thought i'd share, did a tune-up on lawn mower, it was in bad shape from neglect. gave it a good cleaning, new air filter, needed 2 oil changes, and thorough gas tank and carb cleaning. Engine would start right up, but had a slight miss and exhaust sounded funny almost like a bad exhaust valve. There's was also a lot of vibration through the whole mower. The blade had been put on upside down and was spun on the shaft, so i had corrected that and also sharpened it. but from the vibration i figured the blade had to be quite off balance, I know it's hit quite a few things. So I bought a new blade, a heavier heavy-duty one. Engine runs smooth with no vibration now, basically fixed everything. From the the way it had run with the old blade, if it weren't for the vibration i would have went back into the carb or spark plug. So if you ever have troubles, don't overlook the blade as it also serves as a flywheel and if it's out of balance it will cause the engine to run poorly.
new lawn mower blade fixes poor running engine
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I get a lot of benefit from heavier blades, too. That's one reason the gator blades work so well - because they're HUGE.
Interesting on the weight. I've noticed trying to start a mower before that I could not start it without the blade? But then i just started my Honda pressure washer without the pump and started and ran great.
The engines on stuff like pressure washers have a heavier flywheel. On mowers the flywheel is very light, because they expect the weight of the blade to make up for it.
JTK
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Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
The engines on stuff like pressure washers have a heavier flywheel. On mowers the flywheel is very light, because they expect the weight of the blade to make up for it.
Exactly. I'm not even sure you can get a real cheapy mower engine to start w/out a blade on. There's little/no flywheel weight to some of them.
The engines on stuff like pressure washers have a heavier flywheel. On mowers the flywheel is very light, because they expect the weight of the blade to make up for it.
Exactly. I'm not even sure you can get a real cheapy mower engine to start w/out a blade on. There's little/no flywheel weight to some of them.
engines will start and run fine without the blade .The 3.5 Techumse on my lawn mower starts fine with out the blade. I have run car engines with only a flexplate and they weigh very little . I run only flex plates on my boat engine
Originally Posted By: oilboy123
Interesting on the weight. I've noticed trying to start a mower before that I could not start it without the blade? But then i just started my Honda pressure washer without the pump and started and ran great.
Some of them will run fine with no blade, but it really has more to do with the total rotating weight. Some engines have iron flywheels, they seem to run ok with or without a blade.
If you start an engine with an aluminum flywheel, and no blade, you risk shearing the flywheel key.
If any of you have ever seen a vertical shaft walkbehind edger, the ones with the twisted pto belt, a weight disk is added to the crank on the bottom in order to proved the engine with "something to do under no load" if you will.
Interesting on the weight. I've noticed trying to start a mower before that I could not start it without the blade? But then i just started my Honda pressure washer without the pump and started and ran great.
Some of them will run fine with no blade, but it really has more to do with the total rotating weight. Some engines have iron flywheels, they seem to run ok with or without a blade.
If you start an engine with an aluminum flywheel, and no blade, you risk shearing the flywheel key.
If any of you have ever seen a vertical shaft walkbehind edger, the ones with the twisted pto belt, a weight disk is added to the crank on the bottom in order to proved the engine with "something to do under no load" if you will.
the mower i had was a cheap troy built with the typical B&S engine, side valve small hp. That would NOT start without a blade. I tried, almost broke the pull cord because of the kick back, and i couldn't pull it and get more than 1 compression stroke of rotation.
JTK
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Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
I tried, almost broke the pull cord because of the kick back, and i couldn't pull it and get more than 1 compression stroke of rotation.
That's been my exact experience with mower engines w/out a heavy flywheel.
Joel
I tried, almost broke the pull cord because of the kick back, and i couldn't pull it and get more than 1 compression stroke of rotation.
That's been my exact experience with mower engines w/out a heavy flywheel.
Joel
If you guys aren't careful we'll have one of those long flamewars like we had last year on here about whether or not a mower can run without a blade. I have
personally never seen it done. No, I'm not calling anybody a liar. I just haven't seen it.
personally never seen it done. No, I'm not calling anybody a liar. I just haven't seen it.
I have a nail on the edge of my workbench next to my vise specifically to check the balance after I grind/file the edge of my mower blades. I like to keep them sharp and have 2 sets-one set is always sharp and ready to be put on the mower.
Unbalanced or poorly sharpened blades will also make for a poor cut, especially if you have multiple blades like my 60" 7 Iron deck or my Woods RM360.
Unbalanced or poorly sharpened blades will also make for a poor cut, especially if you have multiple blades like my 60" 7 Iron deck or my Woods RM360.
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