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I have a 1984 model 28” Snapper RER with the bicycle handlebars. It has its original B&S flathead 8hp engine. My yard is hilly but I have never felt the need for more power. I bought it at a yard sale for $20 about 20 years ago, and that included the grass collector. It didn’t have a battery...

I agree with Tiger Small Engine. Some other ideas: Is there an adjustment available on the brake? If so, maybe tighten it up a little. Is the new PTO cable properly installed or is it defective/wrong size? I’d be tempted to put the old cable back on and see if the noise goes away. Are the...

Adjusting the Handle Height You can raise or lower the handle in 1 of 2 positions that is more comfortable for you (Figure 11). Figure 11 Loosen both handle knobs until you can push the square edges of the carriage bolts out of the square holes in the handle brackets. Push the knobs until...

Most likely the blade brakes are worn out but I note that you just replaced the belt so that may be a contributing factor. Before the old belt broke your blades came to a stop, right? That old belt was stretched out and only put minimal force on the spindle pulleys when you disengaged the...

Fuel issues: (1) make sure there’s no water in the tank, (2) disconnect fuel line at carb and see if gas flows, if not, blockage in tank or fuel filter or collapsed fuel line, (3) dirty carburetor or if you have a Pulsajet type carb, rubber diaphragm perished and no longer pumping fuel, (4)...

About the blades spinning: The belt may be too tight. If you still have the old belt, try putting that one on and see if the blades turn without having the pto engaged. When you raise and lower the deck you are changing the angle from the driveshaft pulley to the deck pulleys and making the...

Yes. If it runs and dies after you give it a spritz of carb cleaner you have confirmed it has spark and ignition timing and the kill wire is not grounded. If you have spark and timing, and still won’t run, most likely you have a fuel problem.

I transplanted a GCV160 from an older Honda into an almost new Honda with a GCV190 with a bent crankshaft. Bolted up to existing holes and even used the same belt. The 160 had plenty of power. The price of a new 190 crankshaft made it uneconomical to replace it and there weren’t any used ones...

Welcome. There are exploded diagrams for your mower on many parts sites. Or, you can carefully take the opposite wheel off and observe what the parts look like and where they go.

Welcome. There are exploded diagrams for your mower on many parts sites. Or, you can carefully take the opposite wheel off and observe what the parts look like and where they go.

Johnny, The nut sits inside the cavity in the fitting. You tighten the bolt from the outside while holding the nut in place with your finger in order to secure the wheel. You may have lost the original nut and washers when the wheel fell off. You need to replace those with original Toro parts.

They can absolutely be patched. But getting a tube in and out of a small tire/wheel is not nearly as easy as a bike tire. Also, beware, the bike patch kits you find at Walmart or the like are junk. Do yourself a favor and buy high quality rubber cement and patches. I always tube my leaking...

Please pardon the long story, I promise to connect back to the topic. I have the 20HP single cylinder Intek. The mower sat for at least 5 years, had no fuel shutoff switch, and there was still a quart of stale gas in the tank, so imagine how much gas had evaporated in the carb bowl over that...

Since it used to be easier to pull, maybe the compression release mechanism has failed. You could try to confirm by using a magnet on a stick and fishing for steel shards via the oil fill tube.

I was recently gifted a Craftsman YS4500 with a 20HP Briggs single cylinder. It had been sitting in a neighbor’s garage for at least 5 years, probably longer, because “it was blowing smoke out of the muffler.” It turned out to be a blown head gasket. Looking at the consumer comments of those...

Challenge accepted. Because it has been about 56 years since my last physics class, I went to the internet and looked it up. Air is compressible, but as I said, there is a lot of room between molecules so it doesn’t compress very easily. Fluids are not incompressible. Even hydraulic fluid...

I have worked on two Briggs with stuck auto-chokes. Still in the anecdotal category of evidence, but for what it’s worth, both of the ones I fixed had the lever on the autochoke stick so the choke was always open. I did all the lubing that Kevin recommended but have to admit that all was well...

It takes a lot of juice to spin the starter motor. A weak battery can easily power lights. Bertrrr is spot on. If you don’t have a multimeter to check voltage, a quick way to rule out the battery is to take a good battery from your vehicle and connect it to the JD. If the starter engages and...

I fixed a neighbor’s almost new Toro last year. To my amazement the engine was made in China. No name. But it was very similar to a Chinese made Kohler on an Ariens that I fixed a year before. The Ariens carb was dirty. A year later, the kid I gave the mower to brought it back. The carb...

Taryl of Taryl Fixes All had a live feed video recently where he described the problems he has had with NGK plugs. Start and die, won’t start and making popping noises. He had a box of ten and they all were junk. He used a Champion and voila, fixed.

I hope you report back after checking the flywheel key. I think that is the most likely culprit. But, if it isn’t, then three thoughts. First, is the kill switch making contact even when the flywheel brake is not on? Second, is the plug you are substituting an exact match for the original...

I would try lightly sanding the squeaking foot to eliminate the friction that is causing the squeak. Put a piece of 150 grit sand paper under the foot, press down lightly on the heating element and pull the sand paper out. Do that a couple of times and see if the squeak has disappeared.

It is easy to get them reversed. Congrats on figuring it out.

Don’t mean to be insulting. Free wheeling forward and locked up when backing is normal if you have the self-propel engaged. Is the drive belt tight?

