Saturday, July 7, 2012

fixing mower

I am not a fan of grass lawn. It is just a never ending chore with no reward and there is nothing worst than the noise of gasoline powered gardening equipment rudely shattering the perfect tranquility of a peaceful, cool, and overcast morning.

My previous house was situated on a corner lot. After I moved in I tore up all the grass on my lawn and replaced it with gravel, rocks, and ornamental grass. But I also required to maintain the very large expense of grass strips along the sidewalk that is not within my property. That is the reason I purchase this used Honda mower. It had serve me well for a long time.



When I moved to my current home the mower was on it's last leg. My current house has the kind of landscaping. No lawn on the front and side yards. There is a small strip of grass lawn in the back yard total about 80 sq ft. I have been wanting to get rid of it but still have not settle on a suitable replacement. For quite some time I have tried to use a push mower but they just don't do well in very soggy Pacific Northwest spring. My is a cheaply made one given to me by a neighbor. It just does not do what it's supposed to.

The Honda mower stop running and I was about to take it to the glue factory (aka scrap metal yard). I stared at it and it is such a nicely made older Honda and I cannot get over just junking it. One of the biggest problem is of the 3 steel threaded studs securing the starting pull cord house 2 have been broken off. Replacement part was discontinued for many years. The carburetor also need cleaning and service parts are very hard to come by. After some searching I found the gaskets for the carburetor, and even the air filter foam.

OK, I just need to fix the 2 broken studs and clean the carburetor.

starter assembly and housing, main cover, fuel tank, and air filter removed - carburetor lower left in picture


fixing the broken studs turned out to be nothing of a cake walk. I managed to remove one carefully with a vice grip. The other one decided to be ornery and stayed seized. I had to drilled and extract it and it took some careful work with the minimal tools I had.

broken threaded studs extracted and re-threaded (it is on the round alloy casting just below the flywheel)

repairing the broken stubs with metric screws - like a real farmer welding his equipment; every household should have a welder, it is so useful

almost there, baby

It is now ready for service for many years to come. The mowing on the strip of grass in my yard takes only 6 passes and I can get it done in 3 minutes.

This is not the first time I have to use a welder to fix this mower. Shortly I bought this mower used, the long strut of the long handle broke from stress fracture. I repaired it by welding it back together.

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