always refreshing seeing someone actually take some pride in what they do.

I have a Toro mower similar to that one. I solved my problem by putting new rear wheels with the metal gears. They cost a few dollars more but well worth the price!

Unlike modern cars, lawn power equipment still requires maintenance to keep them from failing before or during use. If you lack the skill and/or ability to service and repair your own equipment, your at an extreme disadvantage because your going to either be spending a lot of your money at the shop or constantly giving up on your equipment and buying new to replace it. Lucky for some of us who are glad to take your old machines off your hands and repair them for their own use or to resale. Good job with this Toro!

Love these videos. Simple fixes and sometimes massive repairs, but alway done well and explained… keep up the great content !!

Gosh you’re a joy to watch-you’re knowledgeable, meticulous, and oh so clean!!

James, thanks a million.Listened 2 few guys, only u got 2 issue, thorough, great teacher, patient, knowledgeable, solved problem, learned lot from u. Thanks again, will continue 2 tune u on..... Efrain Sr.

This is hands down the best repair video on this mower on KZfaq. Well done. Subscribed.

Watch many other with small engine repair but none compared to your abilities and thoroughness. And the way you present your videos are very complete.

Excellent job James. A nice mower there for someone. Thanks for uploading the video

Another great quantim. Sometimes it is a few issues that add up. Thanks for balancing blades like I do. Great video. You took care with the auto choke reassembly. Nice

What a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable video. Super photography, great audio and no stupid music. The work and explanations were all very nicely done. Kudos Sir! 😬 Subscribed and liked.

Even $500 lawnmowers are now expendable and throw away. Where do people get the money to just throw things away like that I don’t get it

I’m a big fan of yours. I wish I were as good at these small motors as you are.

Excellent video. Excellent production quality. I had just repaired and sold a very similar Toro 22 self propelled mower earlier this week that had the exact same problem. Great job James - keep those videos coming!

Very simple repair! Great job! A little cleaning, new wheels and VOILA!

I have used and repaired my own Toros for about ten years. Yes the rear drive wheel gears are a common issue. There is a replacement for the plastic geared wheels with metal ones and it’s a good idea to replace the small gears too. The wheels with the metal gears last much longer.

That's a pretty nice mower to get for free, just a few simple fixes and a little tlc was needed, nice work James!

I had the same issue with my wheels on my lawnmower. My local Toro dealer ordered some updated wheels and they have not failed in the five years since I installed them. Toro did refund me money for the previous set of wheels I had bought in the past. Glad I had the receipt. Thanks for the video. You do a great job and explain everything to us in language we can understand.

Thank you, brother. I learn a little more with each of your videos.

you guys are lucky i can remember when a sling blade was state of the art for ( mowing) theb came the reel type they cut good very sharp i got 50 cent for about 2 hours work back then

Greatly appreciate your channel. Thanks for the tip on the degreaser.

Thanks for the video James. Awesome as usual.

The only way I can see to fix it is either a larger drive gear or a different mounting plate for the wheels. It might be worth checking parts diagrams between years to see if the part numbers have changed or if there's an after market replacement for the parts.

Great video. You’ve inspired me to buy a $30 mower off craigslist (that runs and cuts but is smoking a little) and go through it. The mower in this video, I would have disconnected the drive mechanism as I like to push my mower. Thanks again!

I love the Torro Personal pace system my 2000 mower is running great with just oil and filter changes. It smokes for a few seconds when cold but for 22 years not bad.

A good freebie!! Got to be happy with that. I do think the drive pinions should be bigger to engage. I'd love to get one of these mowers, take the back wheels off, then look at the drive gears, & make bigger ones from alloy bar using a mill cutter

I have one of these from about 2002. It has the 6.5 hp with primer bulb. No problems with the drive except once the gears got packed with mulch.

I have one out in my yard and I noticed the same exact thing about the wheels. You saved me from breaking it down to figure out why. I thought it looked in too good of shape to be out by the curb. If the drive issue can't be fixed or modified to work without being engineered to fail, I could see me using the engine for a swap or maybe building some small contraption

Hi James. I bet you are good at jig saw puzzles because you are very methodical and have an eye for detail. Anyway, thanks for the educational videos. I always look for your latest offering. Cheers.

Thanks for sharing James 👍

I love your videos keep putting 👍great content out...i got my rum and coke, and watch a couple videos before turning in for the night...very thorough and clear instruction

Yes, you are right on the design issue. To bad there is not an after market fix for cheap. But you got it working good as new. Great job. Now get back to mowing. Thanks for the video.

i started using a needle scaler (air) on the bottom of my mower decks. works fantastic. no scraping .

