Old reliable Walker

[waynard]

About 18 years ago I purchased a used Walker mower with the grass handler deck. It has a 16 horse Kohler engine and has served me very well. It seems that the suction does not lift the grass enough in some cases and leaves some grass uncut. Certain types of grass it will just kind of beat the ends off of it and leave just wispy ends.The impeller for the suction seem to be well worn and rounded. Is it possible that the impeller and housing need to be replaced. I do all my own maintenance on it and rebuilt all of the gear boxes several years ago. The dealer finds it hard to believe that it is still going so strong. As far as I know it is the original engine and has never been rebuilt. It uses no oil to speak of and is a great machine. I just think that my cutting is not what it used to be. I have fairly new blades on it and have sharpened them recently. Any ideas.

Waynard.

 

[Briana]

Hey there - WELCOME to LMF! :smile: I moved your thread to the Walker Forum.

Your mower sounds cool. Could you post a picture?

 

[waynard]

I will try to post some pictures this weekend. I work nights and I am preparing to head out to work now. She aint pretty but she is reliable. The previous owner (a lawn and garden service) painted it grey. I know that they all come yellow and that is what I would rather have but the grey is there to stay unless I found someone to strip it down for me and repaint it.

 

[noma]

waynard


Do you have the right kind of blade on the , there are different blades ? For a grass handler you need blades with more lift on them, there like a 90 degree brake on the end for lift. Possible you are losing all your suction from your worn impeller and housing? If you mow closer to the ground does that help so you don't loose so much suction just to try and see if it worked better.:licking:

 

[waynard]

waynard


Do you have the right kind of blade on the , there are different blades ? For a grass handler you need blades with more lift on them, there like a 90 degree brake on the end for lift. Possible you are losing all your suction from your worn impeller and housing? If you mow closer to the ground does that help so you don't loose so much suction just to try and see if it worked better.:licking:

Hi Noma.
I have the blades that the dealer says go on that model. I got to checking and I think that it may be my blower impeller. I have a bit more than a 1/8 in gap between the end of the impeller and the housing which may be causing me to loose some suction. It does cut better if I lower the deck but then I have a problem with my grass being too short and starting to brown out. I also need to clean under my deck this weekend and perhaps check the adjustment on the electric clutch. I also found out that in the book they call for the front of the deck to be about 1/4 inch lower than the rear. All of this combined may be causing my problems.

Thanks for your comment. I will let you know what kind of luck I have.:smile:

 

[hardaway1]

I just joined the forum with the intention of finding out some more information about my 1990 walker MC with the Kohler 16 HP that I just bought from a family friend for 700. It is the exact same setup as Waynard, but apparently has not been as great an investment as Waynard痴. It had been sitting in their garage for about 2 years when I picked it up. The first engine it had in it blew up, the guy I bought it from could not remember exactly how or why it blew, the second engine has been in there for about 6 years and I started doing a major cleaning and overhauling, that lead me to find out that the cylinder was worn down pretty bad, so it was either grind down the cylinder to fit a larger head or just buy a new head and rings etc. So I took it and had it grinded down for 800 and it is running beautifully (only the engine though). As soon as I put the engine back in and started cutting again, after about 2 cuttings, the T-gearbox (part # 6050) in the engine compartment that runs the magneto blew a bearing. I have taken the box to a couple of people who have told me that it would just be easier to buy a new one, but I find it really hard to believe I would have to spend 300 dollars on a new gearbox just to fix a 20 dollar bearing, granted it may need some new seals, but the gears inside are still in good shape. This is going to be the first of many questions to come, but does anyone know if it is in fact possible to rebuild this particular gearbox? If not, is there a compatible gearbox out there that is cheaper. It is becoming really hard to justify spending more money on this when I already have spent more on parts and labor than the actual mower. Also, does anyone think that I am getting in over my head with this or am I still in the realm of a reasonable price for this mower?

 

[Duffer72]

Also make sure you have good tension on the belt that comes off the clutch for your blade drive, it it is worn it could be slipping when it gets under a load and also make sure the cast pulley's aren't worn , by this I mean make sure the belt hasn't cut a groove into them, this happens after along period of time and they llose full belt contact and slip, also check clutch adj as you stated, if my memory serves me correctly it should be .010 gap on it.


Hardaway- I think you posted elsewhere also didn't you, all of the gear boxes on the older walkers like yours are mfg by Peerless, they are cheper thru them than they are from a walker dealer.