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I did a terrible thing with my new John Deere!

15 years ago

Tilling the vegetable garden with my Troy Bilt the drive belt broke. So the rest of it was spaded leaving these big lumps of broken sod.

So what did I do at the urging of my wife. I "mowed" it with my JD. It sort of worked but I shuddered as I did it thinking about what I was doing to the blades. Oh well they can be sharpened, right!

So after the belt broke I replaced it but now the TB won't start! In doing that I turned the TB on its' side in order to reach the belts. Now someone on one of my threads mentioned that was a no-no. Does anyone know why? Something to do with gasoline moving around in the machine?

Possibly it is more likely that I managed to mix up the gadget that is controlled by a lever on the handle bars to reverse or go forward. It doesn't work now.

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Comments (5)

hortsense
15 years ago
Your message is a little muddled, but I think (perhaps) that you got your air filter wet with gas. If you tip the engine towards side-mounted paper filters, they can get wet from gasoline pouring from the bowl out onto the filter. Check the filter. If its wet or smells of gas you'll need to replace it (or at least dry it out).

You can also pull the spark plug and check to make sure its dry (liguid gas there can also cause problems). Clean, dry and replace.

One last question: If it won't start, how do you know that the drive direction controls are on the fritz?
metal
15 years ago
Did your tiller break while using it to paint your house? You need the right tool for the right job.
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jim_w_ny
Original Author
15 years ago
hortense

The forward/reverse control is stuck. Nothing happens when you try to move it. But even before the belt broke that control sometimes didn't work. The paddles wouldn't return to being "flat" until the tiller was tilling for awhile. Seems like the adjustiment for matching the height of the handles and the location of the end of the cable in the right hole was wrong. That is hard to put in words!

I'll try your suggestions.

Metal.

It was really tough getting the TB up in the air.

I would love to be able to use the TB for tilling and the JD for mowing.
1saxman
15 years ago
There are no words.
henryinct
14 years ago
You either have a spark or you don't and either gas is getting to the combustion chamber or it isn't. It usually comes down to one or the other. First make sure you have a spark. If you do, then you are either getting no gas or too much gas. Take out the plug and it will be obvious which it is. You should at least be able to get it started. If it starts and stalls check the fuel line to determine the problem.

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