I got this Yardman mower with a tecumseh OHV, OVRM120 engine. The flywheel key is broken, the iron counterweight in the flywheel has become dislodged and destroyed 4 fins. I was looking for a replacement but I can't spend the $100 being asked just for the flywheel. The broken parts of the fin were retrieved and I was thinking about repairing it. It is made of some kind of alumina alloy. I have tried using that stuff off ebay that is made for this repair but it is hard for a backyard guy like me to use. I was thinking of hard solder - the thick non resined stuff. I thought I'd ask what you guys think. Would this work on alloy?
I think you gotta just replace it sparker, unless you're a magician with aluminium welding. One fin might be worth a go with JB weld or the like, but not a bunch of them.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Sorry Sparker, both Yardmans here have Briggs on them. I have 5 Tecumesh motors here off mowers but they are all sidevalve . If you put up some measurements I can pull one apart, million to one they won't fit but if you don't check it out you will never know
Hi Norm, That is a lot of trouble for a probable "doesn't fit" and if it did then there is the curse of distance. I am still gratetful for your offer of course, as all these things are time and motion. I am going to try that 2.0mm brazing rod for aluminium alloy again. I have watched a couple of youtube videos and I hope to improve my technique. I know it is difficult to braze/solder this stuff but I have plenty of time. That is one benefit of retirement. If I charged for my time on some of these mowers I would have to sell them for thousands of dollars.
Sparker, I'm hearing you, if I got 20 cents an hour would be happy, don't know why I keep doing this to myself. Best of luck with that solder, only thing I have ever seen it stick together is coke cans. Just wondering if you took all the fins off and fitted one of the plastic fans from a Chonda. I will pull one off and get a photo up. If you look at the topic on the Villiers starter cup, you can see the pic I posted of a Chonda and the fan is black plastic and flat on the bottom. Might be the simplest way to go.
Appreciate that. I'll have a look at that thread. I just hope I don't go super-gluing plastic fins onto the damn thing or some other hare brained scheme after one of my "bright idea" moments.
Sparker, first pic is of the top, second one is the underside, not sure if it would end up too high on your motor, depends on how much clearance you have under the fan shroud
Hi Sparker, i've definitely got one here on a smoky knocky OHV tecumseh. I'm glad you posted the photo because the part number you specified in your "wanted" post refers to a cast steel flywheel. PM or call me if you want to organise something. You can get my number from clicking on my username and viewing my profile. Cheers, Ted
Norm, I found that out too. The chonda (in this case a Honda) fan is the exact same diameter and I thought you might be on to something there. So I pulled it off a wreck and it ends up about 15mm too high, probably more to give a safe clearance. Thanks for your help Norm. I will wait and see how those rods go. I think it's probably a crap mower anyway - it's a Tecumseh- the carby leaks as well.
Hmmm...NormK I thought all carbs leak at one time or other but Tecumseh when properly working don't leak or at least all that I have repaired. Now their rubber needle seat do tend to go bad but the Briggs carbs that using the same system does too.
As the OP coming up a cast iron heavy flywheel PN vs the lightweight flywheel in the pictures it comes down to what is the spec number is for that engine and if someone in the past changed it out as many of the techs here appear to do experimenting or making will do repairs. It maybe even that changed out part with the engine spec number with a different spec engine like many DIYers here do with the Briggs tins that have the engine info on it making it a guessing game later. Anyway always lookup parts by both the model and spec numbers.
I not downing experimenting even I do it time to time on expendable equipment. I even seen an old 12.5 hp L head Briggs to have tons more HP by just setting the cam to crankshaft timing off by one tooth. I just don't remember which way I had set it as it was 30 yrs ago now. I did use the engine for a very long until the transaxle went South to the graveyard. That was when I lied to by a local that the part that I was needing was NLA but 10 yrs later I found out that was not the case.
I know AVB, I was being a bit simplistic but it certainly seems to be of a problem with the Tecumesh carbs. If I end up with a mower with a Tecumesh on it I don't even bother with it, motor comes off and goes into the scrap pile
Well that was the problem you went over my head....LOL.
Don't blame you on that attitude. Here nearly every Tecumseh that comes into the shop needs parts that are no longer since they went under in 2009. Most of are on walk behind mowers so the whole mower is usually killed off. Usually even mower body are too far gone as they are cheaply made in the first place. I think only 2 push mower this year. With the current market here it is just as cheap to replace as it is to repair sometimes even cheaper.
Well I going back back to hug my heater as it is time of year here. We went straight from Summer to Winter I think as it was 85F last week and tomorrow high will barely make it to the mid 30's F. They are even talking snow flurries.
AVB the last week or so we have had a number of days that were in the 30's , no sign of snow here though LOL. My current problem seems to be with Briggs, probably the last 10 brought here have either had absolutely no oil in them or they have been seized solid or about to.
My fault regarding the part number. I got the number off a parts diagram on the www. I didn't realise there were two types. I should have waited until I took the flywhhel off or at least checked it against the www one. My bad. I get lazy once i sit down at the computer and the shed is getting hot these days.. pm'd you bigted. Thanks all.
You will ran into this at times even with Briggs engines as replacements are install where we need to swap flywheel per instructions from Briggs where they sell an engine with a lightweight flywheel but the engine that being replaced requires a heavy flywheel. Actually there times that we even need swap out crankshafts but this where the tech doing needs to document those changes and make sure the owner gets this info in case they use another shop for repairs.
As for coming up with the part number all we can rely on is the info at hand and doing our best to research the equipment part lists. Yes the online IPLs can be wrong at times even the printed ones can be wrong. I have seen this several times lately with Briggs IPLs that other providers are not as careful in providing accurate info which gets us all in trouble.
It like the aftermarket brake calipers I ordered that were state as fitting an ATV I am working on but when they came in they were the right design but had the wrong fittings for the OEM brake lines. I am now in the process of rebuilding the OEM calipers. I will need to bleed the calipers through a more difficult method since the bleeders are frozen in place but as long as I get all the air out it doesn't matter.
