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I picked this up last week. It was covered in an inch of dirt and fuzz. After I cleaned it up I realized that it doesn't look like it has seen that much grass, if any. I didn't clean any grass off it. The spark plug is the original one, still has the brown overspray on it from Tecumseh painting it. The recoil rope does too.


Flymo: 9630423
S/N: 142731


I installed a new fuel line. I installed a rebuild kit in the carburetor and its runs beautifully. Tecumseh 2-cycle AV600-660-16B. 24:1 gas/oil mix. The deck is 18 inches. It really is in great shape. I had one of these a few years ago. It is kinda neat to mow with once you get the hang of it. I guess these are still available outside of the USA, but this is an older unit from a US distributor in Washington.

As a side note, I got a line on an old commercial LB, bricktop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!next week hopefully

Awsome mower! I have always wanted one! I think Huskvarna and Toro make them also. They can be usefull.
It is in really great shape! I have a feeling it hasn't been used.
When you mow whith it, how short does it cut the grass? I always wanted to know that.

I hope you get that commercial LB. Those are awsome.

Those mowers have always captured my interest. I saw a guy demonstrating one at an old engine show and it seemed to cut the grass a bit on the scalpy side. They seem to work well on steeper banks and for cutting under shrubbery. You might be able to see some in action on You Tube.

I don't know the exact answer on the cutting height. I remember mowing with one a few years ago. It took some getting used to because of the side to side movement, but I don't remember much about the height. My guess would be that it must have not made a memorable impression either way. Not too long, not too short. I have seen some of the newer Husqvarna models that have the Honda engines on them, but never put my hands on one.

d_sharier said:

I don't know the exact answer on the cutting height. I remember mowing with one a few years ago. It took some getting used to because of the side to side movement, but I don't remember much about the height. My guess would be that it must have not made a memorable impression either way. Not too long, not too short. I have seen some of the newer Husqvarna models that have the Honda engines on them, but never put my hands on one.

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I guess I just have to try one some day to know on the grass height. I did look at some videos. It seems like a normal height.
All tho, those mowers are not cheap. The Husky here is 850$.

That thing is sweet!

Nice Flymo!

The Flymo brand is widely popular in the UK. Every large home/garden store sells a version of Flymo but usually only electric powered. I've never seen one that's gas powered. Very cool.

My neighbor had a brand new electric version and skint the crap out of the lawn. My LB cut half of the lawn looked better - just saying.

Hi All:

I used on in the earl 80's and I loved it for trimming!!!

It was one was a Flymo models made in Sweden. I would like to have one now for the little lady.

Cheers,

Franchi

Awesome mower in fantastic condition, thanks for sharing the photo's

Jeff

d_sharier said:

I picked this up last week. It was covered in an inch of dirt and fuzz. After I cleaned it up I realized that it doesn't look like it has seen that much grass, if any. I didn't clean any grass off it. The spark plug is the original one, still has the brown overspray on it from Tecumseh painting it. The recoil rope does too.


Flymo: 9630423
S/N: 142731


I installed a new fuel line. I installed a rebuild kit in the carburetor and its runs beautifully. Tecumseh 2-cycle AV600-660-16B. 24:1 gas/oil mix. The deck is 18 inches. It really is in great shape. I had one of these a few years ago. It is kinda neat to mow with once you get the hang of it. I guess these are still available outside of the USA, but this is an older unit from a US distributor in Washington.

As a side note, I got a line on an old commercial LB, bricktop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!next week hopefully

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I realize I'm dredging up a fairly old thread, but I'm wondering if you've found a source for the air filter for this?

WOW!!!!

That thing is so cool!!!!!


Franchi

Then engine on this in a Tecumseh. You should be able to look up the air filter number using the engine i.d. number. There are are two styles. This one has a remote mounted filter. It is up on the handle. Some have a normal filter attached to the carburetor.

d_sharier said:

Then engine on this in a Tecumseh. You should be able to look up the air filter number using the engine i.d. number. There are are two styles. This one has a remote mounted filter. It is up on the handle. Some have a normal filter attached to the carburetor.

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Yeah, by "this" I meant the remote filter for the flymo, not whatever filter might fit that Tecumseh engine. There's no part number on the existing remote filter on my flymo, and all I can find are filters that fit the engine in other usage contexts. So I was hoping maybe you had found and could share a source for the little remote canister filter on the flymo, but seems like not. Thanks for the reply, though.

Well. I just acquired the same model Flymo mower as the original poster ($25 off Craigslist) so I need to resurrect this thread, with some info and a question.

The mower has two air filters, a relatively normal foam filter, oval in shape, that goes in a housing attached to the carb. The second filter is a "snorkel" style filter, in a plastic canister attached to the mower handle, and connected to the oval filter housing via a flex tube and a plastic fitting. This uses a tubular metal / paper filter 6" long and 1.5" in diameter. I have tried to attach a pic, and hopefully that will come through OK. I don't see any part number on this filter, unfortunately.

