Mower motor won't spin

Brand new out of the store Briggs 450 E 125 CC vertical shaft engine. I added oil out of the store supplied jug and fuel. It's the right amount of oil according to the manual. I can't pull the rope hard enough to make the engine turn. I can turn the engine by pulling on the blade. There seems to be something scraping on the bottom end of the engine by the blade. I took the oil fill plug out. No difference. Taking the spark plug out didn't change much. And yes, I did disconnect the plug wire before pulling on the blade. Two mowers, same results. Any ideas?

?He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever? Chinese proverb.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman
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If the mower has a blade brake, you have to pull whatever handle releases it to crank the engine.

Reply to
mike

On 6/19/2016 11:15 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote: > Brand new out of the store Briggs 450 E 125 CC vertical shaft > engine. I added oil out of the store supplied jug and fuel. It's the > right amount of oil according to the manual. I can't pull the rope hard > enough to make the engine turn. > I can turn the engine by pulling on the blade. There seems to be > something scraping > on the bottom end of the engine by the blade. I took the oil fill > plug out. No difference. > Taking the spark plug out didn't change much. > And yes, I did disconnect the plug wire before pulling on the blade. > Two mowers, same results. > Any ideas? > > > ?He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not > ask a question remains a fool forever? Chinese proverb. > > > > I did that one time, on a walk behind lawn mower. About five minutes later, I heard the mower running. The other fellow on site was mowing the lawn with it I asked what happened. He had pulled the safety handle, and then the start cord, and it started right up. I saw the safety handle, but I'd never seen one ever any where, didn't know what it was. Is. Oops.

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon

BE CAREFUL Pulling on the blade is disastrous if the engine starts that way, while your hand is there, near the blade. Take out the spark plug. Even removing the spark plug wire is not enough because the spark can jump 1/2" or 1" and then jump across the spark plug gap too, so the engine can still run.

Reply to
Micky

+1

And RTFM.

Reply to
trader_4

I would add...some mowers have the safety-brake bail on the top of the hand le, it makes it too easy to defeat when you're cleaning under the mower dec k. Like if you place it under the car bumper to hold it up.

Reply to
bob_villain

Could have gone to a dealer that puts the oil in and then shows you how to run everything. But that would have cost $20 more.

The first "dead" mower is now going back to the factory and both the selling store and the manufacturer incur a needless expense.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Actually that expense winds up with you and I. The prices of mowers have to cover the needless returns. It probably won't go back to the factory though, the retailer will check it out, mark it down a bit as an open box.

Reply to
trader_4

...unless it Walmart and the supplier has to bite the bullet...

Reply to
bob_villain

You can't possibly be that dumb. Any costs that the supplier has, whether it's the cost of materials, labor, fuel, rent, taxes, just gets passed on in the price of the goods that the consumer winds up paying.

Reply to
trader_4

If I'm dumb...then you would be bumber in the hypothesis! You obviously don't know what suppliers deal with catering to Walmart.

Reply to
bob_villain

You may or may not be "bumber" but one way or another the cost is bounced back to the consumer.

You do know that corporation don't pay taxes either.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I did, after looking to see what RTFM means. Well, maybe a little before. No mention of a blade brake. I bought a Husqvarna push mower earlier this year. No brake on it. Apparently it's not a universal thing. This particular unit is a Poulan. Being ignorant about computers doesn't bother me too much. There have been lots of changes since they have become more widely used. This deal does. A little experimentation would've/could've showed the solution.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

If it is sold in the USA some sort of protection is there. Maybe it has a different name, but there is a safety device.

A federal safety standard for power mowers, developed by CPSC, took effect June 30, 1982. All walk-behind power rotary lawn mowers manufactured since then must meet the mandatory safety requirements designed to reduce hand and foot contact with the moving blade.

THE CPSC STANDARD

If you purchase a new walk-behind rotary lawn mower, the machine must meet the federal standard, and must be certified as complying with the regulation. Some of the safety features of the regulation include: ? The blade brake control. On all new mowers, an automatic brake stops the blade in three seconds when the operator releases his/her grip on the handle-mounted control bar. This feature prevents the rotary blade from operating unless the operator actuates the control. It also requires the operator to maintain continuous contact with the control to keep the blade operating, and stops the blade completely within three seconds when the operator releases the control. If the mower only has a manual start, the control must stop the blade without shutting down the engine, unless the manual starting control is located within 24 inches from the top of the handle, or the mower has a 360 degree foot shield. For user protection, the mower must also have a secondary control which must be activated before the mower can be operated

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Did you release the blade brake? The safety handle that you must hold to keep it runninh is also a blade brake.

Reply to
clare

Corporations pay taxes on reported income - but have ways of reducing that significantly for tax purposes - and with Walmart all rules of retailing go out the window. The supplier takes ALL the risks - Walmart takes none - and the expense gets passed on to the supplier's OTHER costomers because they can't recoup it from Walmart. Eventually the consumer pays - but not if they only by from Walmart.

Reply to
clare

Nah. I had no idea there was such a thing as a blade brake until Mike and Stormy mentioned them. The push mowers I've had wouldn't run if the safety handle wasn't depressed but the motors would spin.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

That's the difference between a blade brake and a blade clutch.

Reply to
mike

Blade clutch ? on a push mower ? I suspect that the older mowers has a spark-arrest safety interlock with no blade break. John T.

Reply to
hubops

Then what does the manual say about the start procedure and how did you get it started? You couldn't pull it to get it started and now you can. So there must be something there, you changed what you were doing to release it. Hard to imagine whatever that process is that it's not in the manual.

Agree with Ed, I think it's a requirement on all new mowers for a long time. I haven't seen one without it. Apparently yours must have it because you couldn't pull the starter cord.

Reply to
trader_4

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