I was given a free Honda Harmony mower when I bought my house last summer. I wanted to buy a new mower but they are just so expensive. So I figured I'd see if I can fix up this Honda and use it for a year or two before getting something new (hopefully a husqvarna awd model).
So anyway, the motor absolutely purrs like a kitten. This is before putting any seafoam in it to clean up the fuel system. Its almost laughable how good the motor runs after 15 years. The drive system is another matter...
The speed selector has 3 speeds. In 1st, you pull the drive lever and after a bit of hesitation, it starts going. In 2nd and 3rd, it pretty much doesn't go at all. Unless you lift up the drive wheels, then they spin.
So we cleaned everything pretty thoroughly, including the belt and the pulleys, but no change.
Then we replaced the belt, thinking that's got to be it. But again, no change AT ALL with a brand new belt.
So then I started to think, it must be the gearbox. But after looking at videos on youtube of people opening the gearboxes, it doesn't see like that is the problem. The gear box is literally a gear box. So you're not going to get hesitation from that. The gears either work, or they're broken. Not much room for middle ground.
So today, what I did was adjusted the drive-engagement cable, pulling out all the slack. Basically, I slide the housing down through the clamp that holds it, so its a much firmer pull. This was the first thing I did that had SOME effect!!
NOW, 1st gear works pretty good. 2nd and 3rd work about as good as 1st before. That is, not great. But with a little push start, and on level ground, the gears will work.
But that's not good enough. My yard has lots of slopes, I really need the drive system to work like new. I need it to be able to easily and aggressively climb my slopes.
All of the behavior so far, adds up to a bad clutch in my head. But I have no idea how the clutching mechanism even works on this mower. I haven't been able to find any diagrams or videos that actually explain it. And it's not apparently by looking from underneath. I suspect that whatever kind of clutching system it uses, just adjusting or replacing it will fix the drive problem on this mower.
.... but that's just a guess, I have no idea. Hopefully you guys can help?
So anyway, the motor absolutely purrs like a kitten. This is before putting any seafoam in it to clean up the fuel system. Its almost laughable how good the motor runs after 15 years. The drive system is another matter...
The speed selector has 3 speeds. In 1st, you pull the drive lever and after a bit of hesitation, it starts going. In 2nd and 3rd, it pretty much doesn't go at all. Unless you lift up the drive wheels, then they spin.
So we cleaned everything pretty thoroughly, including the belt and the pulleys, but no change.
Then we replaced the belt, thinking that's got to be it. But again, no change AT ALL with a brand new belt.
So then I started to think, it must be the gearbox. But after looking at videos on youtube of people opening the gearboxes, it doesn't see like that is the problem. The gear box is literally a gear box. So you're not going to get hesitation from that. The gears either work, or they're broken. Not much room for middle ground.
So today, what I did was adjusted the drive-engagement cable, pulling out all the slack. Basically, I slide the housing down through the clamp that holds it, so its a much firmer pull. This was the first thing I did that had SOME effect!!
NOW, 1st gear works pretty good. 2nd and 3rd work about as good as 1st before. That is, not great. But with a little push start, and on level ground, the gears will work.
But that's not good enough. My yard has lots of slopes, I really need the drive system to work like new. I need it to be able to easily and aggressively climb my slopes.
All of the behavior so far, adds up to a bad clutch in my head. But I have no idea how the clutching mechanism even works on this mower. I haven't been able to find any diagrams or videos that actually explain it. And it's not apparently by looking from underneath. I suspect that whatever kind of clutching system it uses, just adjusting or replacing it will fix the drive problem on this mower.
.... but that's just a guess, I have no idea. Hopefully you guys can help?