In search of a dedicated small engine community I come here.

I have an older husqvarna frontrider with a hydrostatic transmission. While checking the transmission oil I noticed that the fan had broken of most of the blades.

Looking at the transmission cover I can see that it has been grazed by the blades, suggesting that the fan has been pulled sideways.

The oil check was part of a small service, that I was doing since I had to replace both belts going to the cutting deck as well as the belt in the deck. Those belts died when the belt tensioner, in middle of the mower, came loose and dangled beneath the mower.

My questions are these:

  1. WTF?
  2. If the belts have pulled that much in the engine driveshaft, as to do this, what else would you look for before starting the mower again?
  3. Given that it’s about 10°C outside, would you run the mower without a fully functioning fan?
  4. Have I missed something? Any wisdom you wish to impart?
  • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.worksOP
    2·
    11 days ago

    I was able to get it to run. There, updated :)

    I’ll elaborate.

    What I ended up doing was:

    1. I replaced the fan, only to find that the battery was dead.
    2. Yelled at a tree
    3. Rejuvenate the battery by popping the caps off this “service free” sealed lead acid battery, and filling it back up with water from the clothes dryer (because why by demineralized water, especially when all the shops are closed)
    4. Repair the caps because some broke during their removal.
    5. Charge the battery

    As you can see, that list took a fair bit of time. Could have been done faster by not repeating #2 so much. But in the end the mower works, and there’s no indication of further defects in relation to the fan.