TB110 Push Mower - Rear Flap Issues

[l008com]

I have a couple of issues with this TB110 I'm trying to fix up.

The first is the flap at the rear of the machine. Here is what mine looks like. It this correct? Every other mower i've ever used has had a much bigger, rubber flap that would push down on the lawn. I thought the purpose of these flaps was to prevent flying objects from hitting you as you mow. But this little nothing flat is going to do... well, nothing. What do you make of that?


Tje second issue is also in the back. The "back door" lol, the flap you lift up to attach the bag. Then its spring loaded and gets pushed down when you remove the bag. Well, mine doesn't want to close all the way. If you push it down it will stay down, but very weekly. And the wind from the blade spinning will push it back up to the position it's in above.You can see both springs are present, they appear to be installed correctly. They don't appear to be rusted or corroded in any way. Everything looks "right", yet somehow these springs just can't push the back door down anymore. On my other mowers, those springs push the door down with significant force. It almost makes me wonder if the springs need to be wound another revolution on the mower-body side, so they put down proper pressure.
Thoughts?


Other than that, this mower seems to work pretty well. It wouldn't start when I picked it up. Turns out it only calls for 15 oz of oil and it had like.... a full quart in it lol. But I drained everything, refilled, got it running, sharpened the blade - which looks like it had NEVER been done before. And it did a GREAT job mowing the test patch.

 

[ILENGINE]

Most of the flap is missing And I wouldn't be surprised if the door springs are packed full of grass and/or just rusted and weak.

 

[l008com]

Thats very strange that the flap would break so perfectly straight like that. I couldn't cut it that straight with anything but a table saw.

Regarding the springs, you can get a good look at them wtth the door up, no rust or dirt or grass. The grass in the picture was from the minutes leading up to the photo. The machine was nice and clean before that. The springs just stop pushing on the door when the door is about 2 or 3 inches from being fully closed.

I'll have to take a closer look tomorrow and see what I can see.

 

[ILENGINE]

The edge were the hard part of the flap meets the rubber parts will act like a piece of metal that you bend back and forth until is just starts cracking along the bend line and then breaks off. The springs won't go another turn. But wouldn't be a back idea to check the tag end of the springs to make sure they are in place and not broken off.

 

[l008com]

Depending on how easy it is to get at the springs and remove that door, If they are too stiff to go around another loop, then they are probably stiff enough that I could bend them a little and make them tighter that way. Then again, new springs are pretty cheap it looks like so maybe I just replace them if the door comes off easy.

 

[l008com]

Here is a closeup of the rear door and springs. They look pretty good. The springs look like they are installed right, they don't look damaged or corroded at all. Very weird. It's like the original owner left the bag on for 6 years straight and the springs just "unsprung".

Also it's not clear to me by looking, how would you take that door off to replace the springs or at least try messing around with them?

 

[ILENGINE]

need to push out the pivot rod item 7 https://www.partstree.com/models/tb...-bilt-walk-behind-mower-2018/deck-assembly-4/

 

[l008com]

With all that rust, thats not going to be fun. It looks like theres only an opening for it on one side. So is the idea, that you grab it with some needle nose in the middle and slowly inch it out bit by bit?

Also regarding the rear flap, the "trailflap" (#4 in that diagram), do you have to take the whole machine apart to get that in and out? Or do you just flex the whole flap and squeeze it between the bigger brackets that hold it?

 

[ILENGINE]

If there is only one opening you will have to inch it out if possible. And you flex the flap to get it out and back in.

 

[l008com]

I poked around with this today, using vice grips. But the rod is pretty rusty. I was able to get it to rotate but I was not able to slide it at all. Any tips for how I might get it to move? My only idea is using a bigger set of vice grips (i was using a mini pair), clamp as hard as I can, and try tapping the vice grips with a hammer. Not the best way to do it but I don't see any other way.

Actually heres another way, I could try drilling a hole in the plastic on the no-hole side, so that I could then put something in there and push directly against the rod. This doesn't sound like a great option though.