From: cuhulin on
Back in the late 1960's or early 1970's my lawnmower hit a brick and
sheared the key.I don't remember exactly how I removed the flywheel, but
I got it off.That old lawnmower got so old, the fuel tank started
vibrating to pieces.One time I tried patching it up with fiberglass.
cuhulin

From: Oren on
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:27:05 -0500, jim <"sjedgingN0Sp"@m(a)mwt,net>
wrote:

>> I have an old mower which might have the same problem.
>
>You don't have to take the flywheel off to determine if the key is
>sheared. Just remove the retaining nut and look at the key. If it isn't
>sheared no need to take off the flywheel.

No but looking at the shear key under the nut will not tell you if the
key fractured midway in the crank key way.

Some keys don't snap or look obvious. The engine will misfire.

From: Harry K on
On Jul 13, 9:14 pm, Oren <O...(a)127.0.0.1> wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:27:05 -0500, jim <"sjedgingN0Sp"@m(a)mwt,net>
> wrote:
>
> >> I have an old mower which might have the same problem.
>
> >You don't have to take the flywheel off to determine if the key is
> >sheared. Just remove the retaining nut and look at the key. If it isn't
> >sheared no need to take off the flywheel.
>
> No but looking at the shear key under the nut will not tell you if the
> key fractured  midway in the crank key way.
>
> Some keys don't snap or look obvious. The engine will misfire.

Yep, BTDT and have the t-shirt. Took me a full day fooling with it
before I finally pulled the flywheel and saw the half-sheared key.

Harry K
From: jim on


Oren wrote:
>
> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:27:05 -0500, jim <"sjedgingN0Sp"@m(a)mwt,net>
> wrote:
>
> >> I have an old mower which might have the same problem.
> >
> >You don't have to take the flywheel off to determine if the key is
> >sheared. Just remove the retaining nut and look at the key. If it isn't
> >sheared no need to take off the flywheel.
>
> No but looking at the shear key under the nut will not tell you if the
> key fractured midway in the crank key way.
>
> Some keys don't snap or look obvious. The engine will misfire.

If you can't tell if the flywheel and shaft keyways are aligned, then
maybe a visit to the optometrist will help.

I don't even use a key. Just line up the two key slots and tighten the
nut. Eliminating the jammed key makes it easier to remove if you hit
something, also.

-jim
From: cuhulin on
I was thinking about rigging up a lawnmower ''Trick''
Two of my garden hoses connected together with a leak proof plug between
the two hoses and my nozzle on one end of the hose.Put a little bit of
gas in there.When my lawnmower runs out of gas, I put the nozzle in the
tank and turn on the water faucet.But, only gas goes into my lawnmower
when I squeeze the nozzle.
Make the neighbors think my lawn mower runs on water.
cuhulin