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:drink:So about a week ago, I saw what appeared to be a mower with a cast aluminum deck, pop up on Craigslist, just south of me. Ad stated it may have a bad head gasket, but ran, and pushed itself, and was otherwise complete. I called, left a message, and then missed his call back. It ended up working out, as I went and picked it up today, and it appears to run and mow just fine. The neatest part is the sticker of where it was bought, business is long gone, but the mower has lived in this area its whole life, and was maintained very well, excepting some surface rust obscuring the engine model/type/code line. STICKER PIC AT BOTTOM.
Without further ado, I present:












It's a keeper, I'm afraid, to The Boss's chagrin, but will prove useful, so I don't feel bad. I had never seen one with a cast aluminum deck, nor could I find any information about them on the interwebs. The only two I could find were both posted/owned by same guy, and he really didn't know much either. Now to give it a full tune-up, and eventually paint! Any body here pick out any identifying features chime in! I couldn't find a model no. on it anywhere, but full daylight inspection may help with that. ENJOY!!!:drink:

So with some light and a rag, cleaned off a couple stickers, revealing that it is a model M21-4SPZ. B&S 4horse, needs a little carb cleanup, and my phone wouldn't catch it right, but appears to have a "third main bearing" underneath, extra support for blade strikes, etc. I'm glad it self propelled, it weighs about 90+lbs. s

So it looks much better now, all washed up, needs a blade, and the hub for it, too. Found some, but not under bob-cat results, searched "sensation 21" ",and found a bunch of shared parts...weird. Time for a carb tune/adjustment, but can't find any info. Anyone know where I can find adjustment directions for a b&s 395957 carb? Or am I stuck buying a new one? This one works just fine, only idles at 3/4 throttle, though, revs up and runs fine, otherwise. Got to hammer back and weld up a rock ding in the deck, too!

Never mind! Found it! Spent all afternoon on my phone, hunting through every carb rebuild search I ever did, and lucked out!
Disassembly, Cleaning and Repair of Briggs and Stratton Tank-mounted Vacu-jet Automatic Choke All-temperature Carburetor - Vertical Crankshaft Engine
I'll let y'all know if this helps, it should, they cover about every carb out there.

So haven't done much, except clean her up, and oil change & spark plug. Runs better every time, but should do a carb refresh soon. Needs a blade and hub as soon as possible, still haven't gotten that far yet. Heckuva machine, tho.

Look familiar? I'm about to tear into this old warrior - everything is there, but can anyone tell me more about the dual shaft Briggs motors? This has a horizontal power take off shaft just above the deck, coming out of the aluminum crankcase, that powers the drive contraption. I've never seen this before and would like to know what I'm getting into before I break it...

I think this was from the late 1970s - perhaps early 80s. It belonged to my late father in law, who was as crusty and frugal as they come, but who also knew his industrial equipment. He would opt for simple, unadorned and high quality every time.

On the blower shroud, just above the spark plug should be a string of numbers, right below a Model/Type/Code. That'll give you what your engine is, and start you on track for parts. That's an *** kicker of a mower. I love mine. Heavy, but nice. http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/briggs_stratton_carburetor_cleaning_repair.asp
That'll more than likely have your carb rebuild for ya. Most engine parts are very available thru eBay or other engine cannibalism. I've yet to see if my local bob cat dealer has any drive or deck related parts.

Oh, and seeing as how it doesn't have a dead-man safety on it, it's at least 82 or earlier. The first four places in the code section of serial is the last two digits of year, and two digit month of engine manufacture, respectively.

Thanks!!

That'll get me started...

I'm inclined to rebuild rather than replace if I can do it sensibly - I expect this motor is as beefy as B&S made and worth the effort.

How she sits now...

And hard at work. New blade time already.

TheCaffeinatedOne said:

Look familiar? I'm about to tear into this old warrior - everything is there, but can anyone tell me more about the dual shaft Briggs motors? This has a horizontal power take off shaft just above the deck, coming out of the aluminum crankcase, that powers the drive contraption. I've never seen this before and would like to know what I'm getting into before I break it...

I think this was from the late 1970s - perhaps early 80s. It belonged to my late father in law, who was as crusty and frugal as they come, but who also knew his industrial equipment. He would opt for simple, unadorned and high quality every time.

Click to expand...

I have one of these mowers,bought new. Mine is the same color-the pumpkin orange or whatever it is. I bet the deck is almost a quarter inch thick
Where mine differs is that it is not self-propelled. It has probably 10 " rear wheels and really is not difficult for me to push. The beastie just flat pushes the grass a mile out that rear chute and never thinks about clogging up. Tough as a box of hammers.
You have quite a range of vertical adjustment with this mower. If you want to mow some 6" high grass,it can happen with the thing set at high setting. Let it dry out a day or so and mow it off some more. I have used this beast to mow grass and leaves into windrows for disposal. Cuts raking by half or more.