So then the question, to the original poster - what carb rebuild kit was used, and where did you get it? Although I have spark, and the mower looks almost completely unused, I want to rebuild the carb before I try to run it. Thanks!

Flymo

It has been a while since I've worked on one of these, I will have to do some digging on the p/n for the air filter. If memory serves me, I think the air filter is very close to the Tecumseh cylinder filter. I believe that two of the older style Tecumseh filters, end to end are very close to the dementions. Not an OEM replacement but should work better than nothing. I belive that I do have an ipl and will still try and get a p/n. As far as the carb goes, this engine had a Tecumseh diaphragm style carb. The same that are used on Toro s200 - s620 snowblowers. The carb kits are readily available. I'll try and add that p/n as well.

jfpointer said:

I realize I'm dredging up a fairly old thread, but I'm wondering if you've found a source for the air filter for this?

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If you are getting desperate snorkels were fitted to every Australian made mower for around 60 years till MTD bought Rover & Briggs bought Victa.
So we have a lot of snorkel filter elements available down here
Rovers were 6" & 6 1/4" long, both are 1 & 5/8 OD with an ID of 7/8
GA Spares: Search Results: AIR124
GA Spares: Search Results: AIR1826
Victas are Shorter & fatter
Neither are encased .
Both come in packs of 5 , about $ 4.00 AU each

Stens also sell them down here part number 320-027 & 320-030
SO you might be able to get some from your local mower shop who stocks Stens parts.

There is also a snorkel adapter that bolts directly on top of the B & S sprint carb ( replaces the original filter housing )

It has been dropped by two of the local aftermarket wholesalers but still listed by Stens as 320-034

Thanks. Good to know it's the same carb as fitted to the Toro unit - that helps a lot.

I found the filter here in the UK: Flymo Snorkel Air Filter | Air Filters for Flymo | Mower Magic A search on that part number did not turn anything up elsewhere.

F

flymo.mulch said:

Thanks. Good to know it's the same carb as fitted to the Toro unit - that helps a lot.

I found the filter here in the UK: Flymo Snorkel Air Filter | Air Filters for Flymo | Mower Magic A search on that part number did not turn anything up elsewhere.

F

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631893A is the part # for the carb kit. I was able to buy it from a seller on Amazon for ~$11.

Thanks - ordered the kit!

I'll also note that Mower Magic's site does say they ship internationally, and that one of the reviews was from a purchaser in August 2015, so presumably the filter is still available.

Flymo

flymo.mulch said:

Thanks. Good to know it's the same carb as fitted to the Toro unit - that helps a lot.

I found the filter here in the UK: Flymo Snorkel Air Filter | Air Filters for Flymo | Mower Magic A search on that part number did not turn anything up elsewhere.

F

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That definitely looks like the right filter. Maybe I'll see if they'll ship to me in the U.S. at a reasonable price; I sure can't seem to find that thing anywhere else.

I put the new diaphragm and gasket on the carb on mine, which pretty much exhausted my carb-rebuilding abilities. Still got not much more than a cough out of it, so I took it to a repair shop I trust to see if they could get it running.

I'm dropping it off and one of the guys at the shop says, "What is that thing?" Says I, "Flying mower." His reply to that was "No way, you're shittin' me..." :laughing:

JF, I am looking to grab a couple of the filters too. If you check out the shipping price and it seems like it would make sense to combine orders to save on shipping, let me know.

F

flymo.mulch said:

JF, I am looking to grab a couple of the filters too. If you check out the shipping price and it seems like it would make sense to combine orders to save on shipping, let me know.

F

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I didn't order since I don't have confirmation yet that the shop has been able to get it running, but the total for one filter shipped to me was about 14.5 euros so the shipping was basically the same price as the filter. I didn't check, but it might make more sense and save some money on shipping to order two or three of them at once. Obviously that's a bit high at ~$20 for a mower air filter, but there really don't seem to be any sources for them in the U.S. I'm also assuming that the filter lasts a long time up on the handle like that and doesn't exactly require frequent replacement.

Thanks for the update - doesn't sound as though the shipping is that crazy, so no real sense in combining orders.

Another option is to just Use the oval filter on the front of the carb, and put a piece of screen over it. The filter is available here: Amazon.com : Oregon 30-083 Foam Air Filter the Replaces Tecumseh Part 29961 : Lawn Mower Air Filters : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Certainly makes sense in any case to make sure it runs first - I will do the same.

F

Good news, the Flymo is up and running! Picked it up Saturday and put it to work mowing the steep slope on the house we're flipping. It was quite a revelation--although the grass was very tall, it barely bogged at all cutting it, and it's the easiest thing to push around that I've ever used. As long as I can keep it running, it'll see plenty of use around here.:biggrin:

As far as air filters are concerned, I can see why they put the canister style filter up on the handle. There's a lot of stuff flying around down there at the business end of things.

Very cool - glad to hear it works well for you! Do you know what the place had to do to get it running?

