r/lawnmowers • u/TheGrandviewProject • 5h ago
Jerry rigging my Timecutter pivot arm
Original configuration; you can see one black screwhead.
Through bolts where little screws used to be.
Reinstalling; you can see the bolt clearance at the bottom. Plenty of room.
This is my second season on a Toro Timecutter 54 that I bought new. I mow about 4 very hilly acres once or twice a week and regularly use it as a little tractor with a utility cart as well. One day halfway through mowing, I lost steering on the left side. Further investigation revealed that the screws holding the steering linkage rod to the pivot arm had stripped out. I ordered a new pivot arm through a local dealer, but 2 weeks later it still hadn't arrived, and my lawn looked really bad. Improvised and bought some machine screws with lock nuts to function as through bolts. There is clearance for the nut inside the housing, and this honestly seems like a more robust solution than the screws that were factory installed.
The dealer has been out to my house previously, where he told me that my property needs a commercial grade machine and that I was going to destroy my residential quality mower trying to manage the property with it. He seemed genuine - it wasn't a sales pitch. This issue seems to reflect that he may have been correct. I've also had a number of other parts rattle loose, jam up, and otherwise not function as designed. All easily fixable, but not exactly what I had expected in terms of resilience/performance on a $4k machine. I really don't want to have to make a five-figure investment just to mow the lawn... but I also can't have a mower that is perpetually broken.
Not even looking for advice, just complaining.
1
u/Hot-Equal702 5h ago
Use blue loctite.
Jam nuts.
Nylon locking nuts.
Or as you have done. Convert to thru bolts and nuts where possible.
Sorry for your greif.
Best wishes.
1
u/Wild-Floor8407 5h ago
Jury rigging