Is your push mower hard to start? Does your lawn mower cut out intermittently? Have you checked for spark and found there is no spark? You might have a damaged or broken brake cable.
Most any walk-behind mower manufactured in the last 30 years or so, and sold in the United States has been required to include a handle mounted blade brake. This handle operates a cable that terminates at the engine end on a bracket with a monstrously stiff return spring. Some manufacturers call it a "zone control" cable, or a "safety" cable. They all do the same thing, and serve a double purpose when the handle is released: the cable engages a switch to ground out the ignition coil and the return spring releases a small brake pad that stops the flywheel from turning.
This YouTube video will help explain how these mechanisms work, how they can go bad, and tips to make sure you get the right brake cable for your lawn mower.
Any old cable will not work on any old mower. There are mostly unforgiving measurements from the termination points on each end that will not engage the switch if the inner cable is too long. And if the inner cable is too short, the bail handle cannot swing completely around to touch the top of the handle bar.
There are plenty of parts websites that can give you the exact cable assembly needed for your mower. The model number of the mower, usually found on a sticker on the deck, or sometimes under the grass bag flap, is all you need to find the correct replacement cable.
Often times measurements are posted incorrectly on big websites, and pictures are wrong as well. Before you break out that cable from the bag, ensure both ends match your existing cable incase you need to return it. The critical measurements rarely if ever listed is the distance from the fixed end of the outer cable to where it attaches to the moving handle.
I hope these tips and tricks can empower you with oracle like skills to make your small engines run smoothly and consistently.
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Mow Happy!
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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?
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