I Hate It When Stuff Like This Happens

Ever since moving to Shagri-la my favorite trimming mower has been an ancient Craftsman mower that was given to us by our friend SM when she lived with us for a few months back in Mordor.  This is about the most basic lawnmower I ever encountered.  There are no controls, really.  There is a primer to pump gas into the carburetor to make sure the unit starts when the cord is yanked.  That’s about it.  For years and years it did the job for those areas around the edge, areas too close to the house or garden or whatever for the lawn tractor to fit there.

Recently I noticed it began to perform oddly, then it ceased to perform altogether even though the engine was running just fine.  On closer examination I saw that the twin alignment pins on the hub had sheared off, as had the bolt that affixed the blade/hub to the engine shaft.  And, the bolt had sheared off below the surrounding surface of the shaft.

My next task is to see if I can drill out the center of the broken bolt inside the shaft and try removing the broken bolt rod with a screw extractor.  I hope this works as I have not seen any new mowers on the market that meet my desires.

Grrr.  Stay tuned.