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This is the new mower I got today of kijiji for $20.00. Its a Murray with a 3.5 Classic B&S. I got it running but it seems to run pretty rough even after a carb cleaning. Compression is strong @ 120. I Tthink I'll grab a carb kit for it and see if that helps. Anyway here are some pics.

I hope your not trying to make a profit on it lol $25 is what I would pay running. Just saying

Finally had some time to get to work on this. Put this on kijiji yesterday and it sold right away. I got $80.00 for it. I got it running nicely and re-painted the engine and deck with some left over paint i had from another job. I put a $5.00 pull cord on it and a $6.00 carb diaphram. Here are the pics of the finished product.

Found the before pics of this one. It was a little rough but turned out okay in the end.

Also did my first engine swap today. Took the motor off an old craftsman with a rotted deck. Engine runs strong. Put it on a poulan pro that had a seized quantum on it. It turned out well, i don't think it looks all that redneck either.

The poulan that will soon have a new heart.

The finished product. Should easily get $40.00 for this come summer.

I've been doing the same thing with a lot of mowers I've either picked up cheap at yard sales, taken them in on trade when they bought one of my other recycled mowers, or just had people call me and tell me to come get them.

I haven't gone into painting the engine or the top of the decks yet but, I have spent some time under the decks getting them cleaned up and spraying a couple of coats of yard sale paint on them. Helps a bit to keep the rust down. I'll also clean up the mower blades, sharpen them, and give them a coar of paint as well.

Pretty much all my mowers I sell go for around $50-80 unless it's a Toro, then you can ask around $100 for them.

My most recent Super Deal I made was buying a Troy Bilt leaf blower with the recoil spring in a bag. I spent some time getting that one together but, ended up making a special tool to use for that particular spring.

I put the leaf blower on CL for $50 after cleaning it up and cleaning the plug.

Guy brought me $30 and an OLD Troy Bilt mower as well as a John Deere Rider missing the mower deck.

The Troy Bilt needed the spark plug cleaned and fresh gas, funs like a champ. $75 for sale on CL

The John Deere needed the fuel petcock turned on... $150 for sale on CL (Had to buy a ball joint for $40)


Super Deals like that happen with me all the time. Some folks just call and tell me to come pick them up.

Put an ad on CL saying you're looking for small engines and prepare for your phone to start ringing.

Right on! Love to hear about others that enoy tinkering with things. This is an awesome site. Thanks for the reply. I look forward to repairing a few i've got over the winter to have a couple to sell for spring. Also got a half dozen grass trimmers to sell as well. They don't go for much but still fun to work on none the less. Got an old Eaton snowblower that i've been considering converting to a sweeper. Not sure though. I will post more pics once some room opens up in the garage and i can get back to work!:smile:

Glad to see you are having fun, and it's never bad to make a buck or two. I remember the first couple of times that I successfully "swapped" an engine. Figuring out all of the variables could prove to be a task. (shaft length and diameter, blade set-up, and cable orientation) Initially my time investment greatly outweighed the monetary gain, LOL. But no form of education comes "cheap". There is noting like the feeling I get that comes from admiring my finished product. I also enjoy repairing things because it saves them from the dump. It seems that everything is "throw-away" these days and anything I can do to limit that is a win. One thing that I learned early on is that there is an endless resource for equipment out there. (people throwing things away, customers leaving or donating, or people just dropping things off, and a small want ad where I offer a fair price for stuff that is high on my list) I have gotten much better at picking out what to invest my time in to make the most money. When I got this one, it was in really rough shape. Soon, it will look like new again. (Hopefully anyway)

d_sharier said:

Glad to see you are having fun, and it's never bad to make a buck or two. I remember the first couple of times that I successfully "swapped" an engine. Figuring out all of the variables could prove to be a task. (shaft length and diameter, blade set-up, and cable orientation) Initially my time investment greatly outweighed the monetary gain, LOL. But no form of education comes "cheap". There is noting like the feeling I get that comes from admiring my finished product. I also enjoy repairing things because it saves them from the dump. It seems that everything is "throw-away" these days and anything I can do to limit that is a win. One thing that I learned early on is that there is an endless resource for equipment out there. (people throwing things away, customers leaving or donating, or people just dropping things off, and a small want ad where I offer a fair price for stuff that is high on my list) I have gotten much better at picking out what to invest my time in to make the most money. When I got this one, it was in really rough shape. Soon, it will look like new again. (Hopefully anyway)

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I had that same mower and I sold parts off it then took it to the scrap yard. I fix used mowers every year for my shop and I sell about 20-30 used push mowers a year
I try not to buy any mowers I get most of them for free or customers don't pay there bill and I take the mower for the repair. I also sell new mowers
so I get a lot of mowers that are traded in.

I dont spend to much time chasing $50 mowers. I'd bet if you were aware of the value of that Lawn-Boy.(if it truly was a commercial model) Scrapping it would have never crossed your mind.

d_sharier said:

I dont spend to much time chasing $50 mowers. I'd bet if you were aware of the value of that Lawn-Boy.(if it truly was a commercial model) Scrapping it would have never crossed your mind.

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So where did the 50 dollar comment come from? and I also get a lot of lawn boy stuff through here but it don't mess with it. it is now worth my time customers are not looking
for older units they are looking for something newer and running good they don't care about the brand.

