My Lawn Mower Repair Thread (56k warning)

[hanyoukimura]

A female co-worker with great taste in mowers... nice. :cool2:

Here's a photo of my old Jake. It's got the Briggs engine like yours, alloy deck, and wheels made to last forever (if you keep them greased.)

The engine is pretty well gone since I used it a lot on sloped areas (oil goes to one side... bad :thumbdown: ).

I've got to fix it one of these days since I can't let it go. It was my main mower for many years in Atlanta before I subjected it to the tough terrain of Cleburne County.

They sure don't make them like they used to!

In all honesty my coworker knows nothing about lawn mowers, if I had told her it was dead she was just going to get a cheapo new one. Maybe I should have said it was dead. :tongue:

Oh, maybe you can help me with this one. It's a shroud on an older Briggs Quantum. The recoil spring is broken and I want to replace it but it's not held one with a screw like the newer models. How does it come apart?

 

[Two-Stroke]

They sure don't make them like they used to!

In all honesty my coworker knows nothing about lawn mowers, if I had told her it was dead she was just going to get a cheapo new one. Maybe I should have said it was dead. :tongue:

Oh, maybe you can help me with this one. It's a shroud on an older Briggs Quantum. The recoil spring is broken and I want to replace it but it's not held one with a screw like the newer models. How does it come apart?

I can't help with the recoil except to say that I'd look around for a good used replacement. There are lots of those old Briggs engines around.

Has your co-worker had the LB for a long time? It's a great mower -- definitely worth fixing.

 

[afoulk]

This thread is amazing! you have inspired me to start doing the same and I'm already looking around for mowers that people are throwing out. By far my favorite thread on any of the forums I belong too:thumbsup:

 

[hanyoukimura]

This thread is amazing! you have inspired me to start doing the same and I'm already looking around for mowers that people are throwing out. By far my favorite thread on any of the forums I belong too:thumbsup:

Thanks! Glad people enjoy this thread. :smile:

The older Lawn Chief just went to a new home, they seemed very happy with it. The Toro is now up and running. I was expecting a real can of worms in that carburetor but to my surprise it wasn't bad at all. Someone had drained all the gas out at some point, it was bone dry. All it took was a little cleaning on the inside (and a lot on the outside) and it started on the second pull! I was even able to reuse all of the parts except the needle, which had a but of rust on the tip, even the gaskets were in good shape. All it needs now is for the air cleaner assembly tog o back together, then a good cleaning and tune-up.

 

[Parkmower]

A female co-worker with great taste in mowers... nice. :cool2:

Here's a photo of my old Jake. It's got the Briggs engine like yours, alloy deck, and wheels made to last forever (if you keep them greased.)

The engine is pretty well gone since I used it a lot on sloped areas (oil goes to one side... bad :thumbdown: ).

I've got to fix it one of these days since I can't let it go. It was my main mower for many years in Atlanta before I subjected it to the tough terrain of Cleburne County.

Two stroke,
Want me to ship you a toro/Suzuki 2cyl engine for that jake? Then you can do all the hills you want. You cover shipping and I'll seriously do it. Will need an air filter, primer bulb and a blade.

 

[hanyoukimura]

By the way, Lawn Boys like the one I'm working on use 32:1 oil/gas mix right?

 

[Two-Stroke]

Two stroke,
Want me to ship you a toro/Suzuki 2cyl engine for that jake? Then you can do all the hills you want. You cover shipping and I'll seriously do it. Will need an air filter, primer bulb and a blade.

That's a very generous offer... thank you. :thumbsup:

However, I don't think the Suzuki engine will work on the Jake deck that I have. There is one unusual thing about that deck: the engine sits very low so the bottom part of the crankshaft is very short. I have a couple of those Toro/Suzuki mowers and I'm 99.99% sure that those engines would not work on the Jake because the [Suzuki] crankshaft is too long (measuring from the deck mount to the blade mount.)

My plan to fix the Jake is to use the present crankshaft along with some parts from some other old Briggs engines to make a reasonably good engine that will fit that deck. It would be great to have such a fine engine as the Suzuki on the mower but I don't think it's practical -- at least without some fairly expensive machine shop work.

 

[Two-Stroke]

By the way, Lawn Boys like the one I'm working on use 32:1 oil/gas mix right?

I run them at 50:1 since the newer, high-tech oils are better and can protect the engine very well even if diluted more. BTW, running 50:1 seems to reduce crud buildup in the exhaust system.

Don't forget to grease the wheel bearings -- that seems to be the thing that wears out first on the old LBs.

The Lawn-Boy F-series could be the best consumer push mower engine ever made and those alloy decks will last forever -- or until they get hit by something heavy and hard. :confused2:

 

[hanyoukimura]

I run them at 50:1 since the newer, high-tech oils are better and can protect the engine very well even if diluted more. BTW, running 50:1 seems to reduce crud buildup in the exhaust system.

Don't forget to grease the wheel bearings -- that seems to be the thing that wears out first on the old LBs.

The Lawn-Boy F-series could be the best consumer push mower engine ever made and those alloy decks will last forever -- or until they get hit by something heavy and hard. :confused2:

I told her32:1 although in all honesty the test fuel is my 50:1, hah

Perhaps in hindsight I should have told her it was junk and kept it for myself. :tongue:

Finished it up today and mowed the front yard with it and the Toro (also finished). I have to say its pretty quiet considering its a 2-stroke, i guess since the exhaust comes out under the deck? It really flings the grass!

Here's come photos of how it cleaned up. Pretty good I think, it was mostly caked on dirt. But first, the scary air "filter".



Can't believe the carburetor hadn't clogged up! Took 20 minutes just to clean the housing and cover out.



And here it is all done:













I also finished the Toro up today:



















Not bad for what had originally been on its way to the scrap heap.

Starts first pull every time too. I'm quite pleased with how this one turn out.

 

[Two-Stroke]

They both look fine. I hope you told your co-worker and LB owner what a fine machine she owns.