I got mail from this forum reporting that adnil232324 had started a new conversation with me. I wrote a longish reply and then discovered that I couldn't add a picture to it. So this is a new post, to which I CAN add a picture and repeat what I said in my first reply.
adnil, I hope you see this. Anybody else, if you can explain why I couldn't add the picture to my reply to him, you could save my sanity.
Two bolts hold the gas tank in place. I took it out, turned it 180 degrees (vertical axis) and set it down on top of a big paint bucket (5 gallons?). It seemed perfectly happy there and went back in with no trouble and the mower still runs fine. I say this because that gives you access to the stuff under the dash, in particular the mechanism of the blade engagement lever. I did this to clean the engine and didn't have time to take that out and look at it. One thing that worries me is that, when I stand up and force the handle over, there seems to be a lot of give in the mounting of that mechanism. Makes me afraid that I'll break some of the plastic that it's fastened to.
adnil, I hope you see this. Anybody else, if you can explain why I couldn't add the picture to my reply to him, you could save my sanity.
It's a combination of the "correct" belt being too tight, the springs on top of the deck being too strong, and something in the lever mechanism that I haven't figured out yet. I made a link from an old 16-penny nail to lengthen the idler spring so that it doesn't pull back so hard. (picture) Before that I lengthened the other spring (end of blade-engagement cable) a lot more. That made it possible to engage the blade while sitting down, but the belt was still a bit loose when engaged. It cut grass that way, but I didn't like it and took it out and started trying other things. My next try will be to add a link back on the cable spring but less than before. There's got to be a happy medium there somewhere. I don't know when I'll be able to get back to working on this. Cataract surgery coming up. We'll see. If you figure something out, please report. I'm told that Husqvarna made this machine, and their machines that I see at Lowes and/or Home Depot do look almost identical except for the color. I haven't explored that yet.
Two bolts hold the gas tank in place. I took it out, turned it 180 degrees (vertical axis) and set it down on top of a big paint bucket (5 gallons?). It seemed perfectly happy there and went back in with no trouble and the mower still runs fine. I say this because that gives you access to the stuff under the dash, in particular the mechanism of the blade engagement lever. I did this to clean the engine and didn't have time to take that out and look at it. One thing that worries me is that, when I stand up and force the handle over, there seems to be a lot of give in the mounting of that mechanism. Makes me afraid that I'll break some of the plastic that it's fastened to.
