Verifying new electric lawn mower assembly

Hi! It doesn't seem possible, but I strongly believe that the lawn mower company made a mistake in the two screws they included in the package they shipped me. In order to attach the lower handle to the lawn mower you have to insert the handle into the appropriate two openings in the body of the mower and then secure the lower handle in place by inserting one of the two screws provided into a hole on the outside of the mower body adjacent to the spot you've just inserted the handle and tightening it, then repeating the procedure on the other side with the second screw. Unfortunately, not only do the screws provided not screw into the holes (I keep turning the screws but nothing happens!), but I believe they are the wrong type of screw for the task they are intended to perform, i.e. holding the lower handle in place. The screws provided have points, like a wood screw does. Shouldn't a screw that, when tightened, will make sure a handle remains fixed in position be flat at its tip and not pointed, in order to maximize the surface area in contact with the handle and thus hold it more securely?

I'll be calling the mower company on Monday and I want to be able to state authoritatively that they made a mistake regarding the screws they sent me and to have them tell me the specifications for the correct screws so I can pick them up at a hardware store (diameter, length, and, presumably, a flat, not pointed, tip).

 

Without a model number, make, and possibly a picture of the mower so we can see what you see, we can't help much.

 

It's a SunJoe 14 inch, 12 amp electric lawn mower, model MJ401E.

I'd like to ask another question-- because of a problem getting the mower up and down my steps, I want to leave the grass collecting basket off (doing so will greatly ease the task of negotiating those steps). On my last mower, for the same reason, I never attached the grass collector and never had a problem. And this new mower has a very sturdy cover over the back (held in the closed position by a very powerful spring) that will thoroughly block any debris propelled towards the back (and towards me, doing the mowing), debris that the grass collector would receive if I were to attach it. But in more than a dozen years of using my old mower without attaching ITS grass collector and never having had a problem, I am inclined to also use the SunJoe mower without its grass collector. Can anyone see a reason I shouldn't?

 

People have probably been hit by flying debris from that chute and that's the manufacturers answer to the problem. I'm sure it has a warning on it. You're on your own if you remove it.

Also... some mowers are considered mulching mowers and have that door to keep the grass in for re-shredding.


It looks like the screw for the handle goes thru the plastic frame and into the handle.
The screw would probably be a #8 or #10 sheet metal and about 3/4" long.

 

...about using a mower for mulching is exactly why I feel there's no danger to leaving off the grass collecting basket--if anything, that rear door, closing off the chute and allowing mulching, is much stronger than the weave of the grass collecting basket and so would be better able to protect a person from, let's say, a very sharp rock propelled backward at very high speed. With the grass collecting basket removed, even the sharpest, fastest-moving rock would harmlessly deflect off that closed rear door while if the grass collecting basket were in place the rear door would be open and it's certainly conceivable that the rock would sever the fiber of the grass collector and strike the person mowing.

 

... the screw in the diagram is flat at the tip, not pointed, which certainly seems right considering its purpose. So am I correct that they sent the wrong screws? (Apart from the fact that they don't screw into the holes!)

 

Since the hole is already drilled thru the metal handle.... the screw doesn't need a sharp point.

 

... and not only does it not NEED a sharp point because the hole is already drilled, but a sharp point is the ANTITHESIS of what it needs, because if providing friction is the purpose of the tightened screw (to keep the handle from slipping out of position), then maximizing the surface area between the screw tip and the handle will maximize that friction, and obviously a flat tip will provide more surface- to- surface contact between the screw tip and the handle than a pointed tip.

 

The screw would need to have a point if it is to be screwed in to the plastic body, making a threaded hole as it is screwed into the body. Cannot tell if this is the case.

How long is the screw?

Would a different generic screw do the job?

 

... actually make a threaded hole through any material. There already exists a hole on each side of the body of the mower, and each of the two screws is intended to be inserted into these two holes that already are threaded (I presume) to accommodate the properly- sized screw, and turned clockwise until the screw comes into contact with the last portion of the handle of the mower that you've inserted into its own two holes. Then continue tightening the screw until it strongly clamps down on the handle of the mower and holds it securely in place. Repeat on the other side of the mower. While I obviously know the length of the two screws provided by SunJoe, I have no idea of the length of the screws that SHOULD HAVE BEEN provided by SunJoe, i.e. the proper screws.