My mower repair thread

[hanyoukimura]

Most small engine shops carry p/n 795083 which contains the diaphragm and gasket. Depending on how friendly you are with them they can order you larger quantities.

You can also get them from Amazon:

Amazon.com : Briggs & Stratton 795083 Carburetor Diaphragm : Lawn And Garden Tool Replacement Parts : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon also sells p/n 5083K which is a kit that comes with the diaphragm, gasket, spring, and screen (currently its cheaper than 795083)

Amazon.com : Briggs & Stratton 5083K Carburetor Diaphragm : Lawn And Garden Tool Replacement Parts : Patio, Lawn & Garden

What I've learned doing this hobby is that its important to become familiar with who sells what and their prices. I use a combination of Amazon, the local small engine shop, jacks Small Engines, Parts Tree, and the local auto parts store. Finding the best prices helps maximize profitability, and knowing who has what maximized turnaround time.

Hope that helps!

At least mowers seem to be easy to come by...around here not so much.

 

[Vervepipes]

Yes, I for sure have been getting familiar with who has what and for how much. I know that Home Depot has the cheapest Tecumseh primer bulbs, Princess Auto if it needs a pull handle or control cable, Wal-Mart for spark plugs and Tecumseh filters, Canadian Tire for blades. Unfortunately it's tough to shop online here because most sellers are in he States and shipping is usually way overcharged, like 10 bucks for a 3 dollar gasket that actually costs a dollar to mail, or the newest E-Bay money grabbing scam where the seller charges an international shipping fee on top of the shipping price that is supposed to cover things like customs brokerage, even though anything under $100 is not subject to duties. I am always on the look out for the best bargain in parts buying

 

[hanyoukimura]

I wish there was a Home Depot or Lowes near me. Closest ones are 40 minutes away, and all I have are a small Ace and Aubuchon which carry very little for small engines and what they do carry is overpriced.

 

[Vervepipes]

Both of the red MTD's sold today, and I got a Murray for free with one of the sales. That one has a decent deck and is destined to have a 5 HP Quantum that needs a new throne. That makes 16 re-homed mowers with zero returns or complaints. I never would have imagined that a hobby would take off like this, I've actually made more income with this than my wife has working at Wal-Mart for the same period of time. Maybe I should hire her as my inventory/salesperson, then I'd have loads of time to pump more out. Hmmm.....

 

[Vervepipes]

The Ariens is now propelled again and for sale. Hopefully it goes quickly, I'd hate to practically give that one away. I've been working on another mower today as well, a self propelled one I picked up last week I think. I got it to the point where it ran using Craftsman parts, again with a goofy looking mower, then I noticed a rusted crack in the deck near the engine mounting holes. Bummer. So I'm fine tuning it and the governor and the governor clip breaks. GRRR!!!! OK, I'm not going to get out-witted by a mower, so I grabbed a throttle cable from a Briggs, drilled and screwed a clamp onto the shroud which to my surprise makes it look like it was supposed to be there all along. I'm mounting the engine on a mower I got yesterday on trade, a Murray or MTD, I don't remember. I check my spares supply and I happen to have a rear bag for the deck, bonus! All is not lost. What sucks is that the Bolens I let go cheap earlier could have been sold with an operational drive system had I known of this deck crack. I wonder if I can cut a hole in a similar deck and re-use the belt shroud and drive system. Hmm, maybe a project for later. I'll just have to remember how everything goes when I strip that chassis for scrap. So a good start to a fixin' day, followed my lots of cursing, with a little light at the end of the tunnel. My beer low light is on.....

 

[Vervepipes]

This is the worst deck I've ever seen, I have no idea how it could have been close to functional.



As it turns out the front shroud goes onto many common MTD decks, so I found a home for it.

This mower I picked up, shroud in pieces, no gas cap in the rain, covered in mud. I tinkered with it and when I figured it was safe to do so I tried to start it. It was priming but not starting. I wound up pouring gas into the air intake and after a few tries at this it sputtered to life and a few minutes of white smoke and what seemed like dust came out of the exhaust. Once that settled down I let it cool down, primed it for a cold start and it stared first pull and ran perfectly smooth so I mowed the lawn with it. I also tried to put on the tall wheels but the rear bag plate/mount/handle mount is clearly not the same size, so the wheels rub on 1/2 of the adjustments. The piece will fit, but the bag is not the same mounting style so I'd lose some value on the sale if it didn't have a bag. I'll put the original wheels back on, clean her up and send it on it's way to a new home. The front shroud makes it look nicer though for sure. Maybe I have a bag that works somewhere but I doubt it. I may have a spare upper air filter shroud to replace the missing one there. This one will clean up nicely.

 

[hanyoukimura]

That's quite a rotten deck!

Reminds me of an MTD deck I got that was also severely rotted (had a good engine though)

 

[exotion]

What do these people do. Park them in a salt puddle and say ehh good enough

 

[Vervepipes]

What do these people do. Park them in a salt puddle and say ehh good enough

Not too far off. This one I picked up a stone's throw from the sea, so anything left outside around there quickly rusts away if left outside. There's something about this common MTD deck style though that makes me think it must be made of inerior metal, because almost every rotten mower I pick up has this exact style of deck. Maybe a combination of inferior metal and poor quality paint mixed in with owner neglect.

 

[Vervepipes]

The 6HP Craftsman mower that I special order built FINALLY went to it's new home. Since he is a co-worker I only asked $60, but since I drove it to his house he gave me 80, plus an old Noma Gran Prix mower. The deck is in great shape but the 3.5Hp Briggs is a little sluggish and bogs easily. I really wonder what's with older mowers and mounting the engines backwards. No pics yet, it's raining and I'm out of shed space, so I don't want to leave this survivor outside. This weekend I'm planning on building an engine and misc parts shelf in my work shop, that will clear up a lot of room from mowers with rotten decks.

Another one close to ready for sale is a cordless electric. The owner didn't know if the battery quit or the charger quit.I picked up another similar one last week but the battery wouldn't take any charge. The charger is identical and now the one I got yesterday is charging. Once I get it mowing I'll note the run time and list it for sale. This one is quite nice, metal deck, wide comfortable handle and not goofy looking.