Is your crankshaft bent?

Does the handlebar on your mower vibrate? Do your arms feel like pins and needles after you mow the grass? You might have a bent crankshaft. This happens if you accidentally hit a stump, or a big rock, or if your paved driveway sticks up above the ground level.

Your blade on your lawn mower is attached to the crankshaft with a sacrificial soft metal adapter, which is supposed to break easily if you do hit something. Sometimes however, that blade adapter will not sacrifice itself to save your crankshaft, and it becomes bent. If your crankshaft is bent only a bit, you might just suffer some bad vibrations. However if left alone, or it's bent badly, you might end up with a failed oil seal, and you eventually seize your engine up when all the oil leaks out from underneath the mower deck.

There's lots of ways to determine if your crank shaft is bent. Once your mower is on its side (remember turn your mower with the oil dipstick down), and you pulled the spark plug; you did remember to pull the spark plug, right? it's easy to turn the blade by hand. A piece of string or stiff wire can help you eyeball if the crankshaft is wobbling. I found however a relatively cheap trick to look for a bent crankshaft: 

Now, I don't expect your average DYIer or homeowner to go out and buy one of these laser gadgets just for this, but you might be able to borrow one from your friend or neighbor who has that garage full of carpentry gadgets. 

Since I made this video, the original laser gadget:  https://amzn.to/3cpeIwF  was discontinued, now it seems to be back in an updated version. I can't vouch for this one:  https://amzn.to/3x6RGCF   but it comes in at about the same price point with a small flexible tripod like this: https://amzn.to/3z9L4VE 

I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.

Please watch for new videos on Youtube at The Lawnmower Lady or follow along on Instagram at thelawnmowerlady and Twitter at the Lawnmower Lady 

Mow Happy!

Standard Disclaimer: Any links to products are likely affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (Thank You!), with no additional costs to you.

Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?

Welcome to The Lawnmower Lady

 I actually started this endeavor many years ago. My Papa Shorty was a mechanic, and I'm pretty sure that's where I got my genetic predisposition to fix things. I remember as a child, standing in the dark musty workshop, fascinated by the tools, and empty Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco cans teeming with nuts and bolts and treasures. I could fiddle around in there for hours on end. As I grew older, I knew I was happy working with my hands.

One thing led to another, and after I had spent several years re-building antique motor scooters, you know, Vespas and Lambrettas, friends and neighbors naturally asked me for help with their lawn mowers and other small engine repairs. 15 years or so later, The Lawnmower Lady emerged.

My wish is that I can empower you: the DYIer, the Homeowner, yes, even all you Gals out there to understand and and possibly even fix your own small engines.  Even if you don't know what end of the screwdriver to hold, at the bare minimum, you can possess enough knowledge to ask the right questions when you do take your lawn equipment into another repair shop. 

The reason I feel this is so important, is we have become a throwaway society.  Many USA manufacturers have gone overseas for production. The materials and craftsmanship are far more inferior than they were even ten years ago. If you take care of that older mower, yes most parts are still available, it stays out of the landfill. That older mower will outlast most any new mower from the big box store.

Most of all, I enjoy helping others. Please watch for new videos on Youtube at The Lawnmower Lady or follow along on Instagram at thelawnmowerlady and Twitter at the Lawnmower Lady 

I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.

Mow Happy!

Standard Disclaimer: Any links to products are likely affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (Thank You!), with no additional costs to you.

Wear your safety glasses, or you'll put your eye out. Try on some gloves. Take off that spark plug boot. Clean your room. Open the windows, those fumes are nasty. Just 'cause I do it, don't think it's the end all, be all solution. There's plenty more ideas out there, I can't take responsibility if you slice off a few fingers after watching my videos. And don't just pour that toxic stuff down the sewer or in the ditch, dispose of waste responsibly. Just be safe, OK?