My mower repair thread

[Vervepipes]

I spent the day doing some shed cleanout to work on closing out the season. I got the Quantum on the Husqvarna running, it actually didn't need anything but fresh gas. After that I tore absolutely everything off of the deck to get it down to steel free aluminum for my fall scrap metal run. I'm going to re-use the ball bearing wheels on my Homelite, the handlebar will go onto a Craftsman when I get a nicer one to work on, the engine will sit on a shelf with a "serviceable" tag on it so that I know for sure next year that it's ready for swap.

This is the Canadian Tire MTD that I got at the same time as the Husq. I don't have any before shots, but it had no wheels, the oil filler plug was missing with the crank case full of water, carb was filthy, starter rope was broken and the handle was snapped at the deck. I started with getting a good handle in place, drained the oil, or water for that matter, re-filled it with dirty oil, cleaned the carb, put on a good starter and tilted it back to start it for a minute (no wheels, didn't want to scalp the yard. After that , I drained the brown milkshake out of the engine and started working on the wheel situation. I hate non adjustable wheels, so I put on a spare set of adjusters. The Husqvarna ones didn't line up with the deck holes so I had to use another set. For the wheels I used black wheels that had Mastercraft and Craftsman full wheel caps on them and then put small Craftsman centres in place. The rear wheels are bigger than the fronts but they all have the same tread pattern. I think it turned out well, I can probably get $20 more now that the wheels are adjustable. After I cleaned and took pictures, I mowed a section of my lawn, about 20 minutes worth , and the oil was milkshake again so I drained the oil again and re-filled with oil. I hope that's the last oil change it needs, water in the crank case is not a good thing to have.

 

[Vervepipes]

Well that sold quick. I listed it, went to the store and had a call while at the store. The guy got to my house as I did and it went to a new home.

 

[Vervepipes]

Sold the Tecumseh powered self propelled MTD mower. I have one mower left for sale and I don't think I'm going to expend much more effort this year, it was a good season! Time to focus on enjoying what's left of the summer.

 

[Vervepipes]

Well I just can't leave well enough alone, there was an add on Kijiji for 3 free mowers, so I went and got them. One deck is trashed, one is pretty rusty and the third is OK. Deck one has a Briggs that turns over, I didn't try to fire it up yet but the deck is cracked. Pity because otherwise it's in decent shape. Deck # 2 is a basic MTD with the fixed wheels and bolted on handle bar. The holes for the handle bolts are very worn, the wheels are wobbly and the deck is flaky underneath, so I'll put on some spare wheel adjusters to take care of the wheels, I'll put on a bolt-on handle bracket to the top of the deck and I'll sell it as a beater. Deck #3 has a Briggs laid on top of it, not bolted down, with a seized cable and the top half of the handle bar doesn't fit. The deck is the same as deck #2 but in better shape. Bonus, there was a fourth engine, although I think it's stuck. Parts bin though. So it looks like I'll have two more mowers for sale this week.

 

[Vervepipes]

It's that time of the year again, time to break open the shed, break down the dozens of basket cases that I have and sort them into boxes of usable parts in preparation for the new season. I had a catastrophic bearing failure on my little trailer that I used with my Yaris and have not been able to find an axle to fit since it is such a small trailer. Canadian Tire will have galvanized Stirling trailers on sale later this week, $850 I think it was for the 4x6 trailer, I think I'll pick one up and use the mowers to pay it off. I don't think I have any usable decks to start the season off though which kind of sucks. On a side note, my local competitor that I also supplied parts to last year has folded. He called me to see if I wanted to buy a dozen leftover mowers and parts for $100, but I have neither the space nor money right now to take care of that. I saw him loading the stuff on a trailer later that day and I don't think there was $100 worth of stuff there, so I'm glad I passed.

I also figured out what I'll be doing during winters. I don't want to get into snow blowers because of the amount of parts involved and space needed for them. In an effort to renew my Roomba I discovered just how cheap I can buy parts in bulk for it, and they hold value used. I can buy a used Roomba for $20-$50 needing work, thoroughly clean it, give it a new battery, filter and brushes for about $35 and sell it for $120-$150. All while sitting on the couch in front of the pellet stove on a cold day.

Back to the main subject though. I worked hard and fast last year to break the previous year's sales. This year I'm now working alternating shifts, days one week, nights the next. Working nights will give me many more hours of daylight to work with so I hope to increase profits again. Here's to a new season of work!

 

[Lawnboy18]

Glad you are back! Good luck in your new season!

You could check out the scrap yards for an axle.

 

[Vervepipes]

I actually came into a good deal for a folding 4x8 trailer that is only a year old. It has a deck, is already assembled and is only $500, where a new one has no deck, comes in boxes and is $700+tax. This way I have a larger trailer to bring building materials to the camp and if I find and deals of a larger group of mowers I can fit several on it. 300Lb curb weight will be easy on the Yaris or Sienna, and being almost new I shouldn't have to worry about anything but grease for awhile. First I need to get over this persistent flu then I can start making shed room.

 

[Vervepipes]

Alright, lets get this going again. It's still a few weeks from when I started selling last year if I recall, so it gets cold quickly as the sun goes to bed. I picked this Craftsman up curbside and it had a few issues from the start. It had no blade, the pull rope was missing, I think the handle was the wrong one, the engine brake cable was missing, the brake bracket was bent, no air filter, no spark plug and wheels that were not wide enough so they wobbled badly. I quickly got to work putting reasonable, although still a bit wobbly, wheels on the machine, replaced the recoil housing with one that was ready to go so I wouldn't have to screw with installing a rope and finding a handle, put on the correct handlebar and engine brake cable, filled it with oil, installed a spark plug, put on a blade and gave it a pull..... only to have the handle jerk right out of my hand. Out of time I guess, which explains the missing blade. I hope the crankshaft is decent but until I re-time the engine who knows. Total time spent today was about an hour on and off as I was making supper. I need to place everything where I need them to get my time managed better, it'll be part of the spring cleanup. Tomorrow I get to take it apart again and see if I can find a timing key in my mounds of engines to get this ready to sell. The deck is decent, even borderline nice, it'll clean up well and I shouldn't have trouble selling this one.


I think I have 2 mower's worth of good decks that I can work with as well, plus one more if I can get my hands on a short shaft engine. Most of what I pick up have long shafts, since 75% of mowers I get have bolts that break on the mounting flange I have a harder time finding engines for short deck mowers. I also have about 2 dozen scrap engines that need to be broken down into usable units and then off to the scrap metal pile for the blocks.

I think I may even try selling some parts on Ebay, last time I was heavily involved with selling there though I got burned by a few less than honest buyers and it's left a foul taste in my mouth but I may be able to raise a few bucks there.

 

[primerbulb120]

Glad to see this thread going again!

Try soaking your engine mount bolts in penetrating oil and letting them sit overnight before you try to remove them. I've only ever had one mounting bolt shear off on me, and that was before I starting using penetrating oil.

 

[Vervepipes]

I replaced the shear key and it runs great. I had to replace the filter housing gasket though since I took the carb bowl off to clean. Even at 5 degrees it runs well so I'll sharpen the blade, clean it up and move onto the next mower, or rather pair of mowers that will become one. I have a pair of newer Craftsmans, one is high wheel with a garden hose port but with a cracked plastic front wheel retainer, bent handle and a cracked Quantum engine, and the other has either what could be a Honda, Chonda or Kohler, I don't remember but they generally look the same. It'll donate the front plastic, handlebar and engine onto the good deck and it should go together quite well. More pics to come.