My Lawn Mower Repair Thread (56k warning)

[Vervepipes]

Cool, great when things like that happen. Right now I have three mowers that will never see the classifieds, all spoken for by people before I even have a chance to build them even.

 

[hanyoukimura]

After furiously working on mowers for the last few weeks, I've taken a bit of a break. Mainly due to weather on my days off, but partly to relax on those days for a change. That, and the only mower currently on the list is the Snapper, which will be a project I'm sure.

Its been several weeks since I had the chance to mow my own lawn, and the grass was getting a bit unruly. Normally I break out the Ariens, but this time I felt like something different. I haven't purchased the wheel adjuster wear plates for the 2-cycle Suzuki Toro yet, so both rear wheels will pop out of the lower heights, but at max height they will stay. The time had come to finally put that Toro through its paces. Filled i with fuel, and while it took several pulls to get going for the first time this year, it did start and ran great. I mowed the whole lawn with the Toro and have come up with the following observations:

This is by far the best cutting mulching mower I have ever used. Where the Ariens and any other mower will start to bog down in the thick grass and leave clumps behind that require making a second pass, the Toro powered through it all without needing a second pass and left no clippings.

The drive belt must need replacing, as the system sometimes felt weak and occasionally squealed a bit.

The Drive/BBC bale would be better if they were on separate bales. I found myself releasing the bale slightly too much and causing the BBC to release on several occasions. Not a big problem, but you have to wait momentarily for the blade to reengage and spool up when it happens.

It ran out of fuel halfway through cutting. When I put more in, I noticed thereafter that the engine would surge when the BBC was engaged. Not sure if something got in the carburetor. The fuel is from last year, although it was treated and the mower ran fine before it ran out of fuel. I'll pull the carburetor off and have a look at it next chance I get.

While I find the Drive/BBC system to be a bit finicky, and the engine is certainly not Honda quiet, its a real powerhouse and was fun to use. I will definitely be using it again!

 

[hanyoukimura]

Finally had a chance to look at the Toro. had about 20 minutes before night time, but that's all I needed. Took the intake off and notice the little spring that runs along one of the linkages was disconnected. I pulled the carburetor off and cleaned it anyway, then reinstalled everything. Runs great now and only took 2 pulls to cold start this time!

I really like this Toro and will likely be upgrading it to primary mower.

 

[hanyoukimura]

...and we're back!

Spring has sprung and that means its time to get back to working on lawn mowers.

First one up is a 2000s Toro Recycler. Guy came in and asked about his lawn mower not running. He had started working on it himself and brought the carburetor with him. I looked it over and started telling him thing it would likely need: new bowl seal, new venturi o-ring which had come off and was suck to the main jet, the bowl and carburetor had corrosion, it was missing the intake manifold gasket, the air filter o-ring was placed around the primer bulb. He pretty quickly admitted that he was out of his league and asked me to fix it.

Bless his heart, he tried, but he was clearly having trouble, as you can see he had attached the fuel line to vent tube.

Still, he kept all of the parts together.

Despite the corrosion I actually didn't need to replace too many parts. Fuel that had clearly sat in the carburetor for a while, but it was only a little bit so just the bottom of the carburetor was corroded.

The bowl cleaned up very well.

I replaced the bowl gasket, the and the venturi o-rings. The intake manifold gasket was still on the engine and in good shape. In fact, despite first impressions and the duct tape on the handlebar where a carriage bolt should be, the mower was in surprisingly good condition. All the paint was still there, no rust under the deck, intake manifold bolts looked new as did the bolts for the recoil. I lubricated the sticky recoil, put it all back together and she fired up! The self propelled system didn't seem to work, but he wasn't bothered as he said he had a small yard. The oil was at the proper level and looked quite good, and the air filter while not new, was probably the best used air filter I've seen on a machine I've worked on.

I didn't have any time to give it a good cleaning like I do most mowers, but I did a super quick cleanup before he arrived.

Even so, he thought it looked great. Starts first pull and runs like a champ. I replaced the dirty spark plug and told him to get a new air filter and a carriage bolt for the handle bar (I would have slapped one on myself if I had time to find one, I got it running the night before and he picked it up 10 minutes after I got home from work. he's actually holding the mower in the last photo).

Overall a good way to kick off the season. I have three mowers to fix and flip already (just got the third yesterday)

 

[Vervepipes]

Nice one to start the season with. As much as I hate Tecumseh engines..... I can't think of how to finish that. Happy start of the season!

 

[hanyoukimura]

Thanks, you too!

After more than a week, the rain FINALLY stopped. Took advantage of it today and tinkered with the machines. Here's what's on the menu so far:

Over the winter I acquired a Yard Machines and a Murray, both Quantum powered. The former is self propelled with electric start but has no bag, the latter is a pusher with a bag.