Thanks for detailed video. Our similar rotary mower actually did catch fire once, but only petrol/gasoline and some grass got burned. The carburettor had a small leak, the exhaust/silencer next to it was damaged, and you can guess the rest of the story. Apart from a few burn-marks on the engine-casing, there was no damage!

Nice repair, Jim. I might add here that the trick to getting the mower deck to last a long time is to keep the bottom side of it clean and free from debris. The grass clumps hold moisture and the pH of the grass is slightly acidic, causing the deck to rust over time.

I have the exact mower and l learned a few things about it if there is ever a drive issue. Thanks.

GOOD fix and I was expecting a lot worse too. The Snapper I got from the Re-store for $15 had the differential with no stopper packed FULL of leaves. It took a new pinion, a plug and some 00 to fix that one and a Kawasaki motor off a dead Derre to make a bagger out of it. My electric start has a nice thick coat of oil base black all over the underside of the deck after an angler grinder wire brushing and blowing off. The charger came this morning and now for a battery and carb. I leave the cleaning up of that one to her since she says that 409 is too strong for me to mess with. No telling how many truck cabs it got rid of all the tobacco smoke and such but I'll never live to be sanitary! God Bless and THANKS!

Nice work as always James.

I particularly liked the way that the beauty cover cleaned itself instantly with the touch of your hand.

Thank you for another great video. I agree if people just do a little tlc the lawn mower will work better.😀👍🇨🇦

You know your mowers mate..great skills...Regards from Australia.

Another great video. It mirrors my experience of getting mowers with "issues" that are often more about maintenance than actual repairs. Bad gas, filters and carburetors seem to be the most common failures. I use non-ethanol gasoline and synthetic oil exclusively in all my small engines. I also add fuel filters when I can. After every use I blow off the engine with compressed air. And blow out the air filters every three or four uses.

Nice fix. I always did away with the self propel system. I never needed it

I picked up one of these today but it has the 6.5 Tecumseh on it. People said didn't know what was wrong with it. Got it home and WAY overfilled with oil to the point there was so much oil in the cylinder it was almost hydrolocked. I drained out the excess oil, tipped it up and let oil drain out the plug hole, then fired on the first pull, doesn't even need the carb cleaned. Only thing it needs is a self propel cable then I can get it sold.

Well done. If that little drive gear was slack adjustable that problem would not be as frequent as it is. Anyway, great video. Keep them coming.

Great job on this repair and video.

Great to see a Mowers video.. just in time to watch with my lunch.. hope you and the family are well

Yes james, thank you for showing us these basic maintenance items. I've had this exact same model since 2013 and recently replaced both rear wheels as well as the drive belt. I replaced all of the drive components because I wasn't sure Which was contributing more, worn out belt or worn out gears on the rear wheels. I also took the time to take the cover off and clean the whole mower, then sprayed a mixture of lots of dishwashing soap and hot water to clean the motor. Then sprayed carb cleaner in the carburetor; also took out the spark plug, sprayed inside the cylinder with carb cleaner. Had to change the oil because water got in the oil. Cleaned up the spark plug. Use a concentrated mixture of very hot water and dishwashing detergent in a spray bottle. Then rinsed the whole machine off with a couple of handheld gallons of very hot water. Because I wanted to be pollution Free pollution on the cleaning job. Then I blew dry the entire machine. Now starts After the first pull. Thanks again for showing us how it's done.

Bravo thanks for sharing with us.

Yes it id help James. Thank you !

Bought a toro 190cc recycler 22 for 50 bucks. Didn’t start, sprayed starting fluid and got it to surge. Replaced spark plug and air filter aswell as cleaning the carburetor. And as been running nice for 6 months

Well that is how I balance blades as well. That is sad the recall doesn't include this mower. Great video Jim

I had one of these mowers that stripped the drive wheel gears. They actually make upgraded wheels with a steel gear instead of plastic, problem permanently solved.

Man you are the Bob Ross of small engine repair! Thank you

20:55 THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! for cleaning up the tank release ring.... I'm sitting here thinking please don't put it back together without cleaning that ring.... that would've bugged me to hell and back....... You had me in suspense there for a bit James..... 😂😂😂😂😂

Ours we had issues with grass filling at the front and the blades were sharp and the shooting blade not the mulching...so we traded it and got a greenworks 80 volt...baller

I like that some carbs are pretty clean on some engines. Makes the job so much easier to get done lol.

