Recent content by 1saxman

I concluded it costs me $12-$15 a year to keep buying new ones when the old one craps out. I did discard the above Ryobi and picked up the new model which has a lot of improvements - like, it starts and idles! I gave the other one to my son who had no trimmer on a large, mostly-wooded lot. I...

When I had a 10550, I ran Opti-2 at 50:1 with premium gas. Any 2-cycle oil for trimmers/saws, etc., you find at the home center will be great at 50:1 but the Opti-2 is really special. I bought it in a 32 oz dispenser bottle. I just could not make myself use it at 100:1 like their recommendation...

SK, how low are you cutting it? There are several ways to approach Bermuda - many people cut it very low. I'm in central VA and I cut mine at 3". This way it looks great all summer no matter how hot. Possibly at the higher cut, you won't tend to pull up the runners. Another Bermuda tip: for a...

BTW, its not a Tecumseh engine if its a 2-cycle. Lawn-Boy was using Tecumseh 4-cycle engines on models like the 10684. Your Dura-Force 'E' engine was the last 2-cycle made by Toro/Lawn-Boy.

I didn't look at the diagnosis but I can tell you that excessive smoking is too much oil in the combustion chamber. Now this can be from either an overly oil-rich mix or simply too much fuel getting in with a correct mix. The choke might be on. The air filter might be restricted.

Regardless, its been a long time since I heard that sound, and it reminded me of how utterly boring my 4-cycle LBs are. I've been itching for another real LB for some time now, but I want one with the under-deck muffler so I can get 'that smell' along with the sound. Yours might just have a...

Don't know what the problem is but it is a constantly-slipping design. If it won't go, you need to adjust the free-play on the bail with the cable adjuster. About an inch is plenty. You tighten it until the wheels start turning when you raise the rear end. Then back it off until they stop. This...

Is it a steel-deck 10323 or an aluminum deck 10550? Most likely its a 10323 with drive bail (Variable Speed, same as Toro). What you're looking for is for it to go into 'power-hum' when warmed up and cutting. Also make sure you pull the throttle off of 'Choke' after starting, to the 'Run' or...

Well, it worked! The adapter is taller than the old one but the new blade is straight instead of the previous generic blade that had 'drooping' ends. The result is the new blade scribes the deck about 1/4" above the lower edge which is good enough. It also clears that ring plenum under the deck...

Possibly too much fuel in the cylinder?

BTW, just looking at my picture above showing the last authentic blade I could get for it, you can see that the blade would scribe the deck probably about 5/8" up from the edge, so I'll use that as my desired value. Man, you never know how an old picture will come in handy some day. :)

I think I found an adapter that will work - just like the old one except the blade pins are farther apart (2") which will allow the use of a common 20" generic blade. Yes, it also appears to be thicker in the bottom surface (by the drawing provided) as you mentioned. I'll scribe in the deck...