self propelled petrol lawnmower

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I have got a "typhoon" petrol lawnmower with a briggs and stratton engine.I have had it about 2 months,got it from ebay.Although it was new and packed in a box just had to put the handle on and fill it with oil,but it had been in the box for a few years.so no chance of guarantee.It worked fine up to yesterday when the self propelling doesnt work any more.The engine is fine and cuts ok but just doesnt propel itself anymore.I have looked in the basic instruction manual but it doesnt give me any clues.

Any suggestions please
 
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A few things to check....when you pull the drive handle, does it feel connected to anything? Its actually pulling a lever on the back axle gearbox.
Next, tip the machine back on its handles and secure it.....is the drive belt from the engine to the back axle intact, or maybe ridden off its pulley?
Are there any clicking noises from the rear wheels when you push the machine?
John :)
 
My pleasure mate - just don't tip these things on their side - the oil gets where it shouldn't.
John :)
 
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On mine there is an additional drive on the side of the engine, this connects direct to the drive chain via a shaft held by a gudgeon pin. If the pin is missing or broken there will be no drive.
 
Aah yes the famous Briggs low speed power take off! A good system that, and I don't see too many of them these days.
The problem was, the shear roll pin was inside the engine which meant getting to it was a bit of a chore.
John :)
 
Sure, if you and I can trust my memory :p
Sticking out of the side of the engine you'll see a small chain sprocket - I believe this is held on to the output shaft with a circlip and a woodruff key.
No matter - if you want to access the drive and roll pin, the engine has to come off the cutter deck and be inverted which obviously means it has to be dry of fuel and oil. You may have to remove the blade boss too from the engine crankshaft.
Looking at the engine underside you should see a plate held on by bolts or screws - you remove this and recover the gasket. Then you should see the drive from the crankshaft to the PTO, and the roll pin that passes through the shaft. Carefully knocking the pin through allows the PTO shaft to come clear.
Now - thats from memory, it was an elderly Hayter mower with a vertical crank Briggs 3 1/2 HP motor and it was a long time ago!
Anyway, you may not need to go that far. Expose the chain drive and there should be some sort of tensioner that you slacken. Look for the spring link in the chain and remove that - it could be all you need!
Do drain the oil and fuel if you intend to turn the mower over.
John :)
 
I'd rather rely on your memory than mine. :)

As I remember, about 25 years ago I removed the drive train and it was quite simple and just took a few minutes. Last year I tried a couple of times to remove it and it seemed impossible, so I gave up.

So I'll put your memory to the test. :)
Thanks
 
just had a look at the mower,its such a job just to see anything,got it up on top of my wheelie bins to try and see as you cant turn it over .
It looks like the belt that goes to the little box on the rear axle is all floppy "i guess its not supposed to be like that".
How the hell do you change it or alter it do you have to take the engine off or something?
 
Just a couple of things you may need to know about.....
The belt tension is often set by a spring that pulls the rear axle backwards, holding the belt tight enough to drive.
There may be a knurled plastic adjustment on the drive cable that allows the belt to grip on the pulleys. Many variable speed models use this (Mountfields etc.) Normally a handbook would mention this though.
To access the belt -and I can only generalise here - its best to remove the cutting blade and any metal plate thats fixed to the cutter deck. The mounting bolts will naturally be covered with garden crap so remove that with a scraper or wire brush.
What you need to ascertain is that the belt is actually riding in both the crank pulley (usually aluminium) and the rear axle pulley (usually plastic).
If this is ok, then you need to see that the drive cable, coming from the handle is pulling a lever on the gearbox of the rear axle. This puts the axle into drive.
There is a possibility, due to failure, that the axle turns, but the wheels do not. Post back if this is the case.
If that seems to work, then its off with the rear axle so you can spin its pulley on the bench, and see that the axle rotates at a lower speed.
Hope its just the belt, mate! Don't forget, I'm talking about the most typical applications here.
Unless the machine has done many hours work, its often just a belt or cable adjustment issue.
Be lucky
John :)
 
Sure, if you and I can trust my memory :p
Sticking out of the side of the engine you'll see a small chain sprocket - I believe this is held on to the output shaft with a circlip and a woodruff key.
No matter - if you want to access the drive and roll pin, the engine has to come off the cutter deck and be inverted which obviously means it has to be dry of fuel and oil. You may have to remove the blade boss too from the engine crankshaft.
Looking at the engine underside you should see a plate held on by bolts or screws - you remove this and recover the gasket. Then you should see the drive from the crankshaft to the PTO, and the roll pin that passes through the shaft. Carefully knocking the pin through allows the PTO shaft to come clear.
Now - thats from memory, it was an elderly Hayter mower with a vertical crank Briggs 3 1/2 HP motor and it was a long time ago!
Anyway, you may not need to go that far. Expose the chain drive and there should be some sort of tensioner that you slacken. Look for the spring link in the chain and remove that - it could be all you need!
Do drain the oil and fuel if you intend to turn the mower over.
John :)

Hi, I'm new to this forum so I hope I'm replying in the right way.
I've got an old Hayter Harrier 2 with a 3.5HP Briggs on it. I want to take the engine off but don't know how to remove the blade boss / friction disc. Any suggestions how to do this? Any help would be much appreciated! Jeroen
 
Ok so finally got round to looking at the mower.The belt was off the front pulley,I popped the belt on the pulley put it all back together.

It still doesnt work but now it wont reverse as the back wheels lock when you try to move it back. any ideas please??

It hasnt had many hours of work as this is the first season I have used it so probably about 6 hours max mowing
 

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