Lawnmower won't pick up

[Tim Downie]

After 10 years faithful service, my rotary lawnmower has decided that it's had enough of picking up grass. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration as it still picks up 90% of the grass but the remaining 10% is still enough to make the lawn look untidy.

I reckoned that after 10 years it was due it's second ever decrudding and I scraped all the dried & mouldy grass out from underneath the deck. Didn't make any difference. I then took the blade off and cleaned the centrifugal fan thingy. Didn't make any difference. I then realised that my mower was struggling to suck air in between the engine and the deck as the gap was choked with grass and leaves. Didn't make........

It then occured to me that perhaps the mesh bag grass collection box needed a clean, after all, if air can't get out it's going to be hard to blow air and grass in. Didn't make.....

The only thing I hadn't done that I could think of was sharpen the blade but heck, it was only 5 years since I last did it. Didn't make....

Now I'm stumped. Why has my mower that has picked up grass for years with no problems suddenly developed indigestion? I've had a good look underneath for anything that might be upsetting the airflow but there's nothing obvious.

Any suggestions?

Tim

[John Rumm]

Petrol or electric? If it is petrol does it have a manual speed control or does it auto set? Either way, could it be the motor has lost a little power?

[Rick Dipper]

Wrong type of grass - there is some thing we can learn from Railtrack

[N. Thornton]

Youve covered a lot already, so not much left to do. 2 things I'd look at, both being the blade. First the angle of grind needs to be correct. Lawn blades should be ground like a scissor blade, so the lower edge does the cutting, and the angle contributes a little to upwards movement of the cut grass.

2ndly it may be your blade has become slightly (un)bent by stone hits etc, and is no longer at as much of an angle as it was, hence not working as well as a fan. This is quite likely the prime thing to look at.

Although you might have lost power/speed, I'm sure you'd notice if you had.

Regards, NT

[look]

Seriously - with all this rain the grass isn't the usual summer type and lawnmowers do not like wet heavy wide bladed grass !

ALso as it is growing very fast you may be cutting it longer than in previous years.

Robert

royall at which net

[The Natural Philosopher]

Replace the blade.

[Tim Downie]

Thanks to all. I suspect you're right about the "wrong kind of grss". It's been recently fertilized and with all the recent rain it's growing like nobody's business.

Might well try a new blade too. The poor old mower hasn't had a lot of tlc in its life and it deserves a little treat.

Cheers.

Tim

[Chad]

replying to John Rumm, Chad wrote: Mine is petrol and it's not picking up

[Tim+]

Another Rip Van Winkle post, this time with the wrong attributions and replying to a 12 year old post of mine!

Don't they teach you how to start a new thread at college Chad or is that not part of the assignment?

Tim

[Brian Gaff]

You have a lawn mower with its own phone? Maybe it was out when you rang? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Chuckle hence my silly post. Brian

[F]

More crap from 'HomeOwnersHub's Web, Mobile and Social Media Interface'

[F]

I think a few 'contributions' to 'Home Owners' Hub - Free Home Advice' Facebook page is called for...

[Davey]

The American raconteur Garrison Keillor, in one of his The News from Lake Woebegone monologues, in the time before universal mobile 'phones, described one Minnesotan ice fisherman, who ran an extension from his home 'phone out onto the frozen lake, and hooked the 'phone line to the fishing pole. He was attending a party at his neighbour's house, and periodically he would call his own home number, and if his 'phone was busy, he knew he had caught a fish.

See:

for the current and recent shows.

His funniest story was called Bruno the Fishing Dog, but I don't know if it's available in the archive, it was a long time ago.

[linda]

replying to Tim Downie, linda wrote: remove the *obvious* lawnmower wont pick up

[GB]

So, Tim, did it get resolved?

Wrong type of grass? :)

[Andrew]

Even more obviously, did you notice that this problem was posted in 2004 (13 years ago) ?.

Install a newgroup reader like thunderbird and you won't have this problem.

[Richard]

If the grass hasn't been cut since then, a member of the Wherethefukarewe tribe?