The piece at #1 is broken free (I set it in place for the picture) and there's a piece missing to the outside of that as well. My son thinks he can weld it. I'm thinking a ring could be used that wouldn't involve any welding at all, just a couple more bolts to hold the ring to the deck and then bolt the motor to the ring at #1, #2 & #3 where the engine is normally attached. The other holes could be used to mount the ring to the deck as long as I can get the bolt heads to clear the bottom of the engine. Perhaps carriage bolts would help.

Thoughts? Where could I find a ring that would work?

Also notice the key way on the motor shaft on the left is a bit chewed up. The key itself was completely chewed away and the blade was on so tight, I had to use a pipe on my socket to loosen the nut. Slipped once and drew blood. I hate it when the blade bolt head is worn. Not giving up on this one!

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#1 is a lot more then that, you can see the crack runs all the way up into the shell as well

not wanting to give up is admirable but you have to measure materials and labor involved and the best possible outcome if all goes well

its better to use that motor on another shell then waste time on that busted up thing

adding a ring of metal is not as simple as you think and it has to be cut from a flat sheet then welded and drilled, the extra cracks need welding, and to be honest, with all that crack damage you either had a bent out of balanced blade or the crankshaft is bent

My son and I turned it over and found even more cracks by the #2 mounting hole. He said exactly what you guys just said. It's not worth fixing & put it on the curb (after I grab parts).

But I've got blood invested in this one...Ok, I'm convinced.

Engine main shaft is straight though! And I need that self propelled pulley system for another that goes so fast, I can hardly keep up. The pulleys are different sizes, so I'll exchange some parts and see if the one with the good deck slows down any.

strip it bare and put the shell out by the road, everything else can be usable for parts with other mowers and as soon as you find one with a bad engine, bolt your engine on it and you have a complete mower to sell after. you never think you would ever need a complete replacement handle yet if you do you cant just get one anywhere so i save everything, every thing, right down to mounting bolts and lock nuts

i dont mess with push mowers but i strip everything, nothing gets scraped except bare shells including bad engines, i always pull the head and push rods out and depending on the failure the crank rods too and put them on the shelf. a simple connecting rod, if bought new, can cost you over $100

Found a 7 inch angled ring for $15, so I ordered it. It fits perfectly under the deck.

https://www.oneida-air.com/7-inch-ga...le-ring-flange

I drilled 3 holes for the engine after marking them through the holes in the deck with a black marker. Then I bolted the ring to the deck via those 3 holes and drilled holes in the deck to match the holes in the ring. These holes will provide a solid footing for the ring which will then hold the engine in place.

I've got to get some bolts with lock nuts and I'm done. Not sure I can convince my son to weld up the cracks, but I don't think it will matter as there are enough solid points to do the job.

I do have to cut a slot in the ring for the drive belt going to the back wheels, but that shouldn't be a problem with my angle grinder.

Hey, it's a hobby and I like to test ideas. I'll take the trade off in cost for the learning.

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Here's a picture of the ring from below the deck. I painted it with some Rustoleum spray paint and put the new bolts in from above with some lock nuts. You can see the cut out I had to do to get the space for the belt to come through.

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And here's the view from above just before putting the motor on. The holes in the ring for the motor mount had to be 1/2" to give me the slop to get all 3 bolts started. I did not weld anything as I believe the pressure will be on the 5 silver bolts.

I couldn't put a 6th bolt in just above the belt because it was too close and I was afraid the belt might rub on it, although it probably would have been ok.

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Motor is on after cutting some off the clamp at the red arrow to make it fit. That clamp is for the rubber cover that keeps the grass out.

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Cover fit pretty well after shaving some extra off to make it fit with the new ring.

Everything felt solid so I mowed with it and I believe it'll hold. Noticed the left rear wheel doesn't turn, but I've fixed that before. Also had to get a thinner belt as the one that was on it was way too thick.

Done. We'll see how long it lasts. Any guesses? Note this is a hobby, not a money making venture, so my purpose here is to try a fix and learn from it. It's remarkable how well that ring fit.

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Put two new rear wheels on it as the gearing was gone on the one and mostly gone on the other. As luck would have it, I really like how this mower operates and will probably keep it a while to see how it holds. up.