Mastercraft Yard Beetle issues

[lawnbugger]

Well I moved the linkage rods a bit,sprayed carb cleaner over the governor arm and spring and kept running it. It is smoothing out a bit the more I run it. The thing has not run in probably ten years or more,the seller said it was running and he cut his lawn with it a few weeks ago lmfao,good thing I only gave him $50 for it,at this point I have replaced half the unit and cleaned out the carb that was filled,jammed packed with old thick gelled gas,not just a bit of gelling from sitting year,but packed full. I got most issues straightened up,I think I might do a full seafoam treatment on this beetle and see how much better the Brigs & Straton will run. The shift cables are arriving on the 10th I hope and I should be able to run it through some grass and test it out by then. I have no idea if this thread will help anyone else out with troubleshooting there Lawn bug or not, but I took this from full out broke down to running and moving from start to finish. I will update after some seafoam then when them shift cables come in and I cut some grass.

 

[lawnbugger]

This is the end of this fix up I hope. I got it to idle and rev up and down alright,got the new shifter cables delivered and installed,and it runs and drives in forward and reverse,I seem to have lost the neutral again,but I suspect it's the fork from sitting for years and should start to come back from being used,I can find it by moving it with my finger on the shift ink most times. Now I need to get the tires off to get the beads cleaned up and of course they are rusted on and will take some manual persuasion and pb blaster on this now lol. Just need get the bead leaks dealt with and this is back in service.

 

[lawnbugger]

I filled the tires again and drove it a bit,maybe the tires will hold air if it moves to keep the beads reset. I can't get the rims off,loaded up pb blaster and hit it with the torch a while and them rims are stuck,no holes to put eye rings through and use my gear puller,just no room to get a good smack with the sledge,but I don't want to crack the trans housing or snap the axel shafts. I looked into that foam stop leak goop, it says won't work on bead leaks,they are just for tread leaks and make a mess. I'm thinking on just popping the tread beads open and cleaning the rims and beads while the rims are still on and might fix it that way???? I will see if there is air in the tires tomorrow. I want the rims off so I can either put new on or get these fixed properly though. Other than that. This $50 buck scrap buy is back running and moving.

 

[lawnbugger]

I still have not gotten the tires off,but they hold air long enough,I cut lawn today with the Yard beetle,maybe the tires will hold from being used. It cut nice and ran good,seems to be a belt slipping,I can hear it squeal some times and then it loses drive some moments,I put it in reverse then back to drive and it grabs. I bought new belts from the auto parts store,so they may not be the exact fit.