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mower engine mounting - only 3 bolts - is this OK??
I've just bought (online) a new Castel lawnmower with a 5.5 hp Honda engine
and notice that the engine is bolted to the aluminium deck by three bolts. The engine has four evenly spaced mounting holes but one of them does not line up with a hole in the deck therefore the span between two of the mounting bolts is approxiately 180°. Should I be concerned about this?? |
"AAG" wrote in message ... I've just bought (online) a new Castel lawnmower with a 5.5 hp Honda engine and notice that the engine is bolted to the aluminium deck by three bolts. The engine has four evenly spaced mounting holes but one of them does not line up with a hole in the deck therefore the span between two of the mounting bolts is approxiately 180°. Should I be concerned about this?? Yes. Is the Aluminium plate a casting or a sheet plate? A casting could split, a plate tear. How far out of line is the 4th hole? Is the plate drilled and tapped or a clear hole for a bolt to go through then a nut on the underside? Could the hole be made to line up with the assistance of a smaller round file? Have you contacted the seller and raised your concerns? This should be done before you do anything yourself, but I have a feeling that if they sent it out like that they couldn't care less, BUT, they could be a fine company, be concerned and exchange it for you. Mike -- H.M.S.Collingwood Ass. Llandudno 20 - 23 May Trip to Portmeirion National Service (RAF) Ass. Cosford 24 - 27 June Spitfire Fly Past H.M.S.Impregnable Ass. Sussex 1 - 4 July Visit to Int. Fest of the Sea RAF Regiment Assoc. Scarborough 2 - 5 Sept. Visit to Eden Camp |
"Mike" wrote in message ... "AAG" wrote in message ... I've just bought (online) a new Castel lawnmower with a 5.5 hp Honda engine and notice that the engine is bolted to the aluminium deck by three bolts. The engine has four evenly spaced mounting holes but one of them does not line up with a hole in the deck therefore the span between two of the mounting bolts is approxiately 180°. Should I be concerned about this?? Yes. Is the Aluminium plate a casting or a sheet plate? A casting could split, a plate tear. The deck is a single aluminium casting with four strengthened bits for engine fixing. How far out of line is the 4th hole? Nearly the width of the hole. At the moment it would nearly be possible to poke a 1/8 th inch drill through. Is the plate drilled and tapped or a clear hole for a bolt to go through then a nut on the underside? Could the hole be made to line up with the assistance of a smaller round file? Definitly not. It is too far out and drilling or filing would move the hole out of the strenghened area. There does not seem to be any scope for loosening off the others and moving the engine slightly as the holes need to line up exactly. Have you contacted the seller and raised your concerns? This should be done before you do anything yourself, but I have a feeling that if they sent it out like that they couldn't care less, BUT, they could be a fine company, be concerned and exchange it for you. Yes I've just emailed asking about this and they replied: " I can confirm that the positioning of the engine to the deck is normal. this ih how all the Honda engines are fitted to machines. " He is saying that all Honda engines are mounted by three bolts with one hole left unused!!! |
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Have you contacted the seller and raised your concerns? This should be done before you do anything yourself, but I have a feeling that if they sent it out like that they couldn't care less, BUT, they could be a fine company, be concerned and exchange it for you. Yes I've just emailed asking about this and they replied: " I can confirm that the positioning of the engine to the deck is normal. this ih how all the Honda engines are fitted to machines. " He is saying that all Honda engines are mounted by three bolts with one hole left unused!!! The hole alignment is probably so they can use either a Briggs and Stratton or a Honda engine on the same mower deck. If you've got it in writing that this is how it is meant to be secured, then I wouldn't worry, although it might be worth getting confirmation from Castel and or Honda (Honda customer service can be reached at http://www.honda.co.uk/contact/contactForm.jsp) as it's them that will be providing the guarantee. HTH Cheers Nick http://www.ukgardening.co.uk |
" I can confirm that the positioning of the engine to the deck is normal. this ih how all the Honda engines are fitted to machines. " He is saying that all Honda engines are mounted by three bolts with one hole left unused!!! From here, and without seeing it, I find that very hard to believe and I would need a lot of convincing that everything is in order |
