Repairs Newbie and 10 yr old son have a question

smhoff2019

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Mar 2, 2019
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Hi Everyone -- This is our first post. My 10 yr old son is learning how to fix MTD lawn tractors. One issue we have is steering -- the bracket that connects a rod (which runs from the steering shaft) to the left front wheel is bent/broken. Does anyone know a fix or where to get the part? We're posting seven photos. Just a couple show the bent bracket. The rest are for background. Thank you very much in advance. It would mean a LOT to us to have some help with this. Remember when you were 10 and working on engines? :smile:
 

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bertsmobile1

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Nov 29, 2014
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Seeing as this is a father son quality time job I will run through the method
The engine number tag has a serial number that starts with 95.
So the engine was made in 95 so assuming that it is the original engine, the mower will date from 95 or 96
On the side of the engine is the Yard Machine name
from this site https://www.jackssmallengines.com/ ( you can also use Parts tree ) hit the parts look up.
Then MTD and scroll down to the bottom to find Yard Machines
The list starts at 1996 so we click on that.
Two choices, Lawn Tractor or Garden Tractor
Lawn tractors usually have only a mower while Garden Tractors will have a front or rear PTO to drive snow blowers or tillers etc.
So we hit the lawn tractor and end up with about 20 choices.
Before I had the MTD Deck codes it was a matter of opening each one till I found one as close to the one I had.

However you can download the MTD Deck codes from the web and that has 40" deck so from that list I picked one with the letter F ( 38 side discharge ) , G ( 42" side discharge ) or N ( 40" rear discharge )
Then from the diagram went to steering and found https://www.jackssmallengines.com/jacks-parts-lookup/part/mtd/98300550637

Which looks like the right part.

If there is a tag under the seat or hood ( think they were in a different spot in the 90's ) it should have a model number like the ones you saw in the list , 13??????? or 14???????

Kids are much better on the web than us old farts.
See if you can find the tag.
If the numbers are too feint to read take some photos of it, a digital camera is better than a phone.
It will pick up the variations in the reflection where the model number was and in a photo editing application you either inverse colours ( called make negative on some ) or just jack up the contrast till you can read it.

Good luck, wont be too long before dad becomes an embarrasment so enjoy 10 while you can.
That is a fairly good mower and one of the best engines Briggs ever made
If you don't have a manual search for " MTD Must have manual of Outdoor Power Equipment - book 2"
It is on line at all sorts of places.
Also watch the springs, really difficult for youngen to stretch.
 

smhoff2019

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2019
Threads
4
Messages
21
Dear Pharaoh, a.k.a. Bert,

You're "Da Man." My kid is gonna jump for joy when we go through your message. I really can't begin to tell you how much more helpful you were than the (pleasant) dude I spoke with from MTD tech support on the phone, AND an MTD authorized service center guy (also pleasant, but...). You did us "a solid", a "good, no great, deed". Amazing that you did it from 8,200 miles away. He's gonna go through the roof. You made his day. You made his week. Until the next obstacle. :laughing:

Thank you so much. We bow before the Pharaoh. A Japanese friend taught me this bow: _o_ (can you see it?)

Sincerely,

Quality Timers

Seeing as this is a father son quality time job I will run through the method
The engine number tag has a serial number that starts with 95.
So the engine was made in 95 so assuming that it is the original engine, the mower will date from 95 or 96
On the side of the engine is the Yard Machine name
from this site https://www.jackssmallengines.com/ ( you can also use Parts tree ) hit the parts look up.
Then MTD and scroll down to the bottom to find Yard Machines
The list starts at 1996 so we click on that.
Two choices, Lawn Tractor or Garden Tractor
Lawn tractors usually have only a mower while Garden Tractors will have a front or rear PTO to drive snow blowers or tillers etc.
So we hit the lawn tractor and end up with about 20 choices.
Before I had the MTD Deck codes it was a matter of opening each one till I found one as close to the one I had.

However you can download the MTD Deck codes from the web and that has 40" deck so from that list I picked one with the letter F ( 38 side discharge ) , G ( 42" side discharge ) or N ( 40" rear discharge )
Then from the diagram went to steering and found https://www.jackssmallengines.com/jacks-parts-lookup/part/mtd/98300550637

Which looks like the right part.

If there is a tag under the seat or hood ( think they were in a different spot in the 90's ) it should have a model number like the ones you saw in the list , 13??????? or 14???????