Flintmotorsports said:

So where did the 50 dollar comment come from? and I also get a lot of lawn boy stuff through here but it don't mess with it. it is now worth my time customers are not looking
for older units they are looking for something newer and running good they don't care about the brand.

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The old lawnboys have a following I don't make them a priority but I like to rebuild and sell them once and a while they sell for top dollar if rebuilt and have accessories I sold one not to long ago had bag and chute and mulch plug it was a 60's model and self drive spent about $125 sold it for 400

ok I see that a lot of people like rebuilding lawn boys but it is not for me all I do with them
is I sell them as is to someone that will put the time and money into the unit to make it work again
or I sell it to people looking for parts machines.

The $50 comment was just that, a comment. It was't directed at you. I was more of a statement. When I started this (kinda of like the original post) I would flip $50-$75 mowers all the time. As time progressed, as well with experience, I became a little more selective at what I want to repair and then sell. It's a matter of time, money spent, and profit made. The Lawn-Boy stuff is my hobby. I like to restore them. I try to keep at least on restoration going to help break up the chaos of customer work. I tend to gravitate to the 2-cycle equipment. There are not a lot of guys around here that still work on it and the demand for work is high. If you have the right tools and education you can make a decent living on it. I am not a dealer for any new equipment so I realize that is a different ball game. I guess I am not sure why you threw your comment in about "took it to the scrap yard" anyway. I made a comment directed to the other fella's that were talking about fixing there mowers. The guy appears to be new at this and may have caught "the bug" that we all do. He showed off his project and the first response was kind of a stab. Just sayin'. I remember what kinda crazy stuff I got into the first few seasons I did this. I know I have spent way more time and money than I should have on tons of equipment. I think most of us have. It's part of the learning curve. I was only trying to give some positive feedback. I wouldn't expect someone who owns a brick and motar dealership to spend much time painting and rehabing push mowers. My guess would be your too busy for that, especially if you sell parts. I used to sell about 60-80 push mowers a season (only because I am in an area that will swallow every $80 mower available, city lots) I prefer now to put my 40 hrs in on customer stuff now and keep a project or 2 going on my own.(Lawn-Boy's or chainsaws and backpack blowers) I do far better financially (and mentally LOL) to restore old 2-cycle mowers and sell them. Customers get a quality piece of commercial equipment. (that mower in my pictures is from 1985 and it still runs great) I can't think of a new commercial mower on the market that will still be cutting grass 30 some years from now. I totally agree with your statement about most people not caring about brands anymore. There is little difference in quality anymore. Most customers don't care about brand, the equipment's ability to complete the task they have, maintenance, or taking care of it. But they tend to care a TON the moment it doesn't start and run. LOL. That is why I have toned down on selling a broad spectrum of equipment. Most of the people that are willing to spend 4-5-600 dollars on a 30 + year old mower tend to know what they are buying and what to expect from it. So that's it, no hard feelings, again that $50 comment wasn't an insult to you or your business.

No hard feelings here I was just saying the I took that mower to the scrap yard because I thought it was no good but from now on
I will no longer take any lawn boys to the scrap yard for scrap I will find the right buyer to give it a new life. as far as new mower go
I sell ariens mowers and some people say they are junk but most know that ariens Is top of the line. most people on here are doing
this as a hobby on here but I am doing it to make money that is the bottom line if I don't make money I will lose everything I got if I
don't pay the bills that is why I don't mess with mower that need to much work. I do like to see the before and after pic on here of what
people do to there unit I think it is very cool to see a unit not go to the scrap yard and get a new life.

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. I was a little disheartened by the first response trying to take the wind outta my sails on my first post. Some people are just negative. I actually ended up making just under $50.00 in profit on that particular one so it just goes to show that he didn't have a clue about the market in my area. Not bad considering i'm not really trying to make a profit. So long as i recover the cost of purchase and parts i'm happy. I'm just trying to learn about small engines and this is a very inexpensive and readily available way to start. Its suprising how much you can learn with each job/repair done. There also seems to be an almost endless supply of mower/lawn equiptment out there for the taking. Since i started Almost everyone i know has offered me some kind of lawn/garden equipment for free. As well as generators, pressure washers all kinds of things to fix and play with. I will continue to post my projects once i'm up and running again.(Just welded new box sides and rocker panels on my truck and had it painted so its taking up the garage until i finish putting the peices back on.) Please continue to share your feedback/tips they are very much appreciated. Nice to chat with like minded people that don't think its crazy to breathe new life into an old mower and keep it from the scrapper.

Thanks agian guys. Until next time.....:smile:

Don't get me wrong I like people keeping machines out of the scrap yard but I did not mean to sound negative about my post all I was saying is I have that
mower and I took off what I thought was with any thing and then took it for scrap. I am sorry If it bothered you in any way keep up the good work.

Sorry Flintmotorsports I should have been more clear. wasn't referring to your post actually. I'll just stop talking and not put my foot in my mouth anymore. Lol. Don't mean to be negative about anyone. My apologies. Hope you can look past. I appreciate your comments and enjoy hearing what others are working on. Thanks again for the replies. I look forward to talking to you in the future. :thumbsup: