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Cheap timemaster build

4K views 24 replies 7 participants last post by  mdog892001 
#1 ·
Well I got a super cheap timemaster 30” push mower. Iv been looking for you for a long time. Off the bat I can tell you I have my work cut out for me.
I put gas in it checked the oil and yanked the cord thinking I’d get lucky. After a few pulls it locked up. Thinking it may have been hydro locked I took the spark plug out and sat it aside.
Yanked the cord, gas shot out caught on fire then proceeded to burn. With quick thinking the wife-to-be grabbed the house fire extinguisher and sprayed it down.
I don’t think it hurt to much maybe need a new coil the wire is a tad burnt. Definitely a new motor shroud that started to melt.
To do list.
Dismount engine
Change carb
Change oil
Fuel screen
Fuel line
Wire wheel and paint under deck
Fix on/off switch
Find mulch plug
Find grass bag
Find side discharge chute
Remount engine
Find blade clutch cable
Fix personal pace cable

I hope to be ready by the end of October or at least spring if I get behind



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#4 ·
I'm not a fan of the 30" toros or exmarks as I don't think they save time over a 21". Also at their size and weight I'd rather just use a 36" walk behind. But it's all about what you like and what you're comfortable with. If you think it's worth fixing then go for it. I've never dug into one and I think it would be cool to see how they're engineered.
 
#5 ·
Be careful with the bolts going into the deck, as they aren't hard to strip and there isn't much extra material to helicoil the threads.

And I find leaving the "porthole" in the cover over the deck belts off, as, at least with my Turfmaster, grass and dirt just builds up under that cover and fills it to the top. But leaving it open, no more buildup. And there's a heavier-duty set if idler wheels available (again, at least for my Turfmaster) that last significantly longer than the original ones that mine came with. And periodically check the deck pulleys, as the teeth will wear out, particularly with the cover sealed and all that debris building up under the cover.

I find that it (the Turfmaster with Kawasaki FJ180) is underpowered, as it has a lot of trouble with going up slopes. I also reworked the control to separate enabling the blade from the transmission control (similar to how the newer Turfmaster controls are), which I find works much better and is easier on the fingers.

I'm really annoyed that I missed out on a 36" hydro gravely this spring, that I'm certain would work much better for most of the places I use it.
 
#10 ·
Something about strokes for folks. So far it’s no more difficult than a lawnboy. The personal pace system is a copy of some of the LB self propelled designs. Iv never ran into a two piece design so far it very unique and fun to work on very shade tree


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#14 ·
Timemaster...I hate em, I hate em, I hate em, I hate em.

Fix it and sell it!!
They are marketed to cut more grass or faster for residential or to fool people into thinking they are something like a commercial 36 in walk behind and THEY ARE NOT.
I SIR, Know commercial walk behind mowers....and Timemaster, YOU are not one!!

A 22 in Toro Personal Pace is more durable .


The rear wheels are terrible with 3 little 5/16 screws going in to plastic to hold the steel drive gear to the wheel. "STEEL" is it really steel if it is PIM??

The blade engagement cable for the BOS as they call it now I think..use to be BBC blade brake clutch, is plastic on the end (same as other TOROs) and WILL eventually snap and is not easy to replace) HEAR THIS TORO?? MAKE THIS CABLE END METAL!!!! NOW

The TIMED blade belt is a delicate travesty AS ALL times blades are!!
The plastic pulley is weak and the bearing fail too often.
The tension adjustment is SO convoluted by the book. REALLY!! GO read it.
They could have made this SO much simpler. BUT no! Lets put and spring bar with ans air gap and a feeler gauge...FOR A BELT adjustment!!! GEEZ Toro.
Maybe this is why so many bearing fail as they are adjusted improperly...NAh we know they are not adjusted at all and they get loose so just cheap bearings. THat's nothing new. 90% to all bearings are cheap ans junky today.

The engine to blade pulley belt is just FINE and easy to replace GOOD JOB Toro!!
1 out or 4-5 ain't as bad as some I guess.

The deck is OK but will bend if you hit something with blade and tilt spindle mounting area (like I said NOT a commercial mower --just looks like one- tease tease) then when tilted the cogged blade belt will run at angle and be damaged or short lived.

The engine is all briggs so, well you know.. Adequate for most and plenty of power but it ain't no Kawi pull start on a scag pistol grip or even kohler command on a Tor Proline T-bar.

The folding handle is nice and strong enough too. BUT NOW Toro is putting the stupid rubber bouncy stops on everything and messing up a perfectly good design.

NOW REMEMBER ....Toro IS my favorite mower company. You should see how I talk to the other girls...

Fix it..Sell it..and RUN.
In this arena of residential wide walk behinds..MTD makes a better one in Troy Bilt or Cub Cadet. Wheels are metal at least a couple of years ago were and better cables.
 
#22 ·
How much cutting are you planning on doing with one? They are nothing like a commercial walk behind 36,48 or larger.

Weak flimsy design with thin rust prone decks, timed blades with fragile cogged, expensive, specific belt, bad toro designed blade stop system cable that will eventually break at least once in its life, plastic belt pulleys with barely adequate bearings, weak plastic drive wheels with steel gears only connected by 3 5/16 head small screws into plastic that get loose in 2-3 seasons, personal pace trans that isn't up to the task for that much weight esp on hilly terrain.
The handle is good and the engine is ok for 1-2 hrs a week but not multiple lawns. Did 2 blown head gaskets on them this season. They run well, until they don't.
Troy bilt/ cub cadet in this and only this case makes a better machine that Toro in this design or residential wide walk behind mowers.
Rear wheels are steel and better drive system. No plastic end blade cable that snaps off when it gets old and brittle.
Don't even know if the MTDs are times blades but the machines are more durable overall.
The best one can do is buy a good running used 36 JD, Scag, Gravely, Ferris, Snapper, etc commercial one. Most had kohler commands or Kawasakis on them and they are still cutting grass everyday with 1-2 pulls of the rope.
 
#21 ·
Not lately got side tracked by life and other projects. Need to get traction cable, clutch cable, and a tensioner. Other than that it runs great just can’t mow. We have snow so progress will be slow hope to have together soon though it’s in the list


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#23 ·
Just my lawn, 5,000sqft+/- if it last a season or two and I can keep my cost down to a minimum on the rebuild I’ll be happy. So far I’m into it
Purchase price $160
carb $50
On/off Switch free
Fuel line free
Paint free


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#24 ·
That's cool and that's not much grass to cut but I have to gripe at you about the carb. You can get those carbs for under $22 shipped to your door and you really don't ever have to replace them. All those carbs ever need is cleaned out and they run just perfectly. That Briggs single overhead valve is very forgiving and runs quite nicely.
 
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