The engine is tired ,and I am thinking about replacing it with a 6 HP Harbor Freight to see how it goes.

I do have a Toro Personal Pace,just a pleasure to use.... but the old Bobcat still has its place in life.

Got bored tonight, working graveyard, took advantage of an empty maintenance shop and got to work. No pictures, but tore all four wheels off and hosed out the old grease and DIRT in the bearings with solvent, hand packed, and then greased via the zerk fittings. Dude. I should have done that forever ago. Rolls with one finger pushing it now. Night and day difference.

combatcarl said:

Dude. I should have done that forever ago. Rolls with one finger pushing it now. Night and day difference.

Click to expand...

I'll file that one away for when its my turn later this summer...

Found a blade hub/adapter on a frankenmower that matches the Sensation/Bob-cat design. Mine was missing one side of the flange. Came from a mower that was a Craftsman deck, 3.5hp from a Snapper, (by the crank key ways on it) and a hub adapter from a different mower. No key at all on the hub to crank interface... The blade rotated about 1" or so beneath the lip of the deck. But I digress. Now I'll match up one of my many blades, and be back cuttin grass!

I started tearing my Bob Cat mower down today and find that even though it looked pretty rough, everything seems to be there and is intact. The wheel bearings were dry and the rear two bearings probably need replacing; half a tube of grease later they are rolling nicely. One drive unit bearing is gritty and needs replacing; the other looks ok. The hardware on this thing is great - a little penetrating oil and everything loosened right up. When I removed the grass chute I could see the label on the mower itself - built by Wisconsin Engine Company; the last digits of the stamped number are 12615, the first few destroyed by where the chute wore through the id tag. I didn't know Wisconsin made these things!

The Briggs motor numbers are 110988 0401-01 78042104. This engine has an auxiliary PTO shaft perpendicular to the main drive shaft. Looks like it dates from 1978, but the Wisconsin Engine label confuses me a little. Any numbers wizards want to weigh in and help me track this down to ground?

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/briggs_and_stratton_model_locator.cfm
That should help a little. Also, from my research, I think they were built by Wisconsin Marine in the later years. I think I found that thru Wikipedia, looking up Ransomes. Mine is a Ransomes Bob-Cat.

TheCaffeinatedOne said:

I started tearing my Bob Cat mower down today and find that even though it looked pretty rough, everything seems to be there and is intact. The wheel bearings were dry and the rear two bearings probably need replacing; half a tube of grease later they are rolling nicely. One drive unit bearing is gritty and needs replacing; the other looks ok. The hardware on this thing is great - a little penetrating oil and everything loosened right up. When I removed the grass chute I could see the label on the mower itself - built by Wisconsin Engine Company; the last digits of the stamped number are 12615, the first few destroyed by where the chute wore through the id tag. I didn't know Wisconsin made these things!

The Briggs motor numbers are 110988 0401-01 78042104. This engine has an auxiliary PTO shaft perpendicular to the main drive shaft. Looks like it dates from 1978, but the Wisconsin Engine label confuses me a little. Any numbers wizards want to weigh in and help me track this down to ground?

Click to expand...

I have the same mower , in mint shape for year, was my grandfathers scene new , i need a new coil for it, thanks to jacks small engines.com i gave hime engine # and they have all the parts ,, if you need a coil the part # 298502 and new carb is 395957 its a great site, people on phone super friendly .

Starting to clean stuff up. The intake valve is stuck open; everything else seems functional. Lots of parts went through an evap o rust or apple cider vinegar bath and came out pretty sharp looking; when the time comes I'll polish up some of the cast aluminum pieces and hit them with a clearcoat. The recoil starter mechanism woke up after I sprayed PB lube in there and worked it a bit, so I haven't had to tear into any of that stuff. Need to change the rear wheel bearings - did you know that Bob Cats have roller bearings in the wheels? Roller bearings! I knew this little guy would be worth the effort.

The front should have roller bearings as well. At least mine does. I disassembled the wheels, was able to clean out the grease caked in there in a solvent tank. Then hand packed and reassembled, then greased via zerk fittings in front axle shafts, and on rears via zerks on inside of wheel.

combatcarl said:

The front should have roller bearings as well. At least mine does. I disassembled the wheels, was able to clean out the grease caked in there in a solvent tank. Then hand packed and reassembled, then greased via zerk fittings in front axle shafts, and on rears via zerks on inside of wheel.

Click to expand...