Vacation Day, sips coffee , checks notifications....Big smile , Good morning James .....

blade balance tip! thnx J

Outstanding video. Thanks.

Surging on a Briggs & Stratton is often caused by air leaks in the intake manifold or the carburetor. On a Honda or Kohler, the pilot jet sits on top of the carburetor where it's easy for dirt to get into it.

Gentleman your show is outstanding, you are a complete professional and I express my gratitude, about the issue with the rear tracking wheels is that it is a comercial matter, if it doesn't break they make no money, a perfect repair would be finding a metal driving gear a little larger than the one on the equipment , perhaps Mc Master Carr have them in stock, from the endless summer paradise, giving you my most expensive thanks, Jesus Torres.

Did not get chance to watch this one james had busy days on my daily grind had a lot of pumps to rebuild but as always i know you will get thru

I have been given more of these mowers because of the wheel issues and Toro is aware of it. If there was a cheap supply of wheels that would be great because overall very good units!

I have the same mower, in fact the 2010 model as well. As with any drive system, the bearings, bushings and the spacers wear out over time and in fact get "egged" out. This causes the drive gear to lose engagement with the wheel gear. So the solution for me was to replace those parts along with new steel gears and wheels that have steel gears as well. There used to be a guy on eBay that was selling these kits, but he no longer does that. I think you can get these parts from the Toro website. I did this a couple years back and it's worked well for me.

Watching you repair generators and having an eye for detail , I was a little set back when you only gave the underside of the mower deck a hit and a promise. I would have thought you would use one of those plastic cleaning wheels on a side grinder to clean her up a bit.

Thanks James

Excellent video, as usual.

Way to go there. Nice mower. Wish I had that one when I was a kid pushing a Clinton three WHEELED fixed mower. Whew! (but it ran good)

Another problem they have is the side discharger failure. After only a few times using it the plastic mounts fail and is no longer usable and falls off the machine when trying to use it. Thanks for another video.

I use a big long pry bar to bend the wheel adjusters (pry between the wheel adjuster and the deck) to push the wheel gear closer to the drive gear. Over time, the metal gets bent, but a minor “tweak” brings them back into tight mesh again.

Nice fix James, I recently had a mower that the air filter was so bad that it was sucking oil from the crankcase thur the breather tube. Changed the oil and filter and after running for a short time all the smoke stopped and ran great. Lack of maintenance again. Also try Fluid Film after cleaning under the mower deck, works great. Thanks for the video.

Back in 1960, our next door neighbor had a shiny red Toro lawn mower that was self propelled. I was six at the time and thought that was the coolest lawn mower. I remember the only thing he constantly replaced on it was the drive wheels. Several years later I was old enough to mow our yard. We had a hand me down Craftsman aluminum cast deck push mower. It had a straight piece of black pipe for the exhaust, oil bath air cleaner, and a manual pull rope that that I had to wrap around the flywheel pulley to start it. Always added oil to it, but never changed it. We finally got Snapper push mower sometime in the 70's. Just recently I was browsing the big box stores looking for a lawn mower to replace my very old Honda self propelled. I looked at the Toros with the Briggs engine and the Honda engine. After looking at the reveiws, I will buy another Honda. It seems some of the mowers now days are made to be sold at a certain price point and they are depending on brand recognition and reputation from the past. I remember replacing the drive wheels on my Honda several years back and the wheels were not a expensive as the Toro's, they did not a plastic gear made onto the wheel.

File with a file, no heating issue with the blade material... if it's made with hardened steel. Unregulated heat can wipeout the temper.

This summer there has been a lot of free mowers at the curb, all easy fixes too like this. Going to be some easy money this next spring

You should align middle setting on height adjuster bar behind where wheel bolts on pry out till wheel stands up straight. Gears will mesh better. I flip little gear over use new side of teeth. Remember ALIGNMENT teeth will mesh better closer. Amazon had wheels last spring &12 a pair. Ordered 6 pair

I've seen other videos where they put shims in between that gold bracket and the frame to get the gears to line up better. And some guys replace the plastic gears wheels with the older medal gears, which last longer. I got a 2006 Toro similar to this with the metal gears.