The other day I was also given this old Toro:

The Toro is a bit of a cluster. It's got a big crack in the deck on the right side. I actually used a mallet to get the deck to line back up at the crack, as forward of the crack was bowed out some. Deck seems solid otherwise. It needs a recoil and has no air filter cover, and someone bent the tab down in front of the intake.

The Yard Machines needs a recoil spring by the looks of it. As I didn't have one handy I decided to tackle the Murray today.

What I like about both of the black mowers is that they are complete. Really , that's half the battle with these things.

Yummy carburetor:

Had a full tank of bad gas, but the carburetor wasn't too bad considering. I've seen much worse.

All clean!

Back together.

New spark plug and she fired up first pull! Proceeded to mow the back yard with it. No problems. The front wheels are worn, so I will be sleeving them. Then it just needs a good cleanup and it'll be ready to go.

I ran into one problem, which I've had before with these carburetors. While removing it, I broke the black tab that connected the linkage to the throttle shaft. For now, I borrowed it from the Yard Machines, but I will need another.

Anybody have one or a few they'd like to sell? :smile:

 

[Two-Stroke]

Wow, Hanyoukimura, you're still here doing great work and taking excellent photos of the work. It will be the fifth anniversary of this thread in a few months and you're over 78k page views (a record for this website -- maybe?)

Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

 

[primerbulb120]

Keep up the good work. I always read this thread first when I see there's been an update. 78k page views isn't a record though, the "Name that mower game" thread has 255k views! :shocked:

On the topic of throttle shafts, the part number is 696565. But it costs around $10 to get one! That's ridiculous for such a small part. I would send you a few of mine, but I might need them myself. :smile: I'll keep looking though, I might be able to find you some. :wink: Where are you buying most of your parts (blades, floats, gaskets, cables, etc.)?

That's a nice Toro you've got there! :licking: I wish I could find one of those or an old Snapper in good condition.

 

[hanyoukimura]

Keep up the good work. I always read this thread first when I see there's been an update. 78k page views isn't a record though, the "Name that mower game" thread has 255k views! :shocked:

On the topic of throttle shafts, the part number is 696565. But it costs around $10 to get one! That's ridiculous for such a small part. I would send you a few of mine, but I might need them myself. :smile: I'll keep looking though, I might be able to find you some. :wink: Where are you buying most of your parts (blades, floats, gaskets, cables, etc.)?

That's a nice Toro you've got there! :licking: I wish I could find one of those or an old Snapper in good condition.

I guess 255k is the number to beat then! :laughing:

I found the part number last night, it is ridiculous for a small piece of plastic.

I buy my parts mostly from my local small engine dealer, although sometimes also from Amazon, eBay, and Jackssmallengines depending on price and what I need/how much I plan to buy at once.

This will make Toro #4 in my current inventory. One is an 18" deck with no engine right now and the other two are two cycle monsters I've kept for myself :biggrin: One's powered by a Suzuki, the other a Briggs. When I get to it this deck will need some help, but it may be salvageable. That reminds me, I have an old SNapper to work on too!

 

[primerbulb120]

I guess 255k is the number to beat then! :laughing:

I found the part number last night, it is ridiculous for a small piece of plastic.

I buy my parts mostly from my local small engine dealer, although sometimes also from Amazon, eBay, and Jackssmallengines depending on price and what I need/how much I plan to buy at once.

This will make Toro #4 in my current inventory. One is an 18" deck with no engine right now and the other two are two cycle monsters I've kept for myself :biggrin: One's powered by a Suzuki, the other a Briggs. When I get to it this deck will need some help, but it may be salvageable. That reminds me, I have an old SNapper to work on too!

In my experience, the dealers are usually over priced on parts. I can get just about anything cheaper online. If you need something ASAP, the dealer is the place to go. If not, get it online.

Check out Mowers4u.com, they have some really good parts prices and shipping is $5.95 per order. Don't just put the part number in their search box, go to "Part Look-up" on the toolbar and put in your model. Or put in the brand and the part number. For whatever reason, the search box on the home page doesn't actually search the whole website and you have to pull up the diagram for your model to find some of the less common parts. I know their website isn't the best, but the parts prices are worth it! :biggrin:

Here's my list of parts sources for a typical push mower with a Briggs Quantum engine:

Primer bulb, air filter gasket, air filter - eBay
Carb kit (#K11-LMR) and float (#75-570) - Mowers4u
Starter rope - eBay
Spark plug - O'Reilly Auto Parts
Most gaskets - I make them myself out of Fel-Pro 3157 gasket material, bought at O'Reilly Auto Parts
Blade - Mowers4u
All Cables - I make them myself
Paint - Home Depot
Wheels - eBay


I can show you how to make engine brake cables and drive cables for about $5 each if you're interested.