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Hi all! New member!

Yesterday I dragged home a riding mower from my mother-in-law's house. It has, unfortunately, been sitting in the sun unused for AT LEAST 2 years, and before that, very likely lived unprotected in our great Florida weather. I don't know how well it was mechanically maintained. Appears "rode hard and put up wet".

Here's what I know about this thing:
- It appears to be a Craftsman or Western Auto Wizard Plus (I can't determine because the writing is faded and stickers are missing). Mom in law doesn't know where the manual is.
- The engine is a Kohler Magnum 20hp.
- Though the attached image doesn't show the front, the bumper is a nice dual-metal pipe. The headlights are a single plastic piece (broken unfortunately) that does not curve around the hood.
- 50" cutting deck.
- This mower is an older type, manual shift, no hydrostatic.
Using this information, can anyone tell me exactly what model and year (range) this mower is? The only manuals I've found online appear to be for newer models.
Is this a good mower? Is the engine good quality?

I rebuilt the starter already, and it is now turning the engine over.
I've pulled the gas tank and dumped the bad fuel, and will be rebuilding the carb tomorrow (time allowing). I will also be replacing the fuel line and filter, and air filter.

The transmission is very difficult to shift. In fact, I've thus far only been able to get it to shift into neutral. I'm guessing these transmissions have changable fluid, so I'll also be checking into that.

I've played with my cars here and there, but never a small engine like a mower, so this is a new experience for me!

Once (if) I get it running, I will very likely want to give it a new paint job and spruce it up a bit.

I would appreciate any comments/suggestions you guys might have about working on this. Thanks!

Definitely looks like an AYP/Craftsman, early-mid 90s. Do the blades have a star shaped hole or round?

Find any part numbers you can, on plastic parts, throttle/choke cable, transmission, belts, that will give us more clues, especially the trans.

Fish said:

Definitely looks like an AYP/Craftsman, early-mid 90s. Do the blades have a star shaped hole or round?

Find any part numbers you can, on plastic parts, throttle/choke cable, transmission, belts, that will give us more clues, especially the trans.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! It wouldn't surprise me that it's nearly 20 years old.

So far I've been able to obtain engine model:
Model: MV20
Spec: 57527

Almost done with the carb rebuild! (Yes, I'm excited, because this is my first!) Friend will be "checking my work". I've also made new gaskets.

The jet needle in the middle doesn't seem to come out of the carb. My friend hasn't looked at it yet, but he seems to think it should. Anyone know if it should?

I'd like to replace the rubber gasket that seals the bowl, but I don't want to pay a bunch of money. (Carb rebuild kit at Kohler is $32.95). According to some guys at the auto parts store, the seal is supposed to be flat on 2 sides. The old rubber seal is not broken, so I've been told I can use black gasket maker to seal it all up. Any thoughts?

I've bought, but not yet equipped, the new fuel hose and filter.

Using any type of sealer in a tube around a carb is a bad idea. There are too many small ports and orifaces which can become plugged.

This manual may come in handy.

http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Koh...ir-Manual-Magnum-MV16-MV14-MV17-MV18-MV20.pdf

Rivets said:

Using any type of sealer in a tube around a carb is a bad idea. There are too many small ports and orifaces which can become plugged.

This manual may come in handy.

http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Koh...ir-Manual-Magnum-MV16-MV14-MV17-MV18-MV20.pdf

Click to expand...

Yeah, I would have MUCH RATHER had a proper gasket. But it looks like the only way I can get one is by buying $40 carb rebuild kit, money I do not have right now. I put a very small bead around the outside edge of the old gasket, and assembled. No leaks so far.

Very surprising to me, the engine fired the first time I primed the carb!

I found a sticker on the rear fender that verifies it's a Western Auto tractor. I failed to get the numbers from it thus far, so couldn't post here.

Other than that, I replaced the fuel line and fuel filter, cleaned out the fuel pump which was also very grimy, and replaced the spark plugs. So far $25 investment.

Not sure what happened, but the headlights were dangling from the bottom, not seated in the lighting fixture. I've cleaned them up and remounted, along with pulling and cleaning the switch, so they're back operational.

Current status: The tractor is reassembled and running consistently. It still needs the transmission fluid changed, but it is shifting after some work. (Though I know the engine is at top speed, 6th gear seems to be a bit slow for such a large machine.) There's still a lot of gunk from oil leakage and other various cleanup.

I'm considering repainting it to help protect it from decay. I'd like to paint the hood (plastic) and the metal framework. Will likely require pulling it all apart, and sanding, priming, etc. What kind of paint would be best to complete this job?

I posted a YouTube video of its "maiden re-voyage" here, if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHLE88_Xil8

On rusted metal, use Rustoleum's Rusty Metal primer, just paint right over the rust. I think they make a primer for faded plastic too.

I won't try to get any more detailed on the age model number of your mower, unless you can give more details. So far we know it is an AYP made in the
early to mid nineties, find me some part numbers anywhere on it, I can probably get you the model number and year.

Belt, cable, plastic parts, trans number, metal part numbers, anything would help.

The model number is AYP8209A59.

Even though the oil appears to be new, I am going to go ahead and change it out. Based on things I've read, it sounds like it should be replaced with 10w30. Filters for it look like they run around $10 online. Is there a good filter I can buy at an auto parts store? I can usually get auto filters for about $5.

I've done some research, but I can't find what type of fluid/oil to use in the transmission. I've read anywhere from 50w to 20w.