They do. The front wheel bearings are in pretty good shape. The rear wheels pretty much let me pump as much grease through as I wanted - the seals are shot. Whether that means the bearing is shot as well, I just don't know. I assume it does. I've found replacement bearings for about five bucks per wheel on ebay, so I may spring for a pair and use them to learn how to press bearings.

The solid rear tires are split as well, but seem otherwise intact. For now I'll simply run four quarter inch bolts through each sidewall and bolt 'em back together. It's a three dollar fix. Hope to fiddle with the intake valve this weekend. It would be a hoot to get this little guy running without doing major surgery; my respect for it grows a little each time I mess with the thing.

Update - Little guy cleans up well!

I found a stuck intake valve and got it loosened up, then there was a heck of a valve lash clanking happening in there, so I chickened out and took the motor to a repair shop to get the valves made happy. While the motor is being breathed on, I figured I'd clean up the rest of it and long story short, ended up priming and painting the deck and the handlebars with engine enamel. The closest I could get to the original color was Husqvarna orange, so that's what I used. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself, and high temp paint is pretty tough stuff. So here are a couple of pics all dressed up, plus a "before" pic showing a slightly compromised valve.

Now to get that little motor back and puttering happily...

Dang. That looks nice. I need to get mine apart and rebuilt, just for kicks. Couple rock dings in the deck to fix up, too. I think I can still find bobcat green paint.

TheCaffeinatedOne said:

They do. The front wheel bearings are in pretty good shape. The rear wheels pretty much let me pump as much grease through as I wanted - the seals are shot. Whether that means the bearing is shot as well, I just don't know. I assume it does. I've found replacement bearings for about five bucks per wheel on ebay, so I may spring for a pair and use them to learn how to press bearings.

The solid rear tires are split as well, but seem otherwise intact. For now I'll simply run four quarter inch bolts through each sidewall and bolt 'em back together. It's a three dollar fix. Hope to fiddle with the intake valve this weekend. It would be a hoot to get this little guy running without doing major surgery; my respect for it grows a little each time I mess with the thing.

Click to expand...

I have the same bobcat mower in orange and it runs great and cleans up nice. A real beast, I think I bought it around 1980. Only thing it needs is both 10 inch rear wheels with pulley (for self prop. belt). They were splitting as well and eventually the rubber just came off. I can't find the right wheels anywhere. The model number is totally warm off. Any suggestions?

Kick around online, bob-cat homepage, then click the link they to their parts system. Schiller grounds care is the parent company. Some parts are still available, but disappearing quickly.

Check on ebay - I saw some there a while ago. But also consider the DIY approach: use a rust breaker solution like PB blaster or something to pull the bolts holding the drive pulley sheaves in place and take them with you shopping for wheels. Bobcat offers wheels with the same roller bearings for its modern machines, although they are expensive. But also consider a TS or generic 10" wheel and bolt on the pulley sheaves. You'd need to check the axle diameter to see if they'll fit or if you need to do some toggling. I don't see any reason why the sheaves can't be retrofitted to a generic wheel/tire combination.

I also have split rubber on my rear tires and plan literally to bolt the halves back together. The idea is to fill the crack / split with a rubber bonding agent of some sort and then run 1/4 " by 2 " bolts right through the solid rubber tire; three or four of them. I figure if they don't fall apart immediately then they should be good for another five years. I've also found roller bearings for the wheels on ebay for five bucks a wheel and hope to swap out the old bearings. So this stuff can be done; you just have to think like a roll of duct tape now and then.

combatcarl said:

:drink:So about a week ago, I saw what appeared to be a mower with a cast aluminum deck, pop up on Craigslist, just south of me. Ad stated it may have a bad head gasket, but ran, and pushed itself, and was otherwise complete. I called, left a message, and then missed his call back. It ended up working out, as I went and picked it up today, and it appears to run and mow just fine. The neatest part is the sticker of where it was bought, business is long gone, but the mower has lived in this area its whole life, and was maintained very well, excepting some surface rust obscuring the engine model/type/code line. STICKER PIC AT BOTTOM.
Without further ado, I present:

It's a keeper, I'm afraid, to The Boss's chagrin, but will prove useful, so I don't feel bad. I had never seen one with a cast aluminum deck, nor could I find any information about them on the interwebs. The only two I could find were both posted/owned by same guy, and he really didn't know much either. Now to give it a full tune-up, and eventually paint! Any body here pick out any identifying features chime in! I couldn't find a model no. on it anywhere, but full daylight inspection may help with that. ENJOY!!!:drink:

Click to expand...

A buddy of mine found one exactly like yours!! Same model #. He's pretty proud of it but his too needs ALOT of work. After he restores it and gets it running do you have any idea what its worth?

I'm picking one of these up today that I also found on Craigslist. More to come.

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Last post was July 2017 .