being a bit reckless I have managed to hit something (manhole cover) pretty hard with my mower and it has bent the bolt that hold the blade in place and smashed the cast mounting that the blade is fixed to on the bottom of the shaft. Can this be removed from the shaft and replaced ????

cliff-top@hotmail.co.uk, August 2008

cheers Phil, it slid off easily.

cliff-top, August 2008

The blade boss is secured to the crank with a long bolt that goes through the blade and boss, and screws into the end of the crankshaft.

After you remove the mangled remains of the blade, the boss SHOULD pull off the crank (it's a keyed parallel shaft). You may need a puller - screw the bolt back in about 6 turns and allow the puller drawbolt to bear on it. They don't usually put up much or a fight. As a last resort, you can cut it off - it's alloy so it wont be too hard. Use a power say such as a B&D scorpion or similar. Make a cut the length of the boss, then open it out with a cold chisel (or a screwdriver) and slide it off.

phil_saunders@bigfoot.com

Phil Saunders, August 2008

further research now tells me that the part i need is called the blade boss and its aluminium. How do I remove it please ?

cliff-top, August 2008

Thanks for the quick reply, im certain the shaft is not bent, how do i remove what is left of the cast ? Is it a professional job ?

cliff-top, August 2008

It can, but I would expect the crankshaft to be bent as well as the other damage if it's hit something as solid as a manhole cover. Take off the plug cap, remove the blade and the blade mounting boss. Tip it back on it's wheels (still with the plug cap off) and tip it back like it's doing a wheelie. Get someone to look underneath the front of the mower and watch the rotation of the crankshaft when you pull the recoil- if it rotates off-centre then you have bent the crank and unless you have the expertise to change the crank yourself then generally it's cheaper to just replace the engine.

pleasant, August 2008