Recent content by tom3

No,not me. Just a big fan of the old Lawn Boy mowers, especially the basic non-propelled models. Got a kick out the guy hitting it with the power washer too.

Pretty decent mower, pretty unique too. Don't know about a dollar figure but not cheap.

With a metal tank I usually give the tank a squirt of oil, it will seep around and the bottom won't rust. My 40 year old noise maker still starts right up with fresh gas, takes a minute or two to energize and put out juice. That machine might have ten hours on it since new, pretty much too...

Is it down on power? Possible running on one cylinder? Maybe a blown exhaust gasket. Need to describe the noise better I suspect.

Not sure if this is allowed, no affiliation of any kind for me. Remove if not allowed. I figure there might be some serious interest. Small engine ware house is having a pretty decent sale on various motors, huge markdowns, till May 1st. Worth a look is you're thinking about a repower. I've...

How about a brand new motor? Small engine warehouse is liquidating some little motors, cheap. This one is going for $69 with a code on the purchase. Code 122m02-0134-e520 at check out. 7/8x 3 5/32 shaft. Complete engine. Check the specs though...

Does the carb. have a solenoid on the bottom of the fuel bowl? If so I'd check that out for operation.

Looks to me like a victim of today's oil quality, just not right for air cooled engines. I'm with Rivets here, not really worth any real investment. If you can find a new rod on Ebay for 6 or 8 dollars (they are out there) , slap it together with the new gaskets and run it 'till it dies totally.

And some heat now and then helps on some of those.

I'll stay off topic a bit. I remember as a kid going to a place just out of town. Big gulch, maybe 60 acres, real deep. Us kids spent many days on our old Hondas hill climbing, ridge running, tearing up stuff, getting filthy dirty, having a ball. Turned into a landfill. Today the whole area...

I wonder if she ever got it running?

Do you know what the actual full list price is on that mower was when new? You bought a two year old used mower. I'd think twice about that unless it was just a killer deal.

Low oil cutoff? Can you cut that hill at an angle, or a different angle?

If my JD mower deck wasn't so noisy I'd really like to mow after dark in the summer here. But I'd probably get on the $h!t list of those nearby. Day time sun and high humidity is pretty bad even when riding. Kind of amazing what is being done with LEDs these days.

How about a couple more pictures of the mower. Curious about this machine, never heard of one. Inquiring minds........

These transmissions are famous for failure, but don't usually quit completely. When pushing in on the little rod that sticks out the back, rock the tractor back and forth some to ensure the coupling is engaged.

API SN+--------- won't be in my mower.

OE battery is a longer thin oddball unit. About a $200 replacement, probably why that battery was shoehorned in there. I'd sure relocate that with some new cables. $40 vs $200, no brainer.

And if like the Peerless tranny I have getting the OE sealant off and resealing is a real chore. I'd keep after it with penetrating oil and hope it frees up. And that sliding engagement sleeve is not too stout looking, I try to never move it.

I'll just throw this out there. There have been a couple million mowers built with a single bolt mounted blade. I'd probably grind off those two outer knobs and go with a standard single bolt and heavy washer type blade mount if finding a workable blade is a problem. 3.5 horspower is not going...

Me too. Maybe the ultimate mower for light duty and trimming around the yard.

I like the KISS machines. Keep It Stupidly Simple. I'd take a carb over electronics and high pressure fuel pumps any day, especially in a lawn mower. But I generally buy for the long term.

Is this a Kohler brand oil? Automotive oil is not the way to go in any air cooled engine I think.

Does that have a fuel shutoff? Try shutting off the gas several seconds before killing the engine. I'm suspecting a flooding situation.

I use the Kohler filter, change it every other oil change. Change oil at end of season, usually about 50 hours or so. write on filter date and hours so I know whether it's due or not.

For longer term storage use a metal can at pretty constant temperature. .

I see Rural King has Kohler 30wt with enhanced zinc for added protection, or so it says on the label. Maybe the motor oil companies are starting to pay attention to the customers?

The easy way out would be to visit the local Harbor Freight and get a Predator engine for the kart. Not as much fun as building a motor though. I've had pretty good luck finding NOS parts on Ebay for old Briggs motors. Search your engine number for a parts list and spend some time on there...

