Tanaka grass trimmer bent shaft

tbronson

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My heavy duty Tanaka straight shaft grass trimmer was partially run over by a tractor and now there is a slight bend in the shaft, maybe 3-4 degrees, near the middle of the length. I checked that it starts ok, but only ran it for a minute.

Should I try to straighten it, or use it as-is if it seems to be working fine? Is the bend likely to affect operation, or cause damage?

Thanks.
 

primerbulb120

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What model is it? If the driveshaft is a flex cable, I'd just keep using it. If it has a solid driveshaft, you need to straighten it.
 

tbronson

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It's a Tanaka TBC-340. I believe it's a solid shaft. I was told that the shaft floats in the casing with plastic bearings. Sounds like I will have to take it all apart and straighten casing and shaft separately?
 

primerbulb120

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The shaft will take some bending without being permanently bent. I'd just straighten the casing and not worry about the driveshaft. If you want to, you can take the driveshaft out and look at it, but it's probably not necessary.
 

bertsmobile1

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Straiten the tube and replace the bent drive shaft.
You will never get it to run true and it will end up buggering the clutch & bevel gear.
 
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