New Troy bilt pony just purchased

[Torcutt]

Hello, I just purchased a new Troy bilt pony today from Home Depot and my first time trying to mow, the deck and even the mower itself seemed to shake or rattle a lot more then I would expect. When I tried to rotate the blades by hand they seemed very tight and squeaked as they turned. I’m not a pro at this but something seems off to me. Maybe the blades were installed wrong or too tight? Or maybe it just needs some time to break in? Thanks for any input.

 

[ILENGINE]

The squeak is the blade brakes and that is normal if turning the blades by hand without the deck engages. As far as the shaking could be blades out of balance or bad spindle bearings. I have worked on brand new mowers where the vibration would make hour feet go numb in just a few minutes. Ended up replacing all the spindles on the deck under warranty.

Some of the newer mowers don't have anti sway bars so the deck can move around a fair amount.

 

[bertsmobile1]

We need the model number because the mechanical PTO decks will have a brake that will stop the blades turning and squeak while the electric PTO will have a brake on the engine spindle so will just be hard to turn.
You really need to remove the belt to check the blade rotation

 

[Torcutt]

The model number is 13AM77BS023. Are you thinking the blades could be on wrong? Something must be misaligned or bent for it to be shaking that much. It’s just weird since it’s a brand new mower which makes it more annoying

 

[Scrubcadet10]

TBH, i wouldn't touch a thing and call the box store you bought it from... don't want to void the warranty then be up a creek without a paddle/

 

[bertsmobile1]

So now you know why the price from the big box store is so much cheaper than from a dealer who at the minimum would have put oil in the engine and run the mower a couple of times around their car park.