How do I fix a loose blade on a Flymo E30?

I have an old Flymo E30 which has given me sterling service. But the blade underneath has become loose and there is organic material beneath one side. Do I simply undo the central bolt, clean the area, then reinstall the bolt? Or are there any issues of which I should be aware?

I’m aware that I need to work on it when it’s unplugged. :slight_smile:

I’ve emailed Flymo, but they operate on a 10-day turnaround.

I had to look up what a Flymo was, then I had to watch the video to see how a floating lawnmower actually works. Anyways, in a regular lawnmower, yeah, you could just take then central bolt off, clean the ‘mating’ surfaces and then put it back together. My concern though is to way it loosened in the first place, that really shouldn’t happen. But I would just clean it all up and put it back on, if it happens again I would use Loctite when installing the bolt.
Oh, and as long as you’ve got it off, you might want to get it sharpened right away.

I don’t see a problem with your proposed solution.

I have a Flymo Turbolite 330 with a similar blade setup. I replaced the blade a few weeks ago by unscrewing the bolt, removing the old blade, fitting the new blade, inserting the bolt and tightening it. That was that. I still have the spanner provided with the mower for this purpose, but any adjustable spanner should do the job just as well.

Neither do I, but I’d rather check first. :slight_smile:

For all that a new bolt costs, get a new one and loctite it like JoeyP says. The old one came loose once; threads always stretch a bit maybe this one has had it. Bolts are cheap so I would ditch it.

It probably hit one stone too many.

You prompted me to Google it, and it seems that hover mowers, or certainly electric hover mowers, are uncommon in the US. Is that true? They are very popular here, and have been for years and years. Maybe American lawns are too big and everybody uses those mowers that you sit on. Although… a Flymo that you sat on would be very cool. Your own personal hovercraft.
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We have plenty of walk-behind or push mowers here, it’s what most people use to mow their yards. The problem is, once you get beyond a few hundred bucks, people start looking at somethign you could ride on. While Toro and Honda make some $600 - $700 push/walk-behind mowers, they are typically not used by anyone except professionals and really spendy lawn freaks. A cheap riding mower will start at around $900, and you can pick them up used for much less.

And I’ve not been able to get it off. The damn thing’s plastic and my wrench just slides round it!

I don’t have an answer (nicely enough, it seems to have been answered) but your question does bring back pleasant memories. In the mid 1970s when I lived in England (I’m American) we had an electric Flymo. Even as a teenager, I loved it and would not mind mowing the lawn; it was fun to operate. I was disappointed when we moved back to the US and they were not available. I guess they tried to break into the US market, but were not able to do so. It is nice to know they are still being manufactured in civilised countries (as opposed to civilized ones).

I remember when we bought it, there was a 17.5% VAT on luxury goods. Motorized mowers were considered a luxury. Ah, the good old 70s.

Electric lawn mowers are generally unpopular in the US. Even when a riding mower is not justified, dealing with a cord long enough to reach the far corner is a hassle. Also, with only 110V power, we need twice the conductor cross section for the same power, so long extension cords that will run a 3/4 to 1 HP motor are expensive, heavy, and stiff. Any time I have seen an electric mower in use, the cord invariably has 2-3 repairs where the cord was run over.

I wonder if there’s something special about this wrench that’s not obvious from the photo. Does it provide some pressure to move something away from the bolt head to be able to turn it? Your bolt was loose already (and made from plastic) so I would have thought you’d have an easier time getting it to turn.

By the way, did you try turning the bolt in both directions? Some blade screws are left-hand-threaded so they don’t loosen with the rotation of the blade. I don’t know about yours but it’s worth looking into.

Even pressure all round, I guess. I was using a standard adjustable wrench to little effect. I’ll stop by B&Q tomorrow to see if they have one.