Re: (ET) Mower motor failure and blade balance

[metman glasgow-ky com]

Blade balance is definitely important, but don't overlook shaft 
straightness.
Some years back I borrowed a straightening fixture/gizmo from a 
lawnmower repair buddy of mine and fabricated a plate that kinda 
simulated the bolt pattern of the typical vertical shaft rotary 
lawnmower engine. That allowed me to mount the fat motors in the same 
manner so that I could indicate and straighten if necessary.
Now I have several armatures that need to be straightened, but that 
fellow has past away and no one knows what happened to that crankshaft 
straightening fixture. And so far I've been unable to locate any old 
lawnmower shops that still had that fixture/capability to straighten 
lawnmower crankshafts.
Yes, Stens sells a new one on eBay for about $400, but......

Mike Wallace
Glasgow, KY

On 2024/04/17 4:28 pm, Christopher Zach via Elec-trak wrote:
> > In 43 years of ET mowing (averaging 2 acres a week for 6 months of the 
> > year) I can only recall a single magnet failure. I use (2) tall motor 
> > decks; one for my lawn and another for vineyards.
>
> Makes sense. The tall thin motors have never had a magnet failure that 
> I have seen (I have several cores for those) the problem was always the 
> darn armature shorting somewhere and causing the motor to "cog".
>
> I'll take a look at the blade balance, I will say I do have more 
> vibration than I should, but I think the bigger problem is whatever 
> they used for adhesive is just wearing out.
>
> C
>
>
> > I think the secret to my success is using a precision blade balancer. 
> > I use a MAG-1000 and it is amazing. 
> > https://www.magna-matic-direct.com/blade-balancers/ 
> > <https://www.magna-matic-direct.com/blade-balancers/>  The deck was 
> > much quieter and I have to believe it extends bearing life as well. 
> > Blade straightness can also be verified.
> >
> > You may wonder how sensitive it is. In one of their videos they placed 
> > a sliver of paper on a 24” blade and the balancer moved.
> >
> > I wanted to see if my old unit was still up to the task. So I did a 
> > quick test yesterday and a placed a 1” long piece of electrical tape 
> > on an ET blade tip. The tape made the balancer move! I’ve found that 
> > even brand new OEM blades can have their balance improved with this 
> > unit.
> >
> > Yes, it is expensive but a wise investment in the long run.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dean Stuckmann
> > 5432 County Road U
> > Newton, WI 53063-9624
> >
> > 920-901-2288
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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