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Bought a R7070 -- Key Word "Yellow"

#1

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

It's been over a year since I found a Lawn-Boy that I wanted to buy. Supply is very tight down here in Georgia.

So I was thrilled to see this one on Craig's List. It has a good old F-Series engine but what I really love are the yellow accents. The shroud, wheels, handle grip and height adjustment levers are all yellow. That gives the mower a distinctive look.

It's in good shape -- even the yellow wheels don't seem to have much wear.

R7070-02.jpg

R7070-01.jpg

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#2

J

jp1961

Nice find! Interesting, in that model 7070 isn't listed in my Lawn-boy mechanics handbook. Looks to be an early Scamp model, although it doesn't say that on the mower.

Jeff


#3

2smoked

2smoked

Hi Two Stroke,

That is a great find. Finding one exactly like yours is what got me into the Lawn Boy collecting thing. The R7070 is unique and, IMO, a very attractive mower. It's nice that you got one that is in very original condition, especially the fact that it still has the black parts and the yellow wheels. On mine, one of the wheels was replaced with a standard white one, but I was able to paint it with a good match. The fact that it is a non compliant model with an F engine are also big pluses to me. I'm sure yours will need the usual seals and carb work to get it into good running condition. Do you plan on doing a full blown resto?

My R7070 has a few scars, but it is clean and presentable and I enjoy using it. Congratulations on finding one in the land of the Lawn Boy desert.


#4

J

jp1961

I wonder why Lawnboys are difficult to find in the South. Usually Craigslist here in Michigan has a decent choice of 2 stroke Lawnboys.


#5

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

2smoked said:
Hi Two Stroke,

That is a great find. Finding one exactly like yours is what got me into the Lawn Boy collecting thing. The R7070 is unique and, IMO, a very attractive mower. It's nice that you got one that is in very original condition, especially the fact that it still has the black parts and the yellow wheels. On mine, one of the wheels was replaced with a standard white one, but I was able to paint it with a good match. The fact that it is a non compliant model with an F engine are also big pluses to me. I'm sure yours will need the usual seals and carb work to get it into good running condition. Do you plan on doing a full blown resto?

My R7070 has a few scars, but it is clean and presentable and I enjoy using it. Congratulations on finding one in the land of the Lawn Boy desert.
Click to expand...

That's a good point about the black parts -- the little starter handle, for example. It's a very nice looking mower and I've wanted one since seeing photos here on LMF.

I don't think it needs any engine work -- at least right now.


#6

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

jp1961 said:
I wonder why Lawnboys are difficult to find in the South. Usually Craigslist here in Michigan has a decent choice of 2 stroke Lawnboys.
Click to expand...

I think it goes back to the 1970s. Before about 1974 there were few, if any, LB dealers in Georgia. After that, a few dealers began carrying them but they never became popular -- at least while LB was making two-cycle engines.

I've literally never seen a pre-1974 LB for sale here and the newer two-cycle LBs have gotten much harder to find in the last few years (I've been collecting them for almost six years.) I imagine there are more collectors in greater Atlanta than there are sellers. My R7070 was on CL for less than a day.


#7

R

rarebear

I have been searching CL ATL and your right not many LBs listed..
If you check eBay most of the parts sellers are in Mich.
Mich. is LB Country and GA. is Snapper Country :)


#8

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

rarebear said:
I have been searching CL ATL and your right not many LBs listed..
If you check eBay most of the parts sellers are in Mich.
Mich. is LB Country and GA. is Snapper Country :)
Click to expand...

You are correct about Georgia being Snapper Country. I don't think it's still there but, for a long time, there was a big Snapper plant in South-Metro Atlanta.


#9

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke said:
...

I don't think it needs any engine work -- at least right now.
Click to expand...

I thought about it and decided to hedge a bit: I haven't used the mower under load so I can't tell for sure that it won't need engine work. So far it seems fine but the real test will come this weekend -- I can't wait to do some serious mowing with it. :cool:


#10

J

Jack17

jp1961 said:
I wonder why Lawnboys are difficult to find in the South. Usually Craigslist here in Michigan has a decent choice of 2 stroke Lawnboys.
Click to expand...
Yellow attracts mosquitoes...in Georgia could be a problem.
:laughing:


#11

2smoked

2smoked

Because I live in Wisconsin, my R7070 mower attracts Green Bay Packers fans. I personally identify the colors with John Deere products.


