you hit something, avoiding engine damage. Replace it and you will be good to go.
Click to expand...

Except if it were the shear pin, he'd be able to turn the blade.
 
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Drive it into the same pipe going in the other direction. Should even her out.
Click to expand...

That's just stupid. It would have to be running for that to work, and he can't get it started! DUH!
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Might have bent the main shaft...and that is never a good thing, no matter what kind of shaft it's done to.
If you do get it going again and it shudders hard, this may be the cause - the blades will be rotating off center then.

And possibly damaged the engine itself. A $99 Walmart mower? Be glad it worked as long as it did, and buy another one.

But I'm not an engine expert by any means. 😉
Click to expand...

I'm betting on a bent shaft. Might as well junk it if that's it. It's like bending an axle on a car.
 
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