I'm singing the Dead Lawnmower blues.

[KansasJack]

I bought a brand new Lawn Boy mower 2 summers ago and the thing has been in the shop twice already and it just broke again. Fresh gas, clean oil, clean air filter, new spark plug...still won't start. My previous Lawn Boy was a 1978 model that provided 28 solid years of service. What happened to Lawn Boy? I remember when they used to be considered top-of-the-line. I'm seriously considering getting one of those old fashioned reel mowers like the one my grandpa used to own.

 

[muddywater04]

those reel mowers are great.... get one now because the price has almost doubled in the past two years....
amazon.com.....

 

[Rat Rod]

I bought a cheapo Wal-Mart mower and it lasted nearly 10 years....not bad for $150.

It's all disposable these days...unfortunately. :roll:

 

[Hooch]

I used to work at a cub cadet dealer as a mechanic and remembering lawnmower repair is like an exwife.... you want to forget everything you knew about them lol

 

[KansasJack]

remembering lawnmower repair is like an exwife.... you want to forget everything you knew about them lol

Unfortunately I can relate to that as well. By comparison, my broken Lawn Boy doesn't seem so bad.

 

[fast eddie]

turn it into a soap box derby racer!
fast eddie outty

 

[CCR]

my father in law has had the same lawn boy for 20 some odd years and is still goin. but if yours is a 2 stroke, the newer gas/ethy mix will seperate the ethynol when mixed with oil, means when your tank is low your runnin on straight alcohol.

btw, i got a yard machines 22" 5 years ago with a 6hp briggs, runs like a top but the deck with rust out from under ya in no time, only lasted a year before the factory black washed off, the krylon has it glued together at the moment tho :lol:

 

[dangratsdan]

I bought a 20 year old LawnBoy over 20 years ago and it still runs great. The trick to LB mowers is to not turn it off, shut off the gas and let it run out of gas, this keeps the plug from getting oily. I gotta go mow, NOW, before it starts raining again.
Dangerous Dan

 

[skoda]

Is it a 2 stroke, or the new, stupid-stupid, EPA enforced non 2-stroke? If the latter, it might as well not be a Lawn Boy in my opinion. A Lawn Boy should always start and run forever, but you should have to pull no less than 1500 times to start it the first time... :lol:

I got an Airens a two years ago with swivel casters on the front, I love it.

 

[JoeyMac]

where's the picture of the lawnmower bike? I thought for sure someone would have posted it by now.

 

[tikiharl]

 

[bigredddaddy]

I've got a push-reel and it's awsome! Quiet, easy over hills, and no numb hands afterwards. And instead of buyin' gas, you can buy a 6'r. :mrgreen:

 

[ricksterr1221]

PSH! Forget all yall, I got a 60s snapper out of the garbage, brought home, put some gas in it. Started it up, Been using it for the past 4 years I LOVE GARBAGE PICKING.

 

[KansasJack]

Is it a 2 stroke, or the new, stupid-stupid, EPA enforced non 2-stroke?

It's the new EPA enforced non 2-stroke. My previous mower was the 2-stroke and it ran great; I didn't mind the fact that my clothes smelled like exhaust after cutting the grass. I found a local guy that will fix it. I nixed the idea of getting a reel mower because my yard is surrounded by trees and I have little twigs all over the grass. I heard that twigs and reel mowers don't get along very well.

 

[jadewombat]

I bought a cheapo Briggs and Stratton from Home Depot three years ago, I've had problems with it from day 1, plastic carburetor, the red priming button dried up and went bad, the tank rusted out and clogged the carb up, and I've had the carb. apart at least a dozen times from dirt clogging the filter up, but the gaskets kits are only a dollar. You see one of these newer B+S motors, turn around and run. They used to, like a lot of the models, be very good. You get what you pay for nowadays though. A decent Honda or Husqavarna will cost you, but almost never break.

I had a different intentions even before I bought this cheapo B+S of converting it to run on alcohol(ethanol or E85, whatever you want to call it). Let me reiterate, all the problems I've had have had NOTHING to do with me converting it to alcohol, it was a piece of junk giving me problems long before I converted it. Anyhoo, I would never cut up a perfectly good Honda either. The conversion was really simple. I took the carb, went to a machinist's shop and got a tiny drill bit the next size up that I need to bore it out(make it run richer). I changed the spark plug to a hotter grade one as well. That's it. I can run a mix of gas-ethanol from E50 all the way up to E90. I don't run straight alcohol as it dries out the gaskets and valves too quickly.

I make my own alcohol for fuel from fruit in my backyard and a simple pot still I bought on E-bay. The permits are free from the Feds for fuel purposes. I make about 2-3 gallons a year which isn't quite enough so I buy some E85 in a 5 gallon jug once a year. E85 is about $.30-40 cheaper than gas, sometimes even less.

I did have one of those push mowers, they work well on small yards as long as you don't let the grass get more than 4 inches tall. :wink:

 

[ricksterr1221]

Or just buy old mowers. HELLO Flea-Markets.

 

[KansasJack]

I found a reel mower at a garage sale on Saturday for $25. My local "mom & pop" hardware store had a reel mower sharpening kit in stock so I oiled it, sharpened it, adjusted the blades and mowed my lawn. Only two twigs got in the way. The Lawn Boy is still at the repair shop so this was a great way to get the job done!