#12

J

Jack17

This is why your lawn mower burns oil and cuts grass all crooked!!!
Nobody like Green Bay anyway!

Go Bears!


#13

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

2smoked said:
Because I live in Wisconsin, my R7070 mower attracts Green Bay Packers fans. I personally identify the colors with John Deere products.
Click to expand...

I thought of John Deere products when I saw the color combo of the R7070. The yellow is that same canary yellow and the two greens are fairly close. But apparently there's no LB-JD tie-in as far as I can tell.

Aren't the Green Bay colors green and gold?


#14

2smoked

2smoked

Jack17 said:
This is why your lawn mower burns oil and cuts grass all crooked!!!
Nobody like Green Bay anyway!

Go Bears!
Click to expand...
............carefull..........careful.............


#15

R

rarebear

Snapper's were made in McDonough, Ga, a town over from where I live..


#16

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

My R7070 has a leak in the gas tank. :mad:

I hope I'll be able to fix it with JB Weld or something like that. It's a slow leak and it's high on the tank.

So now I'm on a mission.

The mower runs like a champ -- it passed the "wet, high grass" test.


#17

J

jp1961

Is the tank separate from the engine cover or integral? Is the tank polyethylene?, if so, not much sticks to it. If the crack is visible and accessible, I might try to 'weld' it using a soldering iron. As far as J.B. weld, I would try a thick variety of super glue available at hobby shops for R/C airplanes first, before I would use J.B. weld.

Snapper made a great lawnmower too, I have a 1986 self propelled model with a Tecumseh two stroke on it. It doesn't run as well as my L.B. 10323, but it always starts on the first pull and runs decent enough to mow with. Down side to the Snapper is they are heavy, much more than my 10323.

Jeff


#18

2smoked

2smoked

Two-Stroke said:
My R7070 has a leak in the gas tank. :mad:

I hope I'll be able to fix it with JB Weld or something like that. It's a slow leak and it's high on the tank.

So now I'm on a mission.

The mower runs like a champ -- it passed the "wet, high grass" test.
Click to expand...

I think this is a common problem on Lawn Boys with this style of shroud. I have the R7070 and a 5247 and both of them leak at the plastic welded seam. I think that age and vibration has a lot to do with it. I have tried just about everything from re-welding the affected area of the seam, to products like Seal All and JB Weld. On each one, the leak would eventually return. On the 5247, I just gave up and attached an auxillary tank. I wasn't into the LB collecting thing at the time so the appearance did not bother me. I just wanted to continue using the mower. When I found the same problem on the R7070, I tried Seal All because someone else said that it was the best. I thoroughly cleaned the leak area before applying in and it worked well----for a while. I never tried any type of internal tank sealant and am not sure if there are any that would work with plastic tanks and I am not sure it would be worth the bother. Finding a good, non-leaking, used shroud may be the best solution but finding a nice one for a yellow model could be daunting and pricey.

I enjoy using both mowers, but with the R7070, I solved the problem by not filling the tank all the way. If you look at where the seam is, you will notice that it is very close to the shroud top. My city lot is fairly large, has no hills, and I rarely have to stop and refill. That works for me.
I also have two older LB's (8255 & 7260G) that have what I call the plastic "tombstone" shroud. Neither one of these leaks----yet.


#19

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

jp1961 said:
Is the tank separate from the engine cover or integral? Is the tank polyethylene?, if so, not much sticks to it. If the crack is visible and accessible, I might try to 'weld' it using a soldering iron. As far as J.B. weld, I would try a thick variety of super glue available at hobby shops for R/C airplanes first, before I would use J.B. weld.

Snapper made a great lawnmower too, I have a 1986 self propelled model with a Tecumseh two stroke on it. It doesn't run as well as my L.B. 10323, but it always starts on the first pull and runs decent enough to mow with. Down side to the Snapper is they are heavy, much more than my 10323.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

The tank is built into the shroud (which covers the engine). The bottom part of the tank (about 90% of its volume) is somehow bonded to the top part of the tank which I think was moulded as one piece with the shroud.

I Googled "adhesives for polyethylene" and found some encouraging results. Short answer: it's difficult but do-able. The first thing that popped up on the search was Poly-Weld by Tap Plastics.

Another link from the search brought me to a discussion on Google groups -- quote from that group:

Q: How can you glue polyethylene or polyproplyene?