Same here, sort of. My JD L130 started slowing at 300 hours. Pulled the Krap46 transaxle and split the case, cleaned out the shrapnel and filled with good old 10w40 Havoline. Ran another 200 hours with a real weak reverse when hot. Replaced it with a Peerless 2000 unit. That Tuff Torq tranny...

I dunno. Logert might be on target. Lots of people term "turn over" as a start up. Could be a flooding issue. Not sure how the choke works on this model, could be they are pushing the throttle to start, which closes the choke. Could be the air cleaner is scummed over?

Are you adjusting these to a specification?

Was this with a bagger or mulcher, or just discharge. Maybe lower the deck a bit more? High lift blades would make a difference I'd think, no real experience though.

Don't build them like that anymore. I'd hate that dogleg handle though. Does that motor have an unusual bottom shaft length? A standard blade adapter should fit and work with a single center bolt and most replacement blades that would clear the shallow deck. Good looking mower!

Trouble is here in Ohio the sun shines about two days a month in winter. I built a solar air heater many years ago for our old house, 4 x 16 heat panel, put out 85 to 100+ degree heat for 4 or 5 hours on a bright sunny winter day, for those two or three days. Would heat the living room. Take...

Might need to put some more load on it to get it all energized?

I like that hose idea. Have several lengths of hose to reach all the sheds, could fill and heat, run in the tub a couple times and have warm rubber smelling bath water. Free solar heat.

Maybe the fitting uses an O-ring to seal rather than a flare fitting?

Only two components in the ignition, plug and coil. Good plug and no spark, bad coil. Might check the flywheel magnets for strength but that's probably not the problem. Not sure what motor you have but parts are too cheap to worry about it, such as this...

Started many a lawnmower with a good drill. Might need a low speed selector on the drill. And be sure to have the operator handle in the run position, otherwise there would be a flywheel brake on. And when it starts pull the drill off quickly while the drill is still running.

Might be a splined axle vs a keyed axle.

Blade on correct? Check rotation of motor.

For what these things cost I'd look into a blower with a battery that would work in other equipment that I would be actually planning on buying. If not planning on any other stuff I'd forget the battery blower. Takes a powerful battery, those are expensive, and don't always last like we think...

Do you know the history of that motor? Did it run last fall? When you rotate the engine by hand can you feel compression on both cylinders?

That's one heck of a assortment of LBs. Kind of a history lesson there. I'd bet the least liked of them all was the newest. My older brother has had a couple and his last was the four stroke push, hated that thing. Super powerful motor, took a bulldozer to push the thing though. He now has a...

And the electronic ignitions are so strong they fire about anything.

https://lookup3.toro.com/ttcGateway/Acrobat/manuals/lball.html

Being an old school guy, that's what a Gravely should be. Did I read it right, the deck is 7 ga. steel?

I'm guessing that was about $1000 more when showroom new. Seems to be a super ZT mower from all the specs.

Hydrogear 3400 and a 10 gallon gas tank, whoa nelly. Big rear wheels, suspension seat. Probably won't find a deal like that though.

Don't have a clue what I'm looking at but I see something shiny at the bottom. Maybe a lock bolt, tightens up and locks a shaft in place? Lube hole?

I'd watch for the hydro unit size too. See in a recent flyer a ZT with 24hp twin that had a Hydrogear 2200 box. I'd want to see at least a 2800, or serviceable 3000 with that motor and a heavy 7 gauge fab. 54" deck. Check those specs.

Is that something that could be welded up or have a rod made for it? About anything like thatcan be fixed.

Is that stuff as good as rust?

I say for your time frame the John Deere would do the job just fine. Those have pretty high speed blades that do a nice job, hydro transmission is easy to use. Lots of horsepower for the deck size too. Long term use would probably get expensive in repairs though.

Similar to a Toro Timecutter drive?

Can't help, but that is one neat machine. Where does it throw the grass? Run on tracks rather than wheels? Big commercial looking air filter too.

Couple off topic comments from the peanut gallery, me. Looked into a CCW, every time a cop runs your plate, there it is. Seems like public information. I'd rather carry and not advertise it, I do believe in the 2nd. But then I can't remember when I've actually carried a hidden gun. But if I...

