I have a Gravely, walk behind, 34" commercial lawn mower. The handle grip which stops the mower, or changes the mower direction when just one is gripped, is very difficult to grip. I guess it's the spring tension. I have short fingers. Is there any way of loosening the tension?
Which model is this?
Model GR1334FX #988121 Purchased new on Aug. 31, 2006
I don't know of any practical way to lessen the spring tension. This has always been a problem with the handgrip style of controls and why the bar type controls like the Gravely Finger-Tip control and the Toro T-Bar and others became so popular. They are miles ahead in operator comfort.
There used to be a product for Bunton and Scag mowers that slipped over the hand levers that extended them and added a loop to grasp. This supposedly made it easier to use the controls. I've looked around and can't find a listing for them, but you may see something similar at your local shop that caters to commercial mowers.
If the problem is bad enough, your mower is new enough to bring pretty good money on a trade-in. The commercial, and residential, mower dealers are really doing some good dealing right now. I imagine you could get a really good deal on a 2008 model walk-behind with a different control set-up. Just from the sales offers that distributors are sending to my shop, I would say this would be a great time to update equipment.