A: PE and PP are hard to glue because they have "low surface energy".
Very crudely, they have little interest in sticking to anything
else, including adhesives. One technique that works is to apply
a chemical "surface activator" then use cyanoacrylate adhesives
("superglues"). Until recently, surface activators were not
marketed for retail, although anyone could buy small quantities
from a Permatex distributor like a bearing or power transmission
industrial supply house, or from similar sources.

Recently, the Locktite brand has started retail marketing of a
product called "Plastix" that is a kit of surface activator and
compatible cyanoacrylate adhesive. The literature for Plastix
indicates it is suitable "even for" PE and PP.
Click to expand...

I still don't know the best way to do this but using a soldering iron isn't an option since the leak is very close to the side of the shroud.

BTW, a Snapper with a two-cycle engine has been on my wish list for a long time. I think they also made one with a Wisconsin-Robin two-stroke.


#20

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

2smoked said:
I think this is a common problem on Lawn Boys with this style of shroud. I have the R7070 and a 5247 and both of them leak at the plastic welded seam. I think that age and vibration has a lot to do with it. I have tried just about everything from re-welding the affected area of the seam, to products like Seal All and JB Weld. On each one, the leak would eventually return. On the 5247, I just gave up and attached an auxillary tank. I wasn't into the LB collecting thing at the time so the appearance did not bother me. I just wanted to continue using the mower. When I found the same problem on the R7070, I tried Seal All because someone else said that it was the best. I thoroughly cleaned the leak area before applying in and it worked well----for a while. I never tried any type of internal tank sealant and am not sure if there are any that would work with plastic tanks and I am not sure it would be worth the bother. Finding a good, non-leaking, used shroud may be the best solution but finding a nice one for a yellow model could be daunting and pricey.

I enjoy using both mowers, but with the R7070, I solved the problem by not filling the tank all the way. If you look at where the seam is, you will notice that it is very close to the shroud top. My city lot is fairly large, has no hills, and I rarely have to stop and refill. That works for me.
I also have two older LB's (8255 & 7260G) that have what I call the plastic "tombstone" shroud. Neither one of these leaks----yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply and I'm sorry to hear that your R7070 has the same problem (mine also leaks at the seam). But I do believe there is a solution to this -- have you read my previous post?

I'm not sure what to try first but I'm leaning toward Tap Poly-Weld.


#21

2smoked

2smoked

Two-Stroke said:
Thanks for the reply and I'm sorry to hear that your R7070 has the same problem (mine also leaks at the seam). But I do believe there is a solution to this -- have you read my previous post?

I'm not sure what to try first but I'm leaning toward Tap Poly-Weld.
Click to expand...

If you try that Poly-Weld stuff, let us know if you have success with it. It looks like the prep work may be tough to do. My leaks are also in a confined area, near the shroud cover.


#22

Two-Stroke

Two-Stroke

2smoked said:
If you try that Poly-Weld stuff, let us know if you have success with it. It looks like the prep work may be tough to do. My leaks are also in a confined area, near the shroud cover.
Click to expand...

I'm still in the planning/research stage. I've decided to try to add some structural support rather than just applying adhesive.


#23

B

bwright1818

I just went down and checked my basement.....Sure enough, there is an R7070 in drag. It has the correct model # tag, yellow wheels, little yellow trim pieces here and there, yellow handle on the push bar and black primer and stop switch knob. It has a green tank. Apparently, I figured out this was wrong, awhile ago, because there's a yellow tank I bought on eBay, sitting right next to it. The yellow tank has the correct, black gas cap. My question is this....it has a white, rather than black, starter handle. Where in creation will I get such a thing?


#24

2smoked

2smoked

bwright1818 said:
I just went down and checked my basement.....Sure enough, there is an R7070 in drag. It has the correct model # tag, yellow wheels, little yellow trim pieces here and there, yellow handle on the push bar and black primer and stop switch knob. It has a green tank. Apparently, I figured out this was wrong, awhile ago, because there's a yellow tank I bought on eBay, sitting right next to it. The yellow tank has the correct, black gas cap. My question is this....it has a white, rather than black, starter handle. Where in creation will I get such a thing?
Click to expand...

You could just paint it. My R7070 had one white wheel so I just removed it and painted the hub a close yellow match. I use the mower regularly and so far that painted wheel had held up well.


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