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.
Ok AVB I will bite, how are you bleeding these calipers? Only way I know is with the caliper off, wood between the pads and holding the caliper in your hand with the brake line at the highest point and crack the fitting to let the air out. Usually would require 2 people this way ? Am I close?
Yelp that what I got to do. Although I probably use a cinder block with a catch pan to support the caliper.
I know it is a pain but I am by my self though I might be able to get a friend to help as it won't take as long as I prime the cylinders and lines before starting on the final line bleed. I will use my MityVac to bleed the lines before quickly attaching them to calipers. I know it will not be 100% bleeding but will be fairly close. Definitely will be better than no brakes at all which is where I am starting at.
I would still prefer to use the regular bleeders but sometimes you got to do whatever you can but that MityVac will make it an one person job, just got remember to keep that master cylinder full of fluid or it is a wasted effect.
Just an update. I got the mower running (but little throttle control) with the help of BigTed. He pointed out that the smaller tecumseh engines have the same blower as this one. I got a wreck for $5 and replaced the blower on the one I was fixing. The carb had a leaky primer bulb so i got a new carb off ebay too. It starts first pull now but seems to have the same throttle speed no matter what the lever does. At the moment it is either full speed or no speed and it is also leaking oil around the bottom of the oil filler pipe.
Sparker is the governor working? If you can set the idle speed a bit higher than normal then the governor should take over. Not sure on the filler tube but if it is a tube then it will have an "O" ring on it, replace that and it should be fine. Going to full speed indicates the throttle cable is opening the butterfly, this is the governors job
Hi Norm, The filler tube is fixed but I am a bit stumped with the governor. I don't think it's working. I can manually move it and control the speed but it doesn't seem to work on its own. I would like to get it going as it has a big 21" cut and seems to have a very solid frame.
I moved that sliding throttle plate up towards the front of the mower and that seems to have quietened it down a bit. Funny, I thought that adjustment would make it worse as it put more tension on the spring. I also straightened out that rod with the spring on it to stop any fouling with the other rod. Very flimsy material on these engines.
What rod are you talking about sparker, if it is the governor rod you can't mess with that, it needs to be set so that when the motor is not running the throttle butterfly is wide open, then when the motor fires it swings the butterfly closed back to idle. The you have to work out if the governor is actually working. Where the arm enters the crankcase you will need to undo the locking bolt and rotate the shaft fully in the direction that opens the butterfly fully and lock the shaft in that position. It then might involve somebody to watch and see if the governor arm to the closed position as you start the motor. If this doesn't work it looks like the governor may have failed
I recently found a Victa with a dead Tecumseh, with missing throttle cable and tank cap, on it. The body was teeming with rust blisters under the paint, the non ball bearing wheels were bald, the handles were rusty all over. The mower was useless even as a wreck. No wonder it was sitting on a street corner getting no attention. This was one Victa I didn't take home!
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Yes MF, they aren't the best of motors, but I do find the bushed wheels stand up better than the Victa bearing wheels, except the ones they fitted with sealed bearings, they are good
Norm, the rod I was talking about was the little governor rod that has the spring attached. I have run this mower for about 40 minutes and it mowed my yard faultlessly. However today I tried to mow the yard with it again (actually my son was doing it) and somehow the blower/flywheel key broke and that was without hitting anything. When i got this mower it had a broken key so this is the second one.
