My Lawn Mower Repair Thread (56k warning)

[primerbulb120]

Hanyoukimura,

I have saved all the pictures from this thread on my USB drive. If you have a new image hosting website in mind, I would be honored to rebuild the thread so that you can continue it.

 

[cashman]

New guy here. I've read through this site for a few years on and off and finally decided to join. I recently acquired an old lawnmower with a 1969 92908 B&S with very low hours. It was (is) my grandfathers that had been sitting about 10 years. Outside. I got it home, put some gas in it and gave it a shot of carb cleaner in the carb intake and first pull off it went. I have no idea what brand the mower body is but it's in pretty nice shape. Cleaned the points and readjusted them, new carb diaphragm and air filter element, plug and oil change, new governor spring too and it runs like new. I can see crosshatching on the cylinder wall when I look through the sparkplug hole with a flash light. Sat all that time and didn't even smoke when it started.


Would anyone be able to determine the brand of this thing by the shape of the body? I don't see any tags or stickers on the mower deck anywhere although I need to wash it so maybe one will pop up.

View attachment 35882

By the looks of the wheel adjusters and the handle brackets. The mower was built by one of several companies using those common parts. Two of the largest manufacturers were the Allied Lawnmower Manufacturers located in Pulaski TN, and the other was the Southland Mower Company located in Selma Alabama. Most all of those manufacturers sold through independent hardware stores. I remember The Allied model numbers were #270 for the 20" mower and #272 for the 22" mower.

 

[GrassSlicer]

By the looks of the wheel adjusters and the handle brackets. The mower was built by one of several companies using those common parts. Two of the largest manufacturers were the Allied Lawnmower Manufacturers located in Pulaski TN, and the other was the Southland Mower Company located in Selma Alabama. Most all of those manufacturers sold through independent hardware stores. I remember The Allied model numbers were #270 for the 20" mower and #272 for the 22" mower.

It probably was made by one of them. It was sold through a local hardware store/lawnmower shop that went out of business in the early 70's. I think my grandfather paid $35 for it as the shop owner used this one to mow the strip of grass out front. Thanks for the info I will get it washed up and see if any stickers come up.

 

[GrassSlicer]

I got the mower washed up and no decals or anything on the deck Also I got my grandfathers 1966 Montgomery wards edger running, got it all cleaned up and running good then the rope snapped. Gotta put a new one in tomorrow. It was 35 degrees out this morning and the mower started on the first pull. Gotta love it.

 

[cashman]

Back in the mid 1960's my dad would buy the parts and we would assemble walk behind mowers during the off-season in the shop. There was a fellow in Birmingham Alabama that built and sold the Vulcan line of mowers that came in a 20" and 22" cut. We bought the decks, engines, wheels, handles, brackets, etc. from him and we put everything together. It took about 20 mins. to assemble one. The decks came from a metal stamping company near Birmingham and the 3hp Briggs engines came 24 to a pallet. The (side mounted) finger tip starter as Briggs called it was about $5 more. (It was always fun to watch a newbie in the shop replace the rope and spring in one of those starters). We would sell about 100 of those mowers a year and was it a great way to keep mechanics employed in the off season. We sold the 20" mower for $49 and the 22" mower for $59 in 1966 and 1967.

 

[GrassSlicer]

I can imagine probably the same type of thing happened around here then. Today I cleaned the underside of the mower and used my grinder with a wire cup and got it real clean. Sprayed SEM rust mort on the entire underside and then after that dried self etch and painted with truck bed coating. I did that to my red and black one I mentioned about 6 years ago and it's worked great. No rust that I can see or any bubbles and keeps the deck sealed. This mower still had white paint underneath with very little rust. Only pin holes I could see were a couple on the back left corner but the deck still feels and looks strong.

 

[hanyoukimura]

Oh boy, it has been a while!

Honestly, life has been so busy I didn't have time for working on mowers. Some of the same ones from two years ago are still sitting in the garage. That's changing though. I want my a garage space back, and to do that I need to fix this backlog of mowers and find them new homes.

I'll post some photos of what I'm working on soon, but until then we'll start off with not a mower, but my winter project.

I got sick of that little Craftsman always getting bogged down in snow, and having to constantly fix the cheaply made body/handlebars. Decided I wanted a bit of an upgrade...so I found myself a Toro Powershift 824. I've always liked these and wanted one, so now I do!

I needed the carburetor rebuilt, some of the wiring fixed for the ignition switch, and the impeller shaft bearing replaced. The original was demolished, but the rest of the machine is in fantastic shape. Once I get the mowers sorted, I plan to touch up the paint. It's a beast, goes through heavy wet snow without pause, is really well built, no thing steel, and everything from the PowerShift feature to the electric start works. I love it!

 

[primerbulb120]

I saw an update to this thread and couldn't believe my eyes. It's been a while! Are you planning on getting back into the mower repairs on a regular basis, or just selling the remaining ones off?

 

[hanyoukimura]

I saw an update to this thread and couldn't believe my eyes. It's been a while! Are you planning on getting back into the mower repairs on a regular basis, or just selling the remaining ones off?

I think for now, I want to clear out the ones I have, so that way there's space to work on the roof in June and park my car in.

I do still enjoy working on them, so I think I'll just take on one at a time or something. Things are still pretty busy. Beend oing a lot of yard work this Spring, plus I have to prepare for the Chrysler Nationals come July. Busy busy!

What I have will keep me busy. I still have a Snapper to play with and a Lawn Boy I've had since like 2012 that I have never worked on!

I also have my Ariens disassembled to replace the friction disk ring and also to repaint the deck.

I took my Brute, the one that started it all, out of the basement for the first time in like 4 years. Fired right up! Cleaned it up and put it back down there lol.

Currently, I'm keeping an eye out for a Toro Recycler with a deck like this one, because I really like the deck design and would like to transfer my Suzuki 2-cycle to it.

 

[primerbulb120]

Have you encountered any of the newer Toros with the Kohler engines? They are everywhere down here.