New Rollers or New Wheels?

[Consumate Tinkerer]

I own a self-propelled, electric start. Lawn Boy model 8241AE that I bought new in 1985 and today still use religiously (mainly as a trim mower or to collect clippings). The mower looks its age and has experienced several mechanical problems in it life, but nothing major that I couldn't correct myself. But over its 37 years of use the rollers on on either end of the drive shaft - which press down on the rear wheels to propel the mower, no longer engage the wheels properly. Despite being of metal construction, the rollers appear to have some concave wear on them. By the same token, over the mower's long years of use, I would surmize the tread on the rear wheels has worn down to an extent contributing to the problem. I would be interest to know what would be the most economical fix - replacing the rollers, the wheels or both (if they're still available). Initially I gave thought to epoxying lead-impregnated rubber strips around the rollers to increase their circumference to make solid contact with the wheel, but then I started second-guessing myself. I would welcome any suggestions or recommendations on how to fix this problem. Much like many of your contributors, I'm and old guy with bad knees and rely on the self-propelled feature to get the mower up hills without straining myself to push it.

Thank you.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Probably both but the wheels will wear faster than the drive rollers .
Remember bigger rollers = faster mower
Bigger wheels = slower mower
As they are plain wheels you should be able to get replacements of some sort if they are a common size,=.
Down here that would be 6" , 7" , or 8"
Treads on rear wheels can be replaced ( not built up ) with Eurothane casting resin if you can find some sort of round item the appropriate diameter for the tyres
Lots of You Tube videos showing how to do this ( or how not as the case may be ) .
I have done this to replace the worn tyres on an obsolete 24" rough cut mower as the only available wheels were over $ 100 ( Aus ) a piece
The entire kit to cast was $ 40 and there is enough resin to do 5 wheels.
The first time they were solid which made the wheels quite heavy
The second attempt I made a ring out of styro foam tube ( used to make cavities in concrete floors for pipes ) which worked much better & gave the wheels a bit of bounce .

 

[Consumate Tinkerer]

I own a self-propelled, electric start. Lawn Boy model 8241AE that I bought new in 1985 and today still use religiously (mainly as a trim mower or to collect clippings). The mower looks its age and has experienced several mechanical problems in it life, but nothing major that I couldn't correct myself. But over its 37 years of use the rollers on on either end of the drive shaft - which press down on the rear wheels to propel the mower, no longer engage the wheels properly. Despite being of metal construction, the rollers appear to have some concave wear on them. By the same token, over the mower's long years of use, I would surmize the tread on the rear wheels has worn down to an extent contributing to the problem. I would be interest to know what would be the most economical fix - replacing the rollers, the wheels or both (if they're still available). Initially I gave thought to epoxying lead-impregnated rubber strips around the rollers to increase their circumference to make solid contact with the wheel, but then I started second-guessing myself. I would welcome any suggestions or recommendations on how to fix this problem. Much like many of your contributors, I'm and old guy with bad knees and rely on the self-propelled feature to get the mower up hills without straining myself to push it.

Thank you.

 

[sgkent]

The third time he got his fingers caught in the glue and hasn't been seen since without carrying tires around with him.

 

[dougmacm]

The 8" Lawn-Boy wheels used with the capstan drive Self-Propel are different than non-Self Propel wheels in that they use a softer compound rubber vs the hard plastic used on non-S-P wheels.

The wheels you need are Toro/L-B # 682972 and they are actually still available NEW. $23.36 each on the Lawn-Boy site, but you can find them for less elsewhere. Search for the TORO part, they are usually cheaper than one listed as a Lawn-Boy part, even though they are the exact same item.

Parts | Lawnboy

www.shoplawnboy.com

Type in your model # and then you can look at the parts lists & drawings.

Parts list shows 3 different rollers and 2 of them (LH/RH specific) are still available new, but they are big $$. The rollers are different diameters so you need to figure out which ones you have. Probably can find used ones maybe even new ones on ebay reasonably priced. I've got an older L-B Service Manual that shows the drive rollers were 7/8", 1", & 1-1/8" Dia., but the part numbers listed don't match the numbers for your later model mower. Guessing the diameters stayed the same, but L-B changed something on them or the numbers were superseded to the new numbers.

I'd say get new wheels 1st, maybe your rollers are OK.

If you don't have a Lawn-Boy Service Manual, you want to find one of these too (used ones available on ebay) as there are instructions on how to adjust the rollers that you should follow.

Doug

 

[FuzzyDriver]

To help other LawnBoy fanatics like myself, I keep a downloadable LawnBoy Service Manual on my website:

LawnBoy Service Manual