Honda HRM 215: left back wheel doesn't rotate freely !! Help !

[bertsmobile1]

As an engineer, my gut feeling is to trust the judgement of my fellow engineers - the guys that designed and built this mechanism. They might not be always perfect, but I believe they know what they are doing. So when they said grease, they probably meant grease. If you deviate, you do so at your own risk. The bushings on both sides of the pinion, when combined with sufficient grease, seem to hold a reasonable seal and keep dirt out. I don't believe a dry lube would protect the spring loaded woodruff key, key slot, and inner eccentric mechanism as well as a light wet lube. But hey, that's just my feeling on this. Do as you see fit.

For this application, I used Park Tools Polylube 1000 - the same stuff that protects the small bearings on my bicycles and other systems that call for a high shear strength light grease.

True, the exposed gear teeth might benefit from a dryer lube to keep from attracting too much fine dirt, but the one-way drive mechanism should be lubed as prescribed.

The brand new ones I get in to replace worn out ones with are "greased" with a very light grease just a touch heavier than vasoline, very similar to the grease you find in sealed deep grove ball bearings.

My commercial customers have been using dry lithium grease for as long as I have been in business and they get about 3 years out of the ratchet pawls of commercial use ( up to 20 mows a day ).
Honda's engineers also recommend you remove the wheels , clean & grease them every 100 hours.
So if you are going to maintain the mower by the book, fine use grease , but most owners are hard put to actually read the maintenance schedule let alone actually follow it.
The first time most owners read the manual is when something breaks.

 

[bigcut]

Bert,
I did read the owners manual many years ago. While I didn't remove the wheels, I did give them each a shot of motor oil each year and clean around the height adjustments. But, that's all other than changing the air filter, spark plug, and I did change the oil once. It just keeps on runnin. Years ago, I was going to fix the self propulsion, but, then decided it was the only exercise I got at the time. So, I just kept on pushin.

If and when I get a new one, I will definitely maintain it better, now that I'm retired.

I also have a 99 craftsman lawn tractor my daughter gave me 10 years ago. I use it to do the back yard. Now that thing keeps me busy with maintenance, greasing, oil changes and leveling the deck. I bring the battery in each winter and put on a trickle charger. Deck removal I've done once. What a PIA that was. And putting back on was a challenge. Come winter I'm going to remove the deck, bring the deck indoors, and coat the deck with rust inhibitor and then paint. The thing looks terrible, but, starts and runs with one turn key each time. I also keep it outside, covered with a tarp. No room for it inside.

Well, thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions. I appreciate it.
John

 

[bertsmobile1]

Bert,
I did read the owners manual many years ago. While I didn't remove the wheels, I did give them each a shot of motor oil each year and clean around the height adjustments. But, that's all other than changing the air filter, spark plug, and I did change the oil once. It just keeps on runnin. Years ago, I was going to fix the self propulsion, but, then decided it was the only exercise I got at the time. So, I just kept on pushin.

If and when I get a new one, I will definitely maintain it better, now that I'm retired.

I also have a 99 craftsman lawn tractor my daughter gave me 10 years ago. I use it to do the back yard. Now that thing keeps me busy with maintenance, greasing, oil changes and leveling the deck. I bring the battery in each winter and put on a trickle charger. Deck removal I've done once. What a PIA that was. And putting back on was a challenge. Come winter I'm going to remove the deck, bring the deck indoors, and coat the deck with rust inhibitor and then paint. The thing looks terrible, but, starts and runs with one turn key each time. I also keep it outside, covered with a tarp. No room for it inside.

Well, thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions. I appreciate it.
John

Nice to hear some one does the right thing by their mower.
Use a BBQ or motorcycle cover over the mower, prefferably one with vents rather than a tarp which people tend to hold down with bricks.
That turns into a high humidity rust tent in summer.
If possible park the mower over something that is dry like concrete or heavy plastic to prevent moisture from underneath rusting the mower.
POR 15 is head & shoulders above everything else for painting the deck, but it is a BIG job if done properly and a waste of time & money is not.
As for the deck, get some 8 foot long 2x4 long enough to slide under the deck and use them like rails to slide the deck in & out