Brand New Toro Super Recycler

[NickToroUser]

Hi all, I am a new user of a Toro Super Recycler and fairly new at mowing in general and I don't have a lot of mechanical knowledge.

I bought my super recycler, put it together and added the entire bottle of oil the mower came with. I also added roughly a gallon of unleaded gas to the mower.

When I started the mower up for the first time it smoked for a couple of minutes, but eventually went away. When I was mowing for the first time, I was mulching the grass so, I did not bag it. I noticed that the grass was a little clumpy coming out, at least at first, but again, I'm fairly a newbie so I was overly concerned. When I was finishing my mow, the air filter had fallen off (I had forgotten to snap the lid closed during the install).

On the second mow, the mower started right up, but I could certainly tell it wasn't working the way I wanted it to. I never adjusted the height on the mower, so I think the height on the mower may have been a little low. In any case, the grass was noticeably clumpy and I was disappointed because I thought this machine would do a fine job mincing the grass up. The grass was last cut a couple of weeks prior. After literally 3-5 minutes the mower stopped. I turned the mower over and pulled out clumps from underneath the blades. I tried to start the mower up again, but I could never get it to turn over and start. The cord became tighter as well.

Anyone have any thoughts on what may have happened with this mower?

 

[Rivets]

I’ve got a Super Recycler also and once you figure it out you’ll be glad you got it. I’ve sold over 100 of these units over the years (to young people just starting out, to 70 year old widows who still want to cut their lawns) and have never had one returned. If properly maintained I call them 20 year mowers. Two things I would suggest. Set your wheel adjusters to the third highest level. After you get use to this unit you can lower them to the height you like. Also, because this is a mulcher you need to clean the underside of the deck after each use, especially if you are removing more than 1/3 the grass height. Cutting more than 1/3 will cause the unit to build up clippings very fast. Might also have to cut more often. Finally if you added the entire bottle of oil to the crankcase, I suspect you overfilled it. Normally they only take 14-18 oz. My guess is that the mower is hydro locked, with the excess oil filling the cylinder. Remove the spark plug, put an old rag in front of the spark plug hole and VERY SLOWLY pull on the starter rope. If I’m right your rag will soon be soaked with oil. Continue to push the oil out the hole until no more is coming out. Now check your oil level and make sure that it is not over full. If it is you’ll have to dump out the excess through the fill tube. If you dump out to much feel free to put some of this oil back in to get it to the proper level. Check your owners manual as to how to check the oil level, as some of these engines you need to screw the dipstick down, while others you just set it on top. Did you ruin anything? NO. After you completed these steps install the plug and start the engine. It will become a fogging unit until you have burned off the excess oil in the cylinder. Post again if you have more question and if so make sure you include the model and serial numbers so we know exactly which unit you have.

 

[Rivets]

Sorry but when posting last night I forgot to include that when you start up the engine, remove the air filter. It wouldn’t surprise me if you see that it is oil saturated. If it is replace it.