Cobra Lawnmowers

[Mick]

Had a couple of Cobra self propelled rotary mowers which were stuck in drive. Think these were just from the M range, not sure if other models use the same gearbox.

On further investigation it appears the gearbox has a internal spring inside it, which for some reason actually pulls the clutch mechanism into drive.  They then fit a slightly stronger spring on the outside of the gearbox which holds it out of drive, until you push the drive lever to override it.

So, the bottom line is, if this external spring gets knocked off or fails the mower goes into drive all by itself.  So far I've had one where the spring jumped off, and another where the end broke off the spring.  Both of these machines were stuck permanently in drive.

A slight safety issue in my opinion.  Anyone else had this happen?