Here are my thoughts as a non-engineer: Because air compresses too easily. There’s a lot of room between air molecules. When you squeezed the tire with the weight of the tractor, the air molecules just moved into the empty spaces. That’s why if you get air in your brake lines you get a soft...

I collect and use old woodworking tools, so I have some experience bringing back serial numbers and etches on saw blades. I gulped when I read that Yardwork John had used a wire wheel. But have to admit, his finished product is fabulous! I would have used 300 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a flat...

If there is a potential defendant with financial resources and there is an injured party, you can be sure that some lawyer will cobble together a legal theory to reach into the deep pockets. The State of Arizona has already sued YouTube for its alleged role in damaging the mental health of...

I’m sure he was worried about litigation, but I think he actually agreed that it was a fire hazard because he removed it from his own mower. I’ve had experience advising clients on when and how to make mea culpa announcements. Never fun, especially if it is being made solely because the...

Leaf duty is my Snapper RER’s primary mission, so it’s still on full alert, but here in NC the end of leaf season is drawing near. When it does go into standby I remove the battery and stand it up on its hind quarters, so no need to put it on blocks. But thanks for the tip, I’ll do that for my...

Can you get two nuts that fit on those threads? If so, you can tighten the nuts against each other and then use an open end wrench on the inner nut to take out the stud.

Once you eliminate fuel, spark and timing, the only cause for nonstarting that I can think of is low or no compression.

I am not a pro so take my thoughts with that in mind. You may indeed have a carb problem, but if that were your only problem then the engine would have started and died when you had spark and used the starter fluid. Only two other causes for a no start when you have fuel and spark. Compression...

I swapped a GCV-160 into an almost new mower that had a GCV-170 with a bent crankshaft. It bolted in very easily using the same bolt holes. The only change was that the pulley on the GCV-170 was a little bigger than the one on the 160. The belt on the 170 was almost new, so I swapped the...

Sounds like you have landed on both feet. Here’s to better days ahead!

On some of the Honda mowers you can buy just the tires and save some money. I did that with an HRB 215 SXA. You need to really heat them up to get them to expand and become more pliable. Tried a propane torch but couldn’t get them hot enough without possibly catching on fire. So I put them...

I had a similar issue with a JD RX75. The difference was that it would die after 20 or 30 minutes and then after a 5 minute break, it would run again for another 4-5 minutes. I finally figured out that it was a fuel flow problem. It was gravity fed and the drop from the tank to the carb was...

Most likely it is the governor linkage. Check the diagram and make sure you connected the linkage correctly. Is there a spring or springs for the governor? Is it connected correctly? Or, are you missing a spring?

I had raccoons raiding my squirrel-proof bird feeder on my back deck. They figured out how to open the metal latch on the lid and eat ALL the sunflower seeds. So I wired the lid shut. They took the feeder off the hook and dropped it on the ground about 20 feet down. They turned the feeder...

Woodcat asked for help with D130 carb linkage a couple of years ago. Search the forums using “D130 linkage“ and “Woodcat” to find it.

Update. Problem solved. I noticed that sometimes when the key would not energize the starter circuit that slightly moving the PTO lever (inconveniently too close to the key) would cure the problem. That got me thinking about the viability of the safety switch for the PTO, (which is actually a...

There are a lot of people in this country with so much money that they don’t bother asking “how much?”. These folks aren’t interested in fixing their own lawn equipment, so they are not typically on this site. But have to admit that it is possible that because they sell so few Cub Cadet...

Laziness and ignorance.

Oil production in the US has been far higher in the current administration than in the previous one. We have been the world leader in 2023 and 2024. The difference is that demand is also at an all time high as the world economies recovered from the pandemic and Russia invaded Ukraine which put...

I just finished renovating an RX75 that had been sitting under a deck for 12 years. Can’t help with the engine since mine has a 9HP Kawasaki. I own the JD maintenance manual and it is worthwhile having. Taryl Fixes All has a video on these John Deere RER’s. Highly recommend viewing it. His...

Remember, the engine you had that ran well until it began to smoke was a used engine and the mower you are installing it in is a used mower, too. And the new Predator will be a used engine as soon as you mow with it. Most mowers get taken out of service because they were left out in the...

Wizard, if I were you I’d keep an eye on Craigslist for someone giving away a mower with a good engine and a rusted out deck or sometimes even a good mower with nothing wrong but a dirty carburetor. Or, visit your local recycling center and see if you can score an engine there. Since your Toro...

Looks like a variety of pig weed. I second Mechanic Mark’s suggestion, or contact the UMass extension office nearest to you.

You need to figure out if you have a spark issue or a fuel issue. Coils develop internal cracks that open wider when hot and then the spark is shorted out. An inline spark tester is less than $10 and well worth it. But you can also test for spark by taking the plug out and reconnecting the...

Swamp Fox, do you have an autochoke on this mower? If you have spark but it won’t restart when hot, it could that your choke is closed. See the thread titled Briggs auto choke, Tiger Small Engine gives a great explanation of the system and offers some advice about dealing with the hot restart...

Might be hydrolocked. Check oil level. If it is way too high and smells like gasoline, you may have stuck needle valve in the carb and the excess fuel is leaking into the crankcase. The excess fluid will prevent the piston from moving, ie: hydrolock the engine.