OP
Rob-D
Veteran Member
dbdartman said:Reminds me of an incident about 3 years ago. I have an old (about 10 years) K-Mart 22" self propelled walk-behind. We hadn't sold the old house yet, so I had to load the mower up & cut the lawn once a week. One day I hit an old stump & bent the crank (broke the stump too). After mumbling a few choice words, I loaded the mower back up (couldn't finish, it vibrated too much) & hauled it home. After pulling the blade, the end of the crank was out about .1" according to the dial indicator. Having nothing to lose, I broke out my favorite precision calibrator (3lb hand maul) & beat the shaft straight. Although this mower only gets used once or twice a year, it's as smooth as ever & the lower crank seal doesn't leak. Guess I have a soft spot for those B&S engines...
Yep! I think that's the best solution. Whack the beans out of the shaft with a big mallet.
It is a design flaw.
The further the shaft extends beyond the housing to reach the blade the more leverage the blade has and thus the greater force it exerts on the shaft. If you look at a well made mower you won't see this. In fact the best way to do it is to NOT have the blade attach to the shaft directly but that would have meant more parts and designing effort. JD is just squeaking by on profit with this junk box so I understand they have to keep the price competitive and I do hope they read this site but just in case I'll send them a little note about how elated I am that their corporate decisions aren't really fooling the buying public as much as they think they are and I'm going to be a little Johnny Appleseed spreading the good news. Oh and yes I'm so glad they sent me a JD "Owner's edition hat." It Would have been nice to get the free filters they were sending out a couple of years ago but hey, I got a hat made in China for my 20 plus grand purchase. That certainly is worth it to me. Thanks JD but Thermal Dynamics sent me a hat and $200.00 worth of accessories for buying their Plasma Cutter.
So the logical next question is? You buy a Dewalt 500 buck drill from them are you getting a name? Well I can tell you that Wally World has so much clout that they tell suppliers to cut corners. If for instance, you buy a can of Hills Bro. coffee you get the same size can as your local food market but Hills puts less coffee in the can so you think you're getting a better deal because it cost less. You're getting less! They do the same thing with electronics so I try not to buy from them when I don't have to.
Bottom line Caveat Emptor boys and girls.
I bought a Dewalt pressure washer from Home Depot. It was big bucks so I examined it really well. It has the better Honda engine on it (GX) and an excellent pump. It's well made and works flawlessly. The Deere mower is a dirty corporate decision between them and Lowe's
By the way I do love the old battle axe, it's all in fun just like the mower. Nancy knows there will be a long story about it for years to come. How I packed all the groceries on her lap and mom's so I could get the mower in the back. And every time I use this beast there will be a lawn party and I'll put a big tag on it with the final cost. Hey, I'm retired, I worked my butt off my whole life, now's the time to have a ball. Let the mowers and the good times roll!
