Bad day mowing

[Donald]

So it's a bad day mowing when after mowing while walking across the lawn you find a bolt that holds the engine to the mower. Even worse when you go to put the bolt back in and see two bolts are missing but you only have one bolt on your hand.

Maybe another reason to put a Kohler engine in my Toro Timemaster as others have suggested.

 

[Cruisin'n5thgear]

Sounds like you should up the torque spec by a couple ugga dugga's on that engine. Good news is, if the bolt fell out it likely didn't strip the hole. Best wishes!

 

[wavinwayne]

Maybe walk the area you mowed after dark with a flashlight. The bolt might have a shiny part that you'll spot with your light. Then use some Loctite blue when re-assembling, or Loctite red if you never need to remove the bolts again. Good luck.

 

[oil pan 4]

Lock washer, locktite.
Add a lock nut if it's a bolt with a nut.

 

[oldcodger]

That is a good hint about looking for it with a flashlight. I have been able to retrieve several lost pieces like that.

 

[IndyIan]

So it's a bad day mowing when after mowing while walking across the lawn you find a bolt that holds the engine to the mower. Even worse when you go to put the bolt back in and see two bolts are missing but you only have one bolt on your hand.

Maybe another reason to put a Kohler engine in my Toro Timemaster as others have suggested.

Sounds not too bad, my Dad gave a neighbor his old lawnboy and then the second mow they hit a stump and broke the crankshaft...

 

[burbguy82]

So it's a bad day mowing when after mowing while walking across the lawn you find a bolt that holds the engine to the mower. Even worse when you go to put the bolt back in and see two bolts are missing but you only have one bolt on your hand.

Maybe another reason to put a Kohler engine in my Toro Timemaster as others have suggested.

Loctite

 

[Donald]

It was a black bolt. The grass is covered with leaves or mulched leaves.

 

[burbguy82]

It was a black bolt. The grass is covered with leaves or mulched leaves.

Magnet?

 

[fantastic]

blue Locktite for reassembly. It happens to most things not secured properly but worse for mowers that vibrate the heck out of everything. Keep your head up, your still mowing the lawn.

 

[wavinwayne]

It was a black bolt. The grass is covered with leaves or mulched leaves.

Any chance you have access to a metal detector?

 

[AZjeff]

Maybe you'll find the 2nd bolt when you shoot it through creepy neighbor's window next time you mow.

 

[Donald]

Maybe you'll find the 2nd bolt when you shoot it through creepy neighbor's window next time you mow.

Except my mower is set to mulch. The second to last bolt could have come off long time ago, maybe even at my old NY house. I did not notice until there was only one bolt left.

 

[Tkonrr]

Made with pride on a Friday afternoon. Time to stop by a hardware store for new bolts and loctite.

 

[Donald]

Made with pride on a Friday afternoon. Time to stop by a hardware store for new bolts and loctite.

Yes. That my next course of action.

 

[97prizm]

That is a good hint about looking for it with a flashlight. I have been able to retrieve several lost pieces like that.

Or a magnet on one of those extendable sticks.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I have one of those Harbor Freight magnets on wheels for roofing nails they find everything that is steel or iron. It is about 3 feet wide so it takes less time to use it.

 

[shortyb]

Match up the found bolt at the hardware place of choice. Then get some of these that @Trav suggested in another thread. They look to do the trick.

Again, be glad you're still mowing. A bad day mowing beats a good day doing lots of other stuff.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

@Donald I had a similar issue with my LT150 this spring. The mower was vibrating like crazy. I started investigating and had 1 tight bolt, 1 loose bolt and 2 missing. The pervious owner had stripped the holes so I had tried to rig a fix. Well the fix lasted about 4 years. I broke down and bought some helicoils which I thread locked in and then thread locked the bolts in as well. I used orange which is suppose to be better than blue, but not red. When tightening the bolts they felt much better and I could actually get some good force on them with the steel helicoils.

Just my $0.02

 

[Donald]

@Donald I had a similar issue with my LT150 this spring. The mower was vibrating like crazy. I started investigating and had 1 tight bolt, 1 loose bolt and 2 missing. The pervious owner had stripped the holes so I had tried to rig a fix. Well the fix lasted about 4 years. I broke down and bought some helicoils which I thread locked in and then thread locked the bolts in as well. I used orange which is suppose to be better than blue, but not red. When tightening the bolts they felt much better and I could actually get some good force on them with the steel helicoils.

Just my $0.02

I am half looking for reasons to repower my Toro Timemaster.

The gas cap issue is just a PIA. Now mounting bolts falling out. And some other belt guide that fell off.