Making your own control cable

[SBH]

I have a Troy Bilt lawnmower which requires a control cable known as "wheel Speed Adjusting cable", which is basically a cable to control the self propelled speed. This mower is about 16 years old, but in good shape. Upon calling several parts suppliers, this cable is no longer available. Though, I haven't exhausted all resources just yet, the thought of making my own comes to mind, thus, leads me to wonder if anyone has ever made their own cable or knows of a place which can make it for me or any other option offered?

Thanks

[Frank]

Why not? I once repaired the speed cable on my Lawnboy by splicing it with a wire nut used for splicing copper to aluminum wiring. Forgot all about it. That was about 4 years ago and the mower went kaput last year but cable was still OK.

[notbob]

I would think a good lawnmower/chainsaw/etc shop would have everything needed to make a custom cable. If not, try a motorcycle --specially dirtbikes-- repair shop. Make-from-scratch cables are not rocket science, the most high-tech tool in the equation being a 110AC solder pot and a buncha cable parts.... ends, cable, sheathing, etc, to whip up a custom cable in about 10 mins.

nb

[Dean Hoffman]

There are some examples here

of locking cables. I see versions of these on irrigation power units. A

1/4 or 1/2 turn to lock are common. One of the better ones is the vernier. One can set the speed by turning the outer portion of the knob. The center part is a quick release if one wants to get the speed set quicker. Would a throttle control from a boat work? Motorcycle or ATV throttles?

[Nate Nagel]

I'm assuming that this is a Bowden (push-pull) cable? if so, get you some music wire, piano wire, whatever you call it. You'll need some needlenose pliers to form the little round ends, but if you have a SO who makes her own jewelry, she probably has some special pliers in her toolkit that are just the ticket for making the ends neater than you can with what you have in your own set of tools. If the housing is toast, you are probably out of luck. but you could try using housing for bicycle brake cables, available at your local bike shop. Might work.

If it's a pull-only cable (stranded) a bicycle brake cable will probably fix you up, but you'll need to use some ingenuity for the ends.

good luck

nate

[jamesgangnc]

Does this cable also engage and disengage the self propulsion? Because many self propelled lawnmowers do not have variable speed. You could just pick a comfortable speed and lock the mechanism with a bolt or clamp.

[Eric in North TX]

I did the one on my craftsman, just because I didn't want to wait or pay, it is still available. The bottom end pulled off of it, I reversed it and cobbled a connection to the speed control bar at the top. So yes it isn't rocket science. I'll nearly bet another brand cable is close enough. Mowers are mostly made by MTD, so some parts interchange is inevitable.

[Jules Richardson]

Assuming your assumption is right... ;-)

... I've got such a cable for the throttle on my lawn tractor which broke right at one end. I separated the metal cable part from the outer sleeve, shortened the sleeve by an inch, then bent the new end into the right shape after feeding it back through the sleeve.

Use a propane torch to heat the end of the cable - it's really easy to make up tight bends that way (just be careful not to toast the sleeve!).

cheers

Jules

[clare]

Is this a solid core cable,like a choke cable, or a stranded core, like a bike shifter?

[SBH]

I did the one on my craftsman, just because I didn't want to wait or pay, it is still available. The bottom end pulled off of it, I reversed it and cobbled a connection to the speed control bar at the top. So yes it isn't rocket science. I'll nearly bet another brand cable is close enough. Mowers are mostly made by MTD, so some parts interchange is inevitable.

Troy bilt was bought by MTD. I have been to 4 local mower places and they have nothing which even comes close to it. The oddity is at one end which contains a little ball. This little ball fits into a hole of the dial to adjust speed while the other end is an eyelet. If I can figure out a way to attach the same type ball or use something close to it, the rest will be easy.

[Eric in North TX]

- [e-mail]...

Anything here look usable?

[Eric in North TX]

[e-mail]...

The link I meant:

[N8N]

- [e-mail]...

Fishing weights?

nate

[SBH]

The link I meant:

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, nothing exact nor are there any cables with that little ball on one end. I did contact one of the sellers who had a diagram on his Ebay ad which is the identical layout for my mower. He indicated that dial lever and cable assembly will be coming in to his store later next week from a retailer who went out of business in which they bought all their parts. Therefore, if I haven't found any fix, I'll check with him then.

[SBH]

Fishing weights?

nate

Very good idea. I'll check into it.

Thank you