That surface finish might be for oil retention too, completely flat and smooth under high pressure and the oil squeezes out. I see crankshaft kits for auto engines have an odd looking surface finish too rather than a mirror look. Seems absurd to charge $1500 for a new hydro unit that was...

I used to have that exact deal on my rear lot, near straight down to the street x 100ft long. I rigged up my "ditch mower" with a double handle and four of the bigger wheels. I mowed the bottom going along the side, then down from the top. Had to make a couple swipes, then wait for the carb to...

I wonder if that little engine uses different length pushrods?

When I fixed mine I took the old pump apart. Two little round rubber disc check valves make it work, one of them had a little bit of a white looking fiber stuff stuck under it. I've seen the same type stuff in little two stroke carb diaphragms over the years. Don't know how or where it comes...

Sometimes to get it all the way engaged you push/pull the mower back and forth and it will drop in gear.

Ever notice how some english words can have so many completely different meanings. Clip: haircut, scam, speed, paper fastener, bullet holder, quick movie shot, etc.

Don't know if the fuel systems are similar, but my L130 started doing this a couple years ago. Weak fuel pump. Fuel lines and filter right up beside the engine and the heat starts vaporizing the gas after some time. I put a new pump, small filter mounted vertically and moved the lines as far...

I"d like to read the fine print on one of those free product and review deals. Sort of like a Motor Trend magazine road test of a piece of crap SUV and the only thing they could rag on was a cup holder not deep enough.

Won't be long until that's the way it is. (woman ruling the world) And that mower was probably operated by a woman, so we might be needed for something.

You know, generally, self propelled mowers do use different wheels on the drive and non-drivers. Even with same size and style wheels. Be ahead to get the large back wheeled mower, easier to handle I think.

Maybe need to prime the lines/pump. What I usually do is take off the gas tank lid, pressurize the tank and lines by blowing pretty hard into the tank for 10 or 15 seconds. Will push gas thru all and into the carb.

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I'm guessing that left handed bit opened up the jet. Get a whole new carb on Ebay for about $15 if you shop some. But that gas misting out of the carb is maybe a sign on something else?

Around here the no. one option is to take off the cable and ends, head to the Western Auto store and the guys will match it up. Usually have about 50 cables, 500 belts, etc on hand. Actually have very reasonable prices too.

Might be like car speedometer gears in the old days, enough slop in the driver to account for some variation in the driven.

When it fails to start, does it just "click", or does the starter motor run and not engage?

The oldest used car remedy in the book, sawdust. Won't need no stinkin' zinc.

I remember as a kid I always thought a cigarette smelled good, especially on a hot day. Started at 19 in the Army, good beer, hot cup of coffee and a smoke, that's good living. Hell to quit but after 6 or 7 years of it I finally made it. And that first cig. of the day made me about throw up...

I have a similar type mower with the Briggs that also does this. I've always assumed it was pre-ignition. Maybe from some carbon build up or a sharp edge or parting line in the casting. Mine is not near as bad (vid.2) but same type sound. Nice quiet powerful easy starting mower otherwise, I...

No flame here. But be careful to note whether the oil is actually rated SJ or SH or if it reads 'meets or exceeds' that. Any modern oil is supposed to be better than what came before, except when it isn't and with air cooled mower engines that's a problem.

With the new carb, first thing I'd try is to tap on the side of the carb with a screwdriver handle. Maybe the float is stuck and needle is on seat.

There is a camshaft inside the engine that gets turned by gears from the main crankshaft. Some how those gears aren't lined up right or something is actually broken inside.

Couple classics there. That restored mower looks really nice. And well worth the time and effort to rebuild. What is the Briggs engine model/code on those mowers? The first pictured mower looks newer than a 72?

Hard to tell from the pictures but I suspect the old motor didn't like the type of oil at all. Aluminum piston on aluminum bore, heat, pressure, it tried to weld itself together. Good thing with the new Kohler is the cast iron cylinder sleeve. And I'd highly recommend using actual Kohler oil in...

Any adjustments on that new carb? A lot of the newer carbs are jetted pretty lean to keep the EPA happy, users are not so happy sometimes.