I love finding free or low cost stuff like this. I'm semi-retired and love to work on projects like this. I came across a deal with a very clean Toro Recycler (Not running and a valve cover leak) with a Briggs, and an old Troy Bilt with a Honda GVC 160 engine. Got both for $50. The Toro was a simple fix and is in use now. The Troy Bilt with the GVC 160 runs good but smokes. I'm gonna go through the engine and I'll get whatever it needs. The way it runs, I'm thinking a fresh set of rings and a carb clean. Honda is going to quit making gas powered lawn engines, (going all green), so I'm gonna get whatever the engine needs now while the parts are plentiful. Honda engines last forever. Oh, good job on your finds. You're like me, if I find something and think it's worth fixing, I'll take it. lol

That is a nice little Engine after a LTC.

Since you already had the wheels off I think I would have removed the pinion gears and cleaned up the spring loaded keys which if you look at the inside of the gear makes it a one way drive. This allows the pinion gears to act like a differential drive and reduces the strain on the plastic gears. Not that this would be a total cure, it would contribute to a little longer life of the plastic. gears. On the keys, I use never seize and wipe most of it off so it won't collect alot of dirt and seize up again. Some mowers use a pin instead of a key but theory is the same. Great video as usual.

Thank you for the video

Nice find Doc., ye have a mower now.

Had the same problem with wheels. Purchased the wheels with metal gears but you have to change the drive gears too since the teeth wont mesh due to a different count of cogs.

Nice fix!

Well done mower maintenance. I learned a lot. Thank you

Keep up the good videos

Just rehabbed a similar Toro self propelled somebody got fed up with and kicked it to the curb. OK I'll take it. Rebuilt carb. fired it up. sold for $150. Easy money.. A neighbor threw out his troy built a couple of years old. Cleaned it up rebuilt carb. I'm keeping this one.

Mr. Roger’s Lawn and Garden. Grandma freaked out every time you changed your coat and swapped your shoes. Lol

I hope you gave the old guy back his mower, that would really get my vote!

Really great production values plus good information to learn. Thanks! Maybe one little improvement - more detailed video on the small things while tearing down and cleaning, like removing all the tins and carb. Other than that, perfect! 👍🔧🧰

Love my zero turn mowers. Have 2 with 1000 hours on them.

When the air filter is plugged , it's normal for them to suck from the crank case vent tube drawing in oil. I wouldn't call that bad. I remember picking up a mower like that. Last year, I got one where you pulled the cord and oil would gush out the exhaust. It was trash. It was not over filled, just toast. Good video. I tell my customers it I'd absolutely essential to check that air filter a few times a year. Grass and dirt can plug up a filter easily. I like to take off the tins as well. Dollar store simply awesome works great for cleaning and degreasing an engine. Save yourself a few bucks on cleaners.

I have had success flipping the drive gear inside the wheel over. I heat the rivets using a soldering iron or torch to soften up the plastic. I pry up on the gear with a flat bar to pry the rivets out. Flip the gear and reuse the rivets. I've done this quite a few times.

I've only watched a couple minutes of the video. I love these videos, by the way, but after the oil level was right, I started wondering if the mower was filled with mix, causing it to smoke and start hard?? We will see 😊 Nope, great video and fix! Thanks, fun to watch and learn.

As I've learned from donyboy73, some carbs have a secret screen in the fuel inlet barb of the carb that can be clogged. Keep an eye out for those pesky things.

I have the FWD version of this mower and the gear teeth are molded into the outer edge of the wheel, are wider and seem to mesh better than the RWD version. The drive gear looks the same as the RWD versions. Mine is a 2011 and I never had a problems with the drive system. FWD isn't for everyone though, especially if you bag or have hills, as the drive wheels can easily slip but I like the easier way it backs up and that you can push on the handlebar and easily maneuver the mower.

Good job.

Nice repair, and nice that the seller talked himself into a free deal xP I have a similar problem with a Norwegian mower, Partner with a Honda 5.5 engine. The drive gears are whacked and needs doing. I have a parts mower that hopefully has better parts, because if I were to buy new wheels for this, I'd be better off buying a new mower...

I think many of the mowers come out of the same Chinese factory. I hate working on dirty engines and usually will clean them up first. I like to pull the spark plug to check the gap and see the condition. My neighbor started to mow her yard but shut it down she said it smelled funny. She said she had a guy change the oil and put a new blade. The blade was new so I looked at the oil. It had a dark gray smear at the bottom of the dip stick. I told her I would replace the oil . When I drained it about a teaspoon came out. After putting oil, it ran fine and didn't overheat. I didn't know the quick lube mechanics also did lawn mowers.

Thanks for great videos. I would like to see you work on drive lawnmower or zero turn