Does anyone else have a two-stroke Lawn Boy?

Sweet commercial LB!:thumbsup:

L8R,
Matt

Had one back in the mid 80's and made the mistake of letting it go.
Searching for a replacement.
Is self propelled system worth considering? Does it add significant weight?
What models would be best to search for?

Hello,

A Duraforce is the last 2 cycle Lawn-Boy made. It does have issues with ignition coils going bad an a somewhat temperamental carb that can be overcome.

An F engine Lawn-Boy is another possibility but they are older and getting harder to come by.

The Duraforce was made from 1998 to 2004, but even they are getting scarce. A 10323 has a steel deck and a 1 speed transmission. It's a good mower, the drive is much better than the capstan drive mower you probably had.

Regards

Jeff

jp1961 said:

Hello,
A Duraforce is the last 2 cycle Lawn-Boy made. It does have issues with ignition coils going bad an a somewhat temperamental carb that can be overcome.
An F engine Lawn-Boy is another possibility but they are older and getting harder to come by.
The Duraforce was made from 1998 to 2004, but even they are getting scarce. A 10323 has a steel deck and a 1 speed transmission. It's a good mower, the drive is much better than the capstan drive mower you probably had.
Regards
Jeff

Click to expand...

I see DuraForce mowers listed.
I seem to run across 4 number model number mowers rather than the 5 number models.
Somewhere I read that there were some models with metal carbs. I recall that modern pump gas is not friendly to some plastics; Are the plastic carbs susceptible?

How do I know an "F" engine model?

Is there a categorized list of what is what somewhere?

The F engine would probably be found on a steel deck mower, muffler exhausts below the deck while the bigger Duraforce has a more conventional muffler and outlet. Both of these would probably have metal carbs. No expert, haven't seen a lot either but just what I've run across here and there. The self propelled mowers I've run across had the dog leg handle, bunch of crap in my opinion, regular simple push mowers were still pretty decent machines. Get some argument there for sure.

F engine has a donut shaped muffler under the deck a Duraforce has the muffler above the deck.

Regards

Jeff

Thanks guys.
I can imagine there is less noise having the muffler under the deck.
Would still like to find a general model reference guide. No luck searching so far.

Hello,

The Duraforce was a product Lawn-Boy produced after being "acquired" by Toro.

The F engine was a Lawn-Boy engineered and produced product.

A lot of Lawn-Boy purists consider the F engine as the epitome of 2 stroke technology. They may be correct.

The Duraforce Lawn-Boys were sold via big box stores to the masses, where as before, if you wanted a Lawn-Boy, you went to a Lawn-Boy dealer and paid a premium price.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the Duraforce,,,it's a very good 2 cycle engine, problems with it can be resolved.

The F engine with it's under deck muffler was quiet,,,sounding like a muffled moped, the Duraforce is quite a bit louder with an above deck muffler.

In short, the F engine sounds like a muffled moped where as the Duraforce sounds more like a dirt bike.

Regards

Jeff

I have one, model number R8237AE. I'll get some pics up laterer. My dad bought it for my mom to use for mowing the lawn when I was about a year old. It even has electric start. Starter may need work as even after I had Batteries Plus rebuild the battery pack in 08-09, the electric start still didn't work. I even have a service manual, battery charger, bag, and leaf shredding plate for it.

2 questions:

1 It chews thru pinion gears(the one with the helix on the inside) like that is it's job. I think I have replaced 5 in 15yrs of ownership. Unfortunately dad has not been much help in figuring out why, or how to stop it from doing so. I had another with a steel deck(hated it, too heavy) but I had it for 5yrs, and it never once chewed up a gear. Of course it's self propel system needed work every season or 2. And the motors were different enough that I couldn't just swap em...

2 Why on earth doesn't anyone make a staggered deck mower anymore? Lawn Boys are the only ones I've ever seen. They handle soooooooooooooooo much better than the rectangles everyone else makes. Even the modern "Lawn Boys" at Home cheapo are rubbish handling rectangles.

I repaired few of those with pinion gear wearing out.Good friend lawnboy dealer told me fix.Just have to plug up small hole in there some where on the bottom.He would say that vacuum in the housing would pull all lube. Like I said did many of them and never come back with drive problem.Dan