On Mon, 11 May 2009 12:39:16 -0700 (PDT), Jeffy3
wrote:

On May 11, 2:48*pm, "Hustlin' Hank" wrote:
On May 11, 9:28 am, Jeffy3 wrote:

We have a rear bagger mulching push mower. I accidentally ran over a
very thick tree route and it literally knocked the blade right off. I
was able to put the blade back on and when I manually turn it it
freely spins around but when I try to start the mower it won't start,
it makes a loud clunking sound and the pull rope sometimes only comes
out about half way and abruptly stops. Anyone have any conjecture as
to the nature of the repair and whether it would be less costly to
just get a new mower for a couple hundred bucks?

The only way to be sure is to look at it, since I can't, I'll offer a
couple suggestions.

After putting the blade back on, tie down the auto stop and remove the
spark plug (so it doesn't start) and turn the blade around. Does it
wobble? Is the blade bent? Is the crank bent? If everything looks
straight and true, then pull the flywheel cover off and spin it
aroound to see if it wobbles or the crank wobbles.

If the crank is wobbling, throw it in the trash. If the crank doesn't
wobble, remove the blade and the flywheel and turn it to make sure it
isn't the crank and the "sounds" you hear aren't coming from the blade
or flywheel. If you still hear sounds, you more than likely have
serious problems. Trash it.

Hank

Thank you all for your responses. I did leave out one detail but have
no idea if it's relevant or would change anyone's opinion. At one
point when I was trying to start the mower, I realized I had
forgotten to connect the spark plug. When the spark plug isn't
attached, the pull rope operates fine. As soon as the spark plug is
connected, the pull rope acts up and the clanking sound starts

Sounds like the shear pin, and the timing is off. Pull the plug out to
examine if the piston is moving through the four strokes. (have a
compression tester?)

The rope will jerk your arm back when the timing is off and the plug
is connected.

Does the noise exist when the plug is out and you yank the cord 5
times?

btw, I've never seen a mower blade "knocked" off.