Kids are much better on the web than us old farts.
See if you can find the tag.
If the numbers are too feint to read take some photos of it, a digital camera is better than a phone.
It will pick up the variations in the reflection where the model number was and in a photo editing application you either inverse colours ( called make negative on some ) or just jack up the contrast till you can read it.

Good luck, wont be too long before dad becomes an embarrasment so enjoy 10 while you can.
That is a fairly good mower and one of the best engines Briggs ever made
If you don't have a manual search for " MTD Must have manual of Outdoor Power Equipment - book 2"
It is on line at all sorts of places.
Also watch the springs, really difficult for youngen to stretch.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
You must be as bald as I am,
can see the light reflection off the skull
Well I hope that is where the light is coming from.:laughing:

If you think the MTD service is bad there
Down here we get told
"That was before our franchise distribution arangement so you will have to contact the previous importer "
SO one gets good at doing the detective stuff.
Even if the local distributor imported the product all they put on line are the brochures I could pick up in store & all the old TV adds.

If your young en is computer litterate enough get him to do the searching with a few prompts.
Kids like the sense of achievement .
Bookmark the modle page when you work out exactly which one you have.
You can download the diagrams in a separate window from both Jacks & Patstree but the partstree one prints out better.

Most of the places where springs anchor will need a blob of weld and all of the bushes will need replacing
After that it will be almost as good as new provided the teeth on the steering gear is OK

Service parts like blades, belts & spindles will be available from Stens, Rotary, Oregon or Prime Line.
Prime Line & Rotary sell direct, the others need to go through dealers .
Most repair only workshops will be using after market parts
MTD's are a bit fussy about belt size profile so make sure you get exact OEM replacements or MTD branded .
Lots of the really cheap stuff is an "equivalent size" and will quickly let you down.

The B & S web site will have the parts diagrams for the engine and if you search the archives I am sure some one posted a link to B & S manuals on line.
 

smhoff2019

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2019
Threads
4
Messages
21
Hi Again, Bert the Pharaoh --

Thank you again! We didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't find the deck codes on the web. We couldn't find the "G" or "N". We wanted the "N" because this is a 40" rear discharge. So we're not 100% sure that you found the exact right part. But you probably did. Is there something we should double check on that?

We've looked everywhere for a model no. Nothing under the seat, and I'm 98% sure there's nothing under the hood, though I'll look again there, too.

Will update you soon. Meanwhile, there's a second MTD mower that my son got going today for the first time ever, so we're kind of Cloud 9 here. He took apart the carb, most of it, and cleaned it. Way cool. Your help is super appreciated!

Off to bedtime stories --

Quality Old Timer:laughing:


We followed most of your directions here.
Seeing as this is a father son quality time job I will run through the method
The engine number tag has a serial number that starts with 95.
So the engine was made in 95 so assuming that it is the original engine, the mower will date from 95 or 96
On the side of the engine is the Yard Machine name
from this site https://www.jackssmallengines.com/ ( you can also use Parts tree ) hit the parts look up.
Then MTD and scroll down to the bottom to find Yard Machines
The list starts at 1996 so we click on that.
Two choices, Lawn Tractor or Garden Tractor
Lawn tractors usually have only a mower while Garden Tractors will have a front or rear PTO to drive snow blowers or tillers etc.
So we hit the lawn tractor and end up with about 20 choices.
Before I had the MTD Deck codes it was a matter of opening each one till I found one as close to the one I had.

However you can download the MTD Deck codes from the web and that has 40" deck so from that list I picked one with the letter F ( 38 side discharge ) , G ( 42" side discharge ) or N ( 40" rear discharge )
Then from the diagram went to steering and found https://www.jackssmallengines.com/jacks-parts-lookup/part/mtd/98300550637

Which looks like the right part.

If there is a tag under the seat or hood ( think they were in a different spot in the 90's ) it should have a model number like the ones you saw in the list , 13??????? or 14???????

Kids are much better on the web than us old farts.
See if you can find the tag.
If the numbers are too feint to read take some photos of it, a digital camera is better than a phone.
It will pick up the variations in the reflection where the model number was and in a photo editing application you either inverse colours ( called make negative on some ) or just jack up the contrast till you can read it.

Good luck, wont be too long before dad becomes an embarrasment so enjoy 10 while you can.
That is a fairly good mower and one of the best engines Briggs ever made
If you don't have a manual search for " MTD Must have manual of Outdoor Power Equipment - book 2"
It is on line at all sorts of places.
Also watch the springs, really difficult for youngen to stretch.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
Firstly please drop the pharaoh
Plain old bert is fine.
the mowers are all the same.
Just the decks are different.
A few years ago the 1994 models were listed so the parts listing company ( ARI ) must have a rolling 30 year contract.
There is probably a Yard machines web group somewhere.