"Nick Gray" wrote in message ... snipped Have you contacted the seller and raised your concerns? This should be done before you do anything yourself, but I have a feeling that if they sent it out like that they couldn't care less, BUT, they could be a fine company, be concerned and exchange it for you. Yes I've just emailed asking about this and they replied: " I can confirm that the positioning of the engine to the deck is normal. this ih how all the Honda engines are fitted to machines. " He is saying that all Honda engines are mounted by three bolts with one hole left unused!!! The hole alignment is probably so they can use either a Briggs and Stratton or a Honda engine on the same mower deck. Yes it seems quite likely that it is designed to take more than one type of engine but it looks like this particular Honda engine is not one of them. If you've got it in writing that this is how it is meant to be secured, then I wouldn't worry, although it might be worth getting confirmation from Castel and or Honda (Honda customer service can be reached at http://www.honda.co.uk/contact/contactForm.jsp) as it's them that will be providing the guarantee. Yes that sounds a good idea. Thanks |
"AAG" wrote in message ... I've just bought (online) a new Castel lawnmower with a 5.5 hp Honda engine and notice that the engine is bolted to the aluminium deck by three bolts. The engine has four evenly spaced mounting holes but one of them does not line up with a hole in the deck therefore the span between two of the mounting bolts is approxiately 180°. Should I be concerned about this?? UPDATE The vendor has contacted me by phone and tells me again that all lawnmower engines are held on by only 3 bolts and that this is to reduce the chance of putting stress on the deck if it, or the engine base are not quite flat. I'd be grateful if anyone could confirm or contradict this. |
"AAG" wrote in message ... "AAG" wrote in message ... I've just bought (online) a new Castel lawnmower with a 5.5 hp Honda engine and notice that the engine is bolted to the aluminium deck by three bolts. The engine has four evenly spaced mounting holes but one of them does not line up with a hole in the deck therefore the span between two of the mounting bolts is approxiately 180°. Should I be concerned about this?? UPDATE The vendor has contacted me by phone and tells me again that all lawnmower engines are held on by only 3 bolts and that this is to reduce the chance of putting stress on the deck if it, or the engine base are not quite flat. I'd be grateful if anyone could confirm or contradict this. Hmm, interesting. I'd have thought that the stress on the deck would be the same whether using 3 or 4 bolts, but any stresses would be more evenly distributed using 4 bolts. An engine base is meant to be bolted to the deck, so why would they ever manufacture one whose base isn't 'quite flat'?. It also begs the question that if all the availably engines are only held on with 3 bolts, then what is the extra hole in the deck for? Having said all that, I've just been out and checked my mower (8 years old) - a Briggs and Stratton on a Mountfield deck and it's only held on with 3 bolts!!! - forming an 'L' shape. There isn't a spare hole in the deck though. It's probably still worthwhile contacting Honda or Castel, just to get confirmation from the horses mouth. Cheers Nick http://www.ukgardening.co.uk |
Nick Gray wrote:
Hmm, interesting. I'd have thought that the stress on the deck would be the same whether using 3 or 4 bolts, but any stresses would be more evenly distributed using 4 bolts. An engine base is meant to be bolted to the deck, so why would they ever manufacture one whose base isn't 'quite flat'?. It also begs the question that if all the availably engines are only held on with 3 bolts, then what is the extra hole in the deck for? Having said all that, I've just been out and checked my mower (8 years old) - a Briggs and Stratton on a Mountfield deck and it's only held on with 3 bolts!!! - forming an 'L' shape. There isn't a spare hole in the deck though. It's probably still worthwhile contacting Honda or Castel, just to get confirmation from the horses mouth. Cheers Nick http://www.ukgardening.co.uk Perhaps these engines are only mounted with three bolts for the same reason milking stools only have three legs: On an uneven surface, all three legs will always touch the ground. Add a fourth, and the stool rocks. On a lawnmower, if the deck is not perfectly flat, or gets bent out of shape, a fourth mounting point would suffer from more play away from the deck and wouldn't be solid as a three mount point design. Just a theory! -- Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. War is peace. -- George Orwell |
UPDATE
The vendor has contacted me by phone and tells me again that all lawnmower engines are held on by only 3 bolts and that this is to reduce the chance of putting stress on the deck if it, or the engine base are not quite flat. I'd be grateful if anyone could confirm or contradict this. 3 holes/fixings yes, if they equally spaced. The practice of the milk maid's stool holds fast here, 3 legs and stability. I would like to see the fixing holes 120 degrees apart, not 90, 90 and 180!! Mike |
