one of the worst problems in engine/mower stuff is

[38racing]

My vote is for the broken bolt. I broke the engine mounting bolt on a briggs 31 series. It broke pretty much flush with the sump base bottom side and protruded up about 1/2 inch. In the past I have tried the welded on nut with no success. (my weld always seems to break) and I was worried if welding heat could warp sump. . No room for a stud remover tool. I have the socket type extractors which work on rounded nuts. I tried one and I think it did turn the stud every so slightly before losing bite . Then it seemed none of my kits had a size to fit. 8mm too small, 10 mm too large. At this point I was heating with Mapp and applying freeze off. Since it was flush I went the drill route (no intention though of trying the easy out, they never work for me either). Thought at first best to try full diameter drill but made no progress so went the 1/8 down the centre (except it never goes down centre and did not in this case.) I then went to bigger drill size but found I had to go in 1/64 increments to get drill bite. I went up to 17/64 which put my drill against the aluminum. Them brought out a chisel to try and catch in the drill hole edge and cause some turn. Then I just chiseled banged to force stud to collapse into drilled out area. After about 3 hours total work on this it was loose enough to pull out.Mount hole will just get a through bolt now with a lock nut. Easier to get out anyway. And as I was getting to the end I recalled and wondered if the 28 series sump from a friend's engine with rod hole in the block would fit this 31, although the 31 has oil filter and pump and 28 may not. Academic thought now.

[bgsengine]

We'll always drill 'em out first - sometimes if you heat the flange around the bolt (propane torch) the drill's torque will suddenly spin the bolt the rest of the way through - Maybe 1 out of 10) forget trying to extract and don't bother trying to save threads - we just drill em through as centered as possible and put in a bolt/nut combo - Only issue is when the bolt hole is a blind hole (Kohler Courage) - though sometimes they have extra bolt holes for a different bolt pattern that can be drilled out of the frame and use that one.. sometimes have to drill otu and put in a heli-coil and/or larger bolt..

But yeah - it can be really frustrating - Just had a customer haul away a perfectly good troy-bilt w/ 46" deck that only needed a drive belt - but to replace drive belt, electric clutch and engine pulley had to come off - and both were badly rusted to the crank - couldnt get them to budge at all - only choice would have been heat and pounding and puller and possibly even having to cut the whole shebang off - and the replacement cost for pulley and clutch plus belts and labor would have been more than the whole tractor was worth.

Same with a nice Deere LX165 (also picked up today as junk) with a blown 5-speed peerless transmission - repairs cost more than the machine, but the machine would otherwise have been in "Excellent, like-new" condition except for that transmission problem. ($700 repair job to fix it, and a potential wait of up to 6 to 8 weeks for backordered parts (If they were even available any more) to come in) - customer didnt feel it was worth fixing.

[Luffydog]

I like using a little air hammer makes a hard job easier lol plumbers trick sometimes have to go up before u can go down

[38racing]

I got one about the pulley for changing the drive belt.It's on the white GT2550 in my other thread about the seized tecumseh vtwin. Fellow said the top pulley should come off seized unit since it was pretty new. When he needed to change belt he couldn't get it off so took it to a small shop where they had to destroy the top pulley (clutch had come off). So yes it came off fine but the top hub was missing. There was just some saw tooth shaped rusted metal at the top. . he said he personally bought the new pulley and gave it to them and saw the old destroyed one. Beats me how his new pulley would lose the top hub part. When removing it I noticed the reason it has to come off to change the belt. Three tabs that are actually bent down from the chassis when hole is formed and act as belt retainers. Beats me why there can't be a separate plate bolted to chassis with those tabs on it.. So he gets the replacement engine with the top pulley still on. And that's because it will likely need to be cut off.
My thought was to bend the tabs back far enough away from the pulley to get the belt on and then bend back. So having old brain cells I put the engine on without doing that. Still I took a punch and hammer and plumber pliers and got them back far enough so that I could force the belt on. I never even bothered to bend them back as it was such a force fit getting belt on it wouldn't just drop off and in fact the belt never goes slack on this unit. It is always under idler pulley tension.

[Luffydog]

I always loosen motor bolts lift up high enough with a pry slide belt on and let it back down no bending the tabs that way belt guides r good and keep belt properly and guides don't get weak and break off. Had a guy to bring one in after he just got new belt on and his complaint was belt would not stay on someone had bent the belt guides out on his cub to keep from doing it the right way. Figured guy seen $ signs and belt them out or he just didn't know better from the start. Guy was pleased to have it back and running and even called back and said thank u for fixing it right where he could make more than one pass on his yard without having to stop.

[HondaG100]

Just had a customer haul away a perfectly good troy-bilt w/ 46" deck that only needed a drive belt - but to replace drive belt, electric clutch and engine pulley had to come off - and both were badly rusted to the crank - couldnt get them to budge at all - only choice would have been heat and pounding and puller and possibly even having to cut the whole shebang off - and the replacement cost for pulley and clutch plus belts and labor would have been more than the whole tractor was worth.

My vote is for badly designed equipment that makes it to expensive to fix being the worst problem. makes me money though finding used parts and fixing things that bigger shops cannot do economically enough.

[Arkie]

I always loosen motor bolts lift up high enough with a pry slide belt on and let it back down no bending the tabs that way belt guides r good and keep belt properly and guides don't get weak and break off. Had a guy to bring one in after he just got new belt on and his complaint was belt would not stay on someone had bent the belt guides out on his cub to keep from doing it the right way. Figured guy seen $ signs and belt them out or he just didn't know better from the start. Guy was pleased to have it back and running and even called back and said thank u for fixing it right where he could make more than one pass on his yard without having to stop.

Sometimes 3 of the 4 engine bolts can be removed and the 4th loosened and the engine turned little to get the upper belt on and off when the chassis has the tabs. (if the engine pulley is seized onto the shaft. I've also had to drill out twisted off steel bolts in aluminum blocks.
I've rigged special pullers for the double stack lawn tractor engine pulleys and run about 50% average removal rate of not ruining a rusted on one.. I clean the engine shafts good and the inside of the pulleys and also any bolts going into aluminum and apply good coat of anti sieze and this really helps when going back later.
If I seen a lawn tractor that is going to be a real hassel with rusted and seized bolts and pulleys I prepare the rig for turning it on it's side or completely upside down or vertical lift with restraints for easier access. Easier to re-install gas tank, oil, battery etc than to fight twisted off bolts and rusty crankshaft pulleys, etc from underneath.
Ever notice that sometimes you can let the contrary eq rest for a day or two sometimes and go back and all goes well?
Seems some days should have just stayed in bed!

I sometimes put in a double shift on eq when things are going my way getting as much done as possible before Murphys law hits again!

[Luffydog]

Anything to do with a cub Cadet hahahaha