In the long run you will probably find mylawnmowerfourm https://www.mylawnmowerforum.com/ a better place than here.
Each forums seems to fill a little niche.
They seem to lean more to restoring & collecting than this site .
We tend to be mainly for repair of reasonably current mowers.
I am on both but have not posted there for some time as the information I need tends to pop up here more than there.
However they have a lot of collectors over there who will bend over backwards with help for you & your youngen.
Just make sure you come back with some finished photos at least.
They also have a pdf archive with a lot of material there.
 

smhoff2019

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2019
Threads
4
Messages
21
Thank you, Bert. So it sounds like you're saying that the part you found will work. You're 99% sure. Interesting to look at it, you can now see how bent ours got. We'll join that other forum, too! For my kid, these mowers are totally current (not "old") -- because people give them to him and they're in front of him and they're not toys. Which is fantastic. Keeps him out of trouble and away from video games. :) That's what everyone says. I'll definitely send you more photos as they come in.

He spent hours on his other MTD riding mower (another free one) today, cleaning that carb. And it made a huge difference. Now he's got spark, he's got compression, and fuel delivery. We're almost there on that one. So cool.

He's been inspired by YouTubers like Mustie1, FearlessFront, ChrisFix, Doug DeMuro, RoadKill (Motor Trend YouTube channel), TopGear (BBC car show on YouTube), etc. People wonder if he'll be an engineer, but just being a mechanic is what he's into now. Completely. So it's really tough when we hit an obstacle. Because it means a lot to him. So it's really great you're out there and helped with this.

Steve

Firstly please drop the pharaoh
Plain old bert is fine.
the mowers are all the same.
Just the decks are different.
A few years ago the 1994 models were listed so the parts listing company ( ARI ) must have a rolling 30 year contract.
There is probably a Yard machines web group somewhere.

In the long run you will probably find mylawnmowerfourm https://www.mylawnmowerforum.com/ a better place than here.
Each forums seems to fill a little niche.
They seem to lean more to restoring & collecting than this site .
We tend to be mainly for repair of reasonably current mowers.
I am on both but have not posted there for some time as the information I need tends to pop up here more than there.
However they have a lot of collectors over there who will bend over backwards with help for you & your youngen.
Just make sure you come back with some finished photos at least.
They also have a pdf archive with a lot of material there.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
The width of the front cross beam varies as the tyres get bigger
Thus the bend at the end of the arm varies to clear everything.
These old mowers are great because you get real drag links with adjustable ends so he can play with toe in and toe out.
Valuable lessons in steering geometry.
Speaking of the cross member, it should come out so you can inspect the lip that it pivots on and the condition of the front & back wear plates.
I regularly have to weld a bit of tube in there.
Some are available in the USA but not down here & when you add the freight it is not a viable repair so out comes the oxy.
The racers here bolt them up solid at a lean depending upon which way they are racing that day.
I fit grade 9 allan headed caps to replace the clamp bolts with high tensile washers ( thicker ) at each end and a nylock nut

Grab a couple of cans of dry white lithium chassis grease and spray it liberally on every surface that rubs.
I use around 1/2 can on every service to give you an idea of how much to spray around.

Next to playing a musical instrument ( drums are not an instrument ) pulling things apart & putting them back together is one of the best things you can do to stimulate a young mind.

HE will probably enjoy Taryl Fixes all and once he is getting the hang of things, see if he is interested in putting his own MTD restoration channel up on you tube.
Apart from Taryl I found Donny Boy very useful but it sounds like he has the engine bit sorted.
Also see if he can be pointed towards replacing the wiring looms.
It is amazing how many people can pull an engine apart in the dark with nothing more than a bent shifter but go to jelly when they see more than 3 wires.

In the computer & Smart phone age , no one buys their kids electronics kits any more so they always find electricity confusing.
As he gets into latter models you get the chance to show him more complicated circuits, with safety features which becomes a good talking point about safety .
 

dfbroxy

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Joined
Aug 31, 2017
Threads
18
Messages
258
I have a MTD yardman mower that is almost identical. It is a 16.5 hp 42" cut. The model# is 13A0675G141. Most of the parts should be the same. Or at least give you a starting point to look them up....
 
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