"Nick Gray" wrote in message ... "AAG" wrote in message ... UPDATE The vendor has contacted me by phone and tells me again that all lawnmower engines are held on by only 3 bolts and that this is to reduce the chance of putting stress on the deck if it, or the engine base are not quite flat. I'd be grateful if anyone could confirm or contradict this. Hmm, interesting. I'd have thought that the stress on the deck would be the same whether using 3 or 4 bolts, but any stresses would be more evenly distributed using 4 bolts. An engine base is meant to be bolted to the deck, so why would they ever manufacture one whose base isn't 'quite flat'?. It also begs the question that if all the availably engines are only held on with 3 bolts, then what is the extra hole in the deck for? Having said all that, I've just been out and checked my mower (8 years old) - a Briggs and Stratton on a Mountfield deck and it's only held on with 3 bolts!!! - forming an 'L' shape. There isn't a spare hole in the deck though. Amazing. Perhaps they are right then. Thanks for looking. Anyone else??? It's probably still worthwhile contacting Honda or Castel, just to get confirmation from the horses mouth. Have emailed Honda and intending to contact Castel or distributor once I can get their details. |
g'day,
it's quiet common for engines to only have 3 mounting bolts in certain applications, b&s usually end up that way if they wanted 4 bolts then the chassis would be made to accomodate that. and with 3 bolts firmly fitted nothng can happen well in all my years of mower mechanicing i've never seen any problems. if you have the warewithall then you can always drill another hole and fit anothe bolt, might be a bit like wearing braces on your undies though hey chuckle. len snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/ my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you send. |
it's quiet common for engines to only have 3 mounting bolts in certain applications, b&s usually end up that way if they wanted 4 bolts then the chassis would be made to accomodate that. and with 3 bolts firmly fitted nothng can happen well in all my years of mower mechanicing i've never seen any problems. are these 3 bolt fixings at the 120 degree, 120 degree and 120 degree? and is it common to have 90, 90 and 180? Seems odd to me. Mike |
g'day mike,
in the case of b&s they have a mounting hole at each corner of the engine so to speak. but mower manufacturers only ever drill their frames to use 3 of those holes, commonly the one under the fuel tank near the base of the bore , and the other 2 holes at the front or opossite end of the bore. these holes in the engine are moulded into the sump of the enging this is very strong so with 3 bolts firmly fitted there is no way anything untoward could happen. most mower frames over here are alloy so they are quiet rigid in their own right maybe some other manufacturers who use steel decks may need 4 bolts to bolster the strength of the deck as in take some felxibility or wharping potential out of the deck. but my expereince tells me the engine doesn't need 4 bolts. len snipped -- happy gardening 'it works for me it could work for you,' "in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/ my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you send. |
"len gardener" wrote in message
... g'day mike, in the case of b&s they have a mounting hole at each corner of the engine so to speak. but mower manufacturers only ever drill their frames to use 3 of those holes, commonly the one under the fuel tank near the base of the bore , and the other 2 holes at the front or opossite end of the bore. these holes in the engine are moulded into the sump of the enging this is very strong so with 3 bolts firmly fitted there is no way anything untoward could happen. most mower frames over here are alloy so they are quiet rigid in their own right maybe some other manufacturers who use steel decks may need 4 bolts to bolster the strength of the deck as in take some felxibility or wharping potential out of the deck. but my expereince tells me the engine doesn't need 4 bolts. len Thanks for that Len. I am not an Engineer but a Marine Electrical Engineer (at the start and end of my working life and a Telephone Engineer in the middle;-) and as a Marine person I was looking at stresses and strains which of course are encountered on rough water, and was applying this to undulating land/lawns and in particular banks. Best wishes Mike -- H.M.S.Collingwood Ass. Llandudno 20 - 23 May Trip to Portmeirion National Service (RAF) Ass. Cosford 24 - 27 June Spitfire Fly Past H.M.S.Impregnable Ass. Sussex 1 - 4 July Visit to Int. Fest of the Sea RAF Regiment Assoc. Scarborough 2 - 5 Sept. Visit to Eden Camp |
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