# Jacobsen 122f reel won't turn



## M311att (May 22, 2017)

I am having trouble with this mower. All of a sudden the reel won't turn. It makes a crazy racket when I try to operate it. I can turn the reel by hand in both directions. Also, I have removed the electric reel mower and verified that the shaft turns when activated. After digging deeper I pulled out the shaft coupler and decided that it doesn't feel like it is grabbing the splines as securely as it should be hence the terrible sound. However the engagement travel seems to be limited. The only apparent solution seems to be slide the reel and shaft towards the outboard electric motor. Does anyone know how to do that on a Jacobsen full floating head? I'll take a picture when I get home. On a side note...how to reels disengage so they don't tear up if they get jammed?


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Sounds like you are saying the coupler is loose and is grinding with the reel splines? 
Did you check the reel for any play? Back the bedknife away from the reel, remove the motor, and see if the reel moves side to side or up and down.

Does the coupler look worn? Do the splines on the reel look worn?

You said the engagement seems limited, like the coupler doesn't slide far enough on to the reel? Looking at parts diagrams, it looks like there is no way to bring the reel closer to the motor. But a few things could push the reel away from the motor.



If the motor side reel bearing cup or cone is worn, it will increase the clearance between the motor and reel. This is because the bearing preload is set with the spring on the opposite side of the reel. I'm not sure if it would cause it to move enough that the coupler would have issues, but worth looking into. Also check the bearing housing. Might be a good idea to check the bearing on the opposite side as well and make sure everything looks ok with the preload spring. If all looks ok, and the splines on the reel look ok, I would replace the coupler and see if it makes a difference. If that doesn't work, you might be looking at replacing the motor. It might look like it spins ok with no load, but might have issues when the load of the reel is attached to it.


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## M311att (May 22, 2017)

Haven't had a chance to look at it but I remembered some more background information. The reel will spin in backlap mode. That makes me suspect the coupler even more. The internal gears look twisted so it makes sense to me that they could be worn in one direction but not the other.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Are the internal gears really twisted (highly doubtful as gears are usually coffin nail hard and would shatter with that much force applied.) or are they just helical cut?

Or am I reading your post wrong and the gears are not sitting on their axles properly?


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## M311att (May 22, 2017)

Twisted was probably the wrong word. They seemed worn in one direction. I was able to purchase a new coupler in town this weekend. That didn't solve the problem. I decided to break down the entire floating head assembly to try to figure out why the reel is too far away from the coupler to provide good contact. I will likely replace the bearings and set the preload spring back to specs and see what happens. I'm pretty frustrated. My good deal is looking do good after all.


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