Making your own control cable
 

I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks

Making your own control cable
 

On 6/7/2010 7:21 PM, SBH wrote:
I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks


Why not? I once repaired the speed cable on my Lawnboy by splicing it
with a wire nut used for splicing copper to aluminum wiring. Forgot all
about it. That was about 4 years ago and the mower went kaput last year
but cable was still OK.

Making your own control cable
 

On 2010-06-07, SBH wrote:

comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

I would think a good lawnmower/chainsaw/etc shop would have everything
needed to make a custom cable. If not, try a motorcycle --specially
dirtbikes-- repair shop. Make-from-scratch cables are not rocket
science, the most high-tech tool in the equation being a 110AC solder
pot and a buncha cable parts.... ends, cable, sheathing, etc, to whip
up a custom cable in about 10 mins.

nb

Making your own control cable
 

SBH wrote:
I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks



There are some examples here http://tinyurl.com/2aybgn5 of
locking cables. I see versions of these on irrigation power units. A
1/4 or 1/2 turn to lock are common. One of the better ones is the
vernier. One can set the speed by turning the outer portion of the
knob. The center part is a quick release if one wants to get the speed
set quicker.
Would a throttle control from a boat work? Motorcycle or ATV
throttles?

Making your own control cable
 

On 06/07/2010 07:21 PM, SBH wrote:
I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks


I'm assuming that this is a Bowden (push-pull) cable? if so, get you
some music wire, piano wire, whatever you call it. You'll need some
needlenose pliers to form the little round ends, but if you have a SO
who makes her own jewelry, she probably has some special pliers in her
toolkit that are just the ticket for making the ends neater than you can
with what you have in your own set of tools. If the housing is toast,
you are probably out of luck. but you could try using housing for
bicycle brake cables, available at your local bike shop. Might work.

If it's a pull-only cable (stranded) a bicycle brake cable will probably
fix you up, but you'll need to use some ingenuity for the ends.

good luck

nate


--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Making your own control cable
 

On Jun 7, 7:21*pm, "SBH" wrote:
I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks

Does this cable also engage and disengage the self propulsion?
Because many self propelled lawnmowers do not have variable speed.
You could just pick a comfortable speed and lock the mechanism with a
bolt or clamp.

Making your own control cable
 

On Jun 7, 6:21*pm, "SBH" wrote:
I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks

I did the one on my craftsman, just because I didn't want to wait or
pay, it is still available. The bottom end pulled off of it, I
reversed it and cobbled a connection to the speed control bar at the
top.
So yes it isn't rocket science. I'll nearly bet another brand cable is
close enough. Mowers are mostly made by MTD, so some parts interchange
is inevitable.

Making your own control cable
 

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:24:52 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:
I'm assuming that this is a Bowden (push-pull) cable? if so, get you
some music wire, piano wire, whatever you call it. You'll need some
needlenose pliers to form the little round ends, but if you have a SO
who makes her own jewelry, she probably has some special pliers in her
toolkit that are just the ticket for making the ends neater than you can
with what you have in your own set of tools. If the housing is toast,
you are probably out of luck. but you could try using housing for
bicycle brake cables, available at your local bike shop. Might work.

Assuming your assumption is right... ;-)

.... I've got such a cable for the throttle on my lawn tractor which broke
right at one end. I separated the metal cable part from the outer sleeve,
shortened the sleeve by an inch, then bent the new end into the right
shape after feeding it back through the sleeve.

Use a propane torch to heat the end of the cable - it's really easy to
make up tight bends that way (just be careful not to toast the sleeve!).

cheers

Jules

Making your own control cable
 

On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 18:06:54 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:24:52 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:
I'm assuming that this is a Bowden (push-pull) cable? if so, get you
some music wire, piano wire, whatever you call it. You'll need some
needlenose pliers to form the little round ends, but if you have a SO
who makes her own jewelry, she probably has some special pliers in her
toolkit that are just the ticket for making the ends neater than you can
with what you have in your own set of tools. If the housing is toast,
you are probably out of luck. but you could try using housing for
bicycle brake cables, available at your local bike shop. Might work.

Assuming your assumption is right... ;-)

... I've got such a cable for the throttle on my lawn tractor which broke
right at one end. I separated the metal cable part from the outer sleeve,
shortened the sleeve by an inch, then bent the new end into the right
shape after feeding it back through the sleeve.

Use a propane torch to heat the end of the cable - it's really easy to
make up tight bends that way (just be careful not to toast the sleeve!).

cheers

Jules
Is this a solid core cable,like a choke cable, or a stranded core,
like a bike shifter?

Making your own control cable
 

"Eric in North TX" wrote in message
...
On Jun 7, 6:21 pm, "SBH" wrote:
I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as
"wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available.
Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks

I did the one on my craftsman, just because I didn't want to wait or
pay, it is still available. The bottom end pulled off of it, I
reversed it and cobbled a connection to the speed control bar at the
top.
So yes it isn't rocket science. I'll nearly bet another brand cable is
close enough. Mowers are mostly made by MTD, so some parts interchange
is inevitable.

Troy bilt was bought by MTD. I have been to 4 local mower places and they
have nothing which even comes close to it. The oddity is at one end which
contains a little ball. This little ball fits into a hole of the dial to
adjust speed while the other end is an eyelet. If I can figure out a way to
attach the same type ball or use something close to it, the rest will be
easy.

Making your own control cable
 

On Jun 10, 9:25*pm, "SBH" wrote:
"Eric in North TX" wrote in ...
On Jun 7, 6:21 pm, "SBH" wrote:

I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as
"wheel
Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self
propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon
calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available.
Though,
I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own
comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own
cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option
offered?

Thanks

I did the one on my craftsman, just because I didn't want to wait or
pay, it is still available. The bottom end pulled off of it, I
reversed it and cobbled a connection to the speed control bar at the
top.
So yes it isn't rocket science. I'll nearly bet another brand cable is
close enough. Mowers are mostly made by MTD, so some parts interchange
is inevitable.

Troy bilt was bought by MTD. I have been to 4 local mower places and they
have nothing which even comes close to it. The oddity is at one end which
contains a little ball. This little ball fits into a hole of the dial to
adjust speed while the other end is an eyelet. If I can figure out a way to
attach the same type ball or use something close to it, the rest will be
easy.

Fishing weights?

nate

Making your own control cable
 

"N8N" wrote in message news:73a9b7f3-421f-4440-bfb2-

Fishing weights?

nate

Very good idea. I'll check into it.

Thank you