I got the carb kit for mine, but I didn't get a chance to work on it over the weekend. Also, I checked my canister filter - it looks a bit dirty, but seems to flow air just fine.

F

flymo.mulch said:

Very cool - glad to hear it works well for you! Do you know what the place had to do to get it running?

I got the carb kit for mine, but I didn't get a chance to work on it over the weekend. Also, I checked my canister filter - it looks a bit dirty, but seems to flow air just fine.

F

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As far as getting it to run, according to what he told me they did some cleaning on the carb and the fuel tank and put in a different plug. The one I had in there was new, but it was a slightly hotter range than what it calls for.

They also sharpened the blade and either fixed or replaced the starter rewind spring. It was a bit weak, leaving about 10" of rope sticking out instead of returning all the way.

Interesting - that's exactly what I am in the process of doing with mine. Fuel tank has been cleaned, I took the starter off and cleaned and lubed it, and I have a new plug ready to go. Hopefully I will have the same good luck, once I have time to work on the carb!

F

I have the carb back together, but have not yet had a chance to try it out. This was my first time rebuilding a diaphragm carb, so hope it comes out OK. One interesting note is that the carb does not match anything in the manual - it has a fixed high speed jet, but it appears to be just the regular high speed jet glued into place.

Wish me luck with it this weekend!

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. The trick is to take your time with carbs. You can't rush with them (so many little parts).

We're flying! Got it all back together, and it started on the 4th pull! Runs OK, and doesn't seem to bog down or anything, but it just from the sound it feels like the mixture isn't exactly right. Unfortunately, the idle jet adjustment makes little difference, and as mentioned, the main jet is fixed, so there's not much to try there.

I ran it with the snorkel air filter in place, but not the foam one right in front of the carb. The remains of an old foam filter were in there when I bought the unit, and I did get the foam element, so maybe that's the next thing - oil up that element and see if running a bit richer helps. I guess I could simulate that with partial choke - maybe I'll give that a try.

As far as I can tell with just a few minutes of time on it, Flymo mows reasonably well. It seems to have less resistance to moving side to side than it does going forward and back, so you need to make a conscious effort to keep on track. One really nice thing is that the whole mower is very light, I am storing it just hanging on the wall like a rake.

F

jfpointer said:

Good news, the Flymo is up and running! Picked it up Saturday and put it to work mowing the steep slope on the house we're flipping. It was quite a revelation--although the grass was very tall, it barely bogged at all cutting it, and it's the easiest thing to push around that I've ever used. As long as I can keep it running, it'll see plenty of use around here.:biggrin:

As far as air filters are concerned, I can see why they put the canister style filter up on the handle. There's a lot of stuff flying around down there at the business end of things.

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In 1956 Victa found that air from the top of the handlebars had a lot less dust than at the engine height so had been fitting Snorkels as standard of 60 years.
I just overhauled a 1968 mower, cost $ 28.00 in parts including a new filter, the first one it has had all it's life & I only neded to do it because of the mug pluggers in there.
However a snorkel will cause rich running due to increased restrictions to airflow.
For the brief period that Honda sold assesory snorkels , they came with smaller jets to compensate for the air flow.

And you mow with a Flymow as you would with a line trimmer sweeping side to side while walking foreword.

My neighbor gave me a Flymo he used to mow steep banks on his last property. He would hook a rope to it and operate it by walking back and forth, lengthening the rope until the whole bank was mowed.. It looks pretty nice but the old fuel and a dried out carb will have to be worked on before it will run.
I can't find any numbers on the carb and will need that before I can search for a kit. Can't wait to try it out next spring.

Vinsky, my first sight of a Flymo, back in the 70s, was someone using the rope technique to mow a bank.

Is yours a Tecumseh motor? If so, do a search online and you can find many places that have copies of service manuals. I got my parts off of Amazon and eBay - still readily available.

I did get a chance to use mine more this fall, and it appears to be running extremely well after some additional time on it - I am still using just the snorkel air filter.

Based on my experience with the carb, you might want to just try throwing some 2-stroke mix in there, cleaning the plug, and seeing if it fires up. I did rebuild my carb but it really wasn't that gunky.

F

Yes, it has the Tecumseh 2-cycle motor. I now have a manual and the Tecumseh tech handbook. There's no carb linkage, spring or governor so may be looking for another carb. The other part I need is the blade spacers. Hopefully it will be ready for spring mowing.

Vinsky, I did see some of the blade spacers on eBay when I was looking around.

I'm short on storage space, so the Flymo spent the winter months tucked up under the travel trailer to keep the snow off of it. Pulled it out, topped off the fuel, and put it right to work on the slope this week.

I mow from the bottom up with my self-propelled, then finish off from the top with the Flymo. Coolest thing ever when it comes to mowing steep slopes!:thumbsup:

bertsmobile1 said:

And you mow with a Flymow as you would with a line trimmer sweeping side to side while walking foreword.

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On level ground, either forward or backward while sweeping side to side works fine. On the top of a steep slope, facing down and hanging on to the mower, it's up and down and side to side.