Tru-Cut C-25 Honda GX160 Thumb drive sticking

12 years ago

Hello, :)

I got this Tru-Cut last summer and it's wonderful, except the thumb drive throttle is sticking. I have short parkways and other areas where I cannot engage it into the locked position, but use my thumb to drive it short distances, but when I let off, the mower continues to move forward unless I manually *pull back* on the thumb drive. This may not sound like a big deal, but being a woman this is already a heavy mower and my lawn is slanted and tricky, so the last thing I need is to be trying to "man handle" the mower by "holding it back" when I expected it to be stopping. Can I fix this problem with lube, or...? Thanks for any help!

Comments (4)

david_tx
12 years ago
Look at the lower end of the rod and you should see a coil spring. If that's missing or broken, that's your problem. If it's still there, bend it slightly to provide more tension.
Greg Goyeneche
12 years ago
Two things:

First you probably need to adjust the clutch on the drive side tighter. If a little loose, the rod will move past a detent and stay engaged. If tighter, you can't get past the detent, yet still engage the wheels. I used to get comebacks from people complain the clutch wouldn't "lock-on". By the same token some folks like yourself prefer to use thumb pressure and not stay "on". In both cases the correct clutch adjustment is key.

Second, as previous poster states, there used to be a little "hairspring" on the control rod, where it connects to the clutch rod. Not sure it was optional, but many early Tru-Cut's and almost all Starlite's (predecessor to the Tru-Cut) came with the spring. The spring was light enough that thumb could easily overcome, yet still provided some assistance when disengaging. Been so many years, I don't know if there is still a part number.
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Susan_TC
Original Author
12 years ago
To david_tx and ggoyeneche, THANKS!! Found the spring coil, bent it, and that appears to have fixed the problem! (It's midnight so won't know for sure until tomorrow, but just applying a little pressure and letting off, it's snapping back now like it should.) I'm keeping the clutch adjustment in mind, but I think the spring was it! Again, many, many thanks!
Susan_TC
Original Author
12 years ago
Well, the thumb rod worked good initially, but by the time I was halfway through the lawns it started sticking again. When I was finished I turned off the mower and took a closer look, depressing the rod a little, then letting off to see why it wasn't springing back like it should. (Sometimes it did, but mostly not.) What the problem appeared to be was that the two 'plates' at the bottom of the rod had gummy grime between them, making them occasionally stick. They were nowhere near the locked indent position, but there seems to be enough pressure there, that even a little gumminess is enough to prevent the modest spring from returning the rod. So I sprayed WD40 in there and let it sit, but am also going to clean between the plates then lubricate them again. And I hope that does it. Will report back... and thanks again for your help!