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Viking 655G Wheel problem

Hi All,

Ive had my Viking 655G for 18 months now, used most days without a single fault. I now find when the grass box is getting full or up and incline, it struggles to drive itself. Planned on getting it in the end of October to be fixed. But now i have noticed when i get to the end of a line and turn the mower, the back wheel sometimes jam. They won't free roll if that makes sense. Anyone no what could be causing this?

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  • This reply was deleted.
    • Hi Tom
      I think you will find it will be the roller assy.
      Up until recently it was possible to purchase the roller assy fully assembled with a load of other bits as a kit for about £60.
      You now need to purchase all parts separately and assemble the roller unit. Unfortunately, depending on the parts you elect to purchase the cost is at least double.
      If you are inclined to carry out mechanical repairs then the job takes about an hour. The first time you may need to alow up to 2 hours.
      Your local stockist should be able to email a GA drawing to enable selection of the parts required.
      If you think I can help then please get in touch. I have a GA drawing I can email you if required.
  • Does the rear wheel have a toothed cog inside it which meshes with one on the drive shaft? Possibly wear on these?
  • Hi Daniel I've had the same problem with my mb650 for some months. It went back and was ok for a few weeks. Since then the handle bars came lose, the deck cracked and now very little drive power. Took it in Friday with broken drive cable and informed that gearbox knackered and also wheel bearings. Basically not worth fixing - bought it April 2014! Maybe the quys are treating it too roughly but basically looks like it's just not tough enough for commercial use on domestic lawns. Having said that I've bought another as its fairly good pick up in the wet, manoeuvrable on small lawns, not too heavy to lug up the steps many of our gardens have, plus pretty cheap at £570.
  • PRO
    Hi All

    Thought I would give an update. So this being my only smaller mower, I booked it in to have a look at today once I finished work.

    On the last lawn cut the drive wouldn't work so I will pushing it. All of a sudden bang! Look under the mower, on the floor is the blade, casing, belt and screw. Turns out the crank was worn out and the bolt holding the blade in has snapped off. The other end of the bolt is now firmly stuck in the engine! So whilst this is being repaired, bought a Toro commerical 21 inch.
    • Is it worth repairing, if you need both the crank and the drive faults fixed? 18 months old and you'd be wise to change things like cables, it's almost better to buy another one and use this as a spare parts machine.

      I've always figured that any machine with a season's use isn't worth sinking a lot of money in to, two seasons is a lot from a mower in commercial use. 

    • I cannot see how the crank is worn out unless machine has been worked with blade boss loose. Boss is about £10 and bolt a few pounds. Broken off bolt is usually removeable without too much trouble. Usual cause for this is impact damage and because the boss was loose thats why it wasnt driving properly. Reassemble with new parts, check crank is straight and try again

      • Harry, my point was that this isn't a pro machine, but it's done two full seasons of commercial daily use according to the OP.

        It has the original, possibly terminal, fault with the drive, and now has the problem with the blade boss.

        Both faults could be serious, and any non-pro machine that's done two seasons of work is likely to have loads of other niggles waiting to happen.

        I'd suggest retiring most pro mowers after two years if they had multiple faults. Domestic mowers definately aren't worth spending money on: you run them for a year if you're lucky, then replace them.

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