Worn gears on self propelled mower

[dlundblad]

The self propelled setup in the 10 year old "yard machine" push mower kicked the bucket. I couldn't see anything wrong externally so I took the "transmission's" gear box apart and found that the axle shaft plastic gear was completly chewed up. The goofy thing was that it had very little oil/ grease (whatever they used) with no signs of it leaking.

Thankfully I had a spare from a junked mower that the GF's BIL gave me, but it is sad to think it could have been useless if not for the spare. Stuff really is throw away these days.

 

[bubbatime]

Yep plastic gears means planned obsolescence. Most people throw it away and go buy another piece of junk.

 

[CharBaby]

Over the last 45 years, every self propelled push mower that I owned, the self propelled unit died! I ended up uninstalling it(to lessen the weight) and pushing the mower til the mower itself finally quit, or wasn't worth putting money into.

Now, I just buy a light weight push mower w/o the self propelled unit and I'm happy.

 

[Lubener]

Long ago, I had an old Toro Guardian which had metal gears. Every 3-4 years I was replacing stripped out gears, so even the metal ones have problems. A lot depends if the gears are "shocked", meaning bumping the wheels against a fence post etc.

 

[Merkava_4]

I would think a low viscosity grease like Sta-Lube 3310 would be better than nothing.

 

[Eddie]

Nylon gear material needs little or no lubricant as they are slippery as is. Ed

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Over the last 45 years, every self propelled push mower that I owned, the self propelled unit died! I ended up uninstalling it(to lessen the weight) and pushing the mower til the mower itself finally quit, or wasn't worth putting money into.

Now, I just buy a light weight push mower w/o the self propelled unit and I'm happy.

I'll bet you've never owned a Snapper then, drive system runs for years and weighs very little...

My 1983 Snapper with 2004 Honda power and '81 drive system, only thing replaced are belts... This deck wasn't orig self propelled, pulled drive system from a mower that blew it's engine in '11...

 

[gman2304]

My 1998 John Deere JX75 with the Tuff Torq 5 speed transmission still works great.

 

[Rand]

I know on many craftsman mowers the gears that die are on the inside of the wheels. Pretty easy to replace a wheel for about 15$

 

[Donald]

I was mowing recently and let go of the drive handle on my Ariens self-propelled (FWD) and I could not pull it backwards. So I tilted the front wheels off the ground to pull it backwards.

After mowing (machine off) I moved the front wheels by hand and they go both directions but it does not sound nice and smooth.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Over the last 45 years, every self propelled push mower that I owned, the self propelled unit died! I ended up uninstalling it(to lessen the weight) and pushing the mower til the mower itself finally quit, or wasn't worth putting money into.

Now, I just buy a light weight push mower w/o the self propelled unit and I'm happy.


Good call. I mow our small yard in about 20-30 minutes with my early 90's 2- stroke Lawn Boy. No self propelled [censored] and the mower is super light and easy to maneuver even with the bagger. This mower is used by the road on some pretty wicked hills where the FWD set up is important.. Probably another reason it wore out so quickly?

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I would think a low viscosity grease like Sta-Lube 3310 would be better than nothing.


You would think it would! I am stuck between packing the "new" box with grease or just letting it go. The original one did last 10 years I guess..

The real thing to do would be to take the plastic gear off and have someone with a mill make a metal one.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
Over the last 45 years, every self propelled push mower that I owned, the self propelled unit died! I ended up uninstalling it(to lessen the weight) and pushing the mower til the mower itself finally quit, or wasn't worth putting money into.

Now, I just buy a light weight push mower w/o the self propelled unit and I'm happy.

I'll bet you've never owned a Snapper then, drive system runs for years and weighs very little...

My 1983 Snapper with 2004 Honda power and '81 drive system, only thing replaced are belts... This deck wasn't orig self propelled, pulled drive system from a mower that blew it's engine in '11...

That looks all chain/ belt driven? Very nice set up.

 

[Hokiefyd]

That Snapper has the disc drive system, which is belt-driven.

One of the neatest drive systems, in my opinion, is on Honda's older aluminum deck mowers -- a real drive shaft.

That's not my picture, but I have a similar mower, an HR215 "Masters". Shaft drive, 3-speed all metal transmission, dog clutch ears in the drive axle instead of the little gears that mesh with plastic on the wheels. Very durable system.

 

[Lawn_Care]

My 1988 (or '89, I forget) John Deere 14SB still has the original 5-spd transmission and it works fine.

Of course it was a $600 top-of-the-line commercial grade mower 27-years ago. lol

 

[dlundblad]

I have a commercial Lawn Boy that is self propelled as well. Seems pretty stout compared to what Lowes sells today. Lol.

It'll outlive me I am sure.

 

[WANG]

Things wear out and break. That's not a new thing.
Would parts be available at the closest real OPE dealer if you didn't have one to cannibalize?

 

[dlundblad]

Possibly, but since it was a Lowe's branded mower, I would probably have to go through them. Who knows how much that would have cost.. especially compared to what these things go for used on Craigslist.

 

[JTK]

If you want a self-propelled mower that lasts, you have to resurrect an oldie, or really pay up for a new one. Old Toro 3spds were awesome. The Honda single speed is good and of course the Snapper disk drives.