On Sat, 18 Jun 2016 10:18:28 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 17/06/16 22:38, T i m wrote:
Hi all,

We are on the lookout for a powered rotary mower with about a 41cm cut
and wondered if anyone had any particular recommendations and why
please.

I can't recommend any petrol mowers as mine is electric!

;-)

We have been using a similar spec Qualcast (with a B&S engine) and the
'drive' control cable has (just) broken and we aren't sure how easy it
will be to get such spares (yet, as it only just happened after the
shops shut). [1]

(snip)

[1] I will probably be able to repair it myself with a cycle /
motorcycle (Bowden) cable inner if we can't get the genuine part
easily or quickly.

Where has it broken?

Just between the deck and the actuator on the mower itself Jeff.

I can remember making a temporary repair for a
similar problem many years ago by using a single terminal block
connector to join the two cable ends together.

Yes, and I've done and suggested the same. ;-)

That's if you can get at
them, of course.

In the absence of any better way or workshop manual we ended up pretty
well stripping the thing down (inc taking the engine off, only 3
screws mind) to be able to get to the broken part. Maybe now it's
clean and when not in a rush (between the thunder storms) we might be
able to figure out if the offending part could have been accessible
with everything in situ.

If it isn't and if this is a weak spot I might be tempted to see if we
could cut a small access hole in the side of the deck and plastics and
then design and 3D-print a cover for it.

Basically it looked like (or we did anyway) remove the wheels, gears,
rear axle bearings, height adjustment rods, a few nuts, bolts and
screws and then the whole back end came out, giving us access the
cable (well, there was a pop rivet holding the plastic inner frame in
place but I drilled that out so we could get to everything easier).
;-)

I meant to phone Qualcast today but got sidetracked. ;-(

If that can't help with genuine spares I'm sure I can fix it but I was
looking to see what else might be out there that could be better for
the long term.

Cheers, T i m