The engine guard on my mower (new to me from my brother) has (2) rivet nuts and one of them is spinning in place. I noticed it was missing the bolt on that side so I got a replacement and this is when I found out it spins in place. How do I remove it ? I'll just use a washer and nut instead.
Remove rivet nut ?
- Thread starter Hall
- Start date
Been a while but last time I had to deal with one, I put the drill onto it, then canted off axis, in hopes of the bit center going off center and the rivet not being able to keep up with the drill speed.
Maybe peen it down, see if can be deformed enough into the deck that it might not spin? Can you access both sides? Maybe cold chisel and work at it?
Does part #9 thread into it? If you put it back to together, then hit it with a fast moving impact, does it tighten up fully? Not sure what that would accomplish, but sometimes in the act of gorilla'ing something, I try different things, until I succeed. Maybe if you put the wheel back on, sans some washers or with extra ones, you can lock up the works, then gain leverage to try to bend it apart.
Have you tried a hammer? [only half joking]
Maybe peen it down, see if can be deformed enough into the deck that it might not spin? Can you access both sides? Maybe cold chisel and work at it?
Does part #9 thread into it? If you put it back to together, then hit it with a fast moving impact, does it tighten up fully? Not sure what that would accomplish, but sometimes in the act of gorilla'ing something, I try different things, until I succeed. Maybe if you put the wheel back on, sans some washers or with extra ones, you can lock up the works, then gain leverage to try to bend it apart.
Have you tried a hammer? [only half joking]
No simple way. Need to destroy it without destroying the surround. Should be able to get a big drill bit to get the washer surround thing then knock it in.
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- Jul 18, 2022
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Hammer and chisel
You might be able to use two flat nose punches, one on each side of it, and hammer them together and re-rivet it. If the screw that goes into it isn't tightened too much you might also be able to use some epoxy to glue to nut to the chassis. But don't get any epoxy in the threads!
If the threads are still good, another option may be to rivet it in place... the way it was intended to be. This can be done with as little as a good quality bolt, a nut, and some grease on the threads.
I grab the rivet nut on the end that protrudes thru the panel with a locking plier as I drill the opposite side until the rivet nut flange breaks free.
No, there's a bracket between the mower frame and the guard. The parts manual/diagrams don't actually seem to show it accurately.
How would I rivet it in place ? I added a bolt and lock washer and this is when I found out it's spinning in place, after it wouldn't snug up.
you get a cap screw, a nut and a washer. Thread the nut on the screw, place a washer under the nut and thread the screw into the rivnut. Using a wrench, hold the screw while threading the nut down so the washer is bearing on the rivnut. Carefully turn the nut down so you are pulling the barrel of the rivnut up against the sheet metal. You are mimicking how it was installed except using the screw, nut and washer instead of a gun.
Rivet nuts are mostly used on different thickness of sheet metal, so hammering them out is not an option with all but the thickest metal they are used in. Also forcing them out without dismantling their clamping or pinching design will compromise a future use of adding another rivet nut. I use a Dremel tool with small thin cutting wheel and cut the crimped shoulders at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 o'clock and pry up the shoulders and push the nut through. The more cuts you make, the easier it is to fold the shoulders up and push it through. Of course, watching to not touch the thin backing metal during the process.
Dremel tool w/cutoff wheel. I've even cut new screw slots with one of those.
@Hall
I'm with @HangFire here. Put a longer bolt in the rivetnut and then put a flanged bolt or bolt and washer on the opposing side. Tighten the nut while holding the bolt and this should crimp the rivetnut further into place. A little lube on the expose thread for the nut will make it easier to turn the nut. Be careful not to strip the bolt is all. I'd try this before removing the rivetnut.
If you can't get it to crimp then a chisel and hammer works but depends on gauge of steel this might be futile. I prefer a Dremel and cut the head off.
Just my $0.02
I'm with @HangFire here. Put a longer bolt in the rivetnut and then put a flanged bolt or bolt and washer on the opposing side. Tighten the nut while holding the bolt and this should crimp the rivetnut further into place. A little lube on the expose thread for the nut will make it easier to turn the nut. Be careful not to strip the bolt is all. I'd try this before removing the rivetnut.
If you can't get it to crimp then a chisel and hammer works but depends on gauge of steel this might be futile. I prefer a Dremel and cut the head off.
Just my $0.02
It worked to some degree - the rivet nut doesn't spin until the bolt gets pretty snug. I'm leaving it alone at this point...
Silly thing is - and maybe someone can explain - I don't know why these rivet nuts are used. The (2) pieces it goes through are welded together !
The parts book don't even show a bolt and lock washer in any of the diagrams. Looking closer, the opposite side of what I showed in my OP makes it clearer. Item # 1 is a single piece that includes the main guard + the two side brackets. These are the pieces that are welded together. What's the purpose of these rivet nuts after all ? One side had a heavy hex bolt and lock washer in place but the other didn't.
Silly thing is - and maybe someone can explain - I don't know why these rivet nuts are used. The (2) pieces it goes through are welded together !
The parts book don't even show a bolt and lock washer in any of the diagrams. Looking closer, the opposite side of what I showed in my OP makes it clearer. Item # 1 is a single piece that includes the main guard + the two side brackets. These are the pieces that are welded together. What's the purpose of these rivet nuts after all ? One side had a heavy hex bolt and lock washer in place but the other didn't.
Why the use of rivet nuts?
If we had access to the engineering drawing and associated change orders it should be easy to answer the question. The reason could be a lot of things.
I'd guess that at one time, nut and bolts were used. Later revisions to the guard and brackets called for them to be welded together and rivet nuts installed that would speed up production (time to tighten a nut and both thru a hole vs. tightening one bolt).
If we had access to the engineering drawing and associated change orders it should be easy to answer the question. The reason could be a lot of things.
I'd guess that at one time, nut and bolts were used. Later revisions to the guard and brackets called for them to be welded together and rivet nuts installed that would speed up production (time to tighten a nut and both thru a hole vs. tightening one bolt).
