The old one came with the house, and after a couple hours of turning wrenches and whatnot, I managed to get it running pretty well. But that was spring 05. It’s now almost autumn 06, and she’s fading fast. I couldn’t keep it running last night. It’s got fuel (it starts and runs, it just keeps stalling). I thought it might have been the spark, so I removed the spark plug, sanded down the carbon soot (or whatever it is) and re-gapped it - didn’t help. Air filter is old but not clogged. Oil was lower than full but above the bottom line (and I topped it off). I could tune it up, but I think I’d just be postponing the inevitable - my gut tells me the $25 or so to tune it would get me through autumn but come next spring I’d be buying a new mower anyhow.
Right now, the engine runs loud, and cycles low-high revs, then quits as soon as I start mowing - as soon as the motor is taxed, IOW.
So, what say you? Fix it, or buy new? And while we’re on the subject, how much for a new gas mower?
This would be the season to buy it. You have a large parcel, I would recommend some kind of Xmark or variation thereof.
Yeah, they cost alot, but everyone out here in our boonies that has one hasn’t regretted it.
We have a John Deere, which is good, but compared to my neighbors Xmark, I feel like I’m riding a turtle and the cutting job isn’t nearly as nice.
I have a foolproof money saving lawnmower tip. Years ago a friend of mine mentioned buying a new mower as my wife and I were contemplating doing the same. Ken and his wife only lived one street away - about 300 yards.
I realised that I only mowed the lawn every second week in summer and as little as once a month (or less) in winter, so I would only a use mower about 20 weekends a year. And since the same was true of Ken we went halves and split the cost of the mower. We each kept our own supply of fuel and shared all the costs for parts and servicing.
Years later when he moved away I paid him half it’s secondhand value and kept it and he was happy to not have to transport a mower.
My worlds collided. I used some of my college tuition money to buy a new lawnmower.
I just got reimbursed for spring semester classes on the 15th, so I have extra cash in checking. SmithWife advised me to charge the mower, but she’s got the charge card.
FTR, I got a rear-bagging gas mower with a 6.5 hp engine (B&S) for $240. Ikve never heard of the brand, Poulin or something (it’s in the trunk), but I gave it a thorough looking-over and I’m satisfied with it’s apparent quality. For an additional $60 I could had the s-p model, but I didn’t use the feature all that much with the other mower.
Yes, it’s certainly sturdy. I just mowed and it works a treat.
I put the old mower out on the curb with a sign “Free lawnmower runs needs tune up” and it was gone in less than 30 minutes. I also dragged the old Snapper mower out, too. The snapper came with the house like the toro, but the snapper needed too much work - a tune up minimum just to make it run. It was in slightly worse condition 18 months ago than the toro was today. Then it sat out behind the shed, neglected.
The snapper is still out there on the curb - no takers. I guess I’ll have to drag it back in tomorrow. My backup plan is to remove the engine (also Briggs & Stratton) and set it aside for my son (he’s not quite two yet, so it will be a few years before he’s ready to learn anout internal combustion engines).
Heh. A guy just pulled over, had a look at the snapper, and drove off without taking it. You can tell it’s in bad shape when you can’t even give it away!
I just bought a new mower a few weeks ago. My hold one had a scored cylinder and was throwing lots of smoke, and it had carb problems and needed a carb overhaul (I’ll bet the OP’s mower has carburetion issues as well).
It turned out that a new carb or an overhaul is almost half the price of a new mower anyway. So I went to Home Depot and bought a new mower - they had a program where they’d give you $100 credit for your own mower, so it was a great deal.
One thing that may help you decide to get a new mower - older gas mowers are huge pollution emitters. You can emit more pollutants in an hour of running a gas mower than in 20 hours of driving your car. The newest models are generally much cleaner.
I also got one with the extra-large back wheels, and I really like that feature. It makes the mower much easier to manoever around obstacles and on hills. And you can tip it up over curbs and such much easier. It’s a good feature to look for.
The high-low RPM says that it’s lean-badly lean. Mowers fail owing to the crap which builds up in the carburetor during the off season, because nobody shuts off the fuel supply and chokes it to truly run dry. If the mower is otherwise good-tear the carb apart, soak the body in appropriate solvent and blow the passages free with compressed air. Reassemble and adjust curb and load/high needles and you’ll be good to go.
If you want a near bulletproof push mower-buy a Lawn Boy. I used them as a teenager while working for a landscaping company and they were run hard. Bought a second-hand Lawn Boy when I bought my first house-it lasted ~15 years and it’s successor is easily 10 years old-another used Lawn Boy.
I have an electric lawn mower, with a nice 100 foot extension cord. Have had it for six years now, and it works just great, very quiet, no odors and with all the bells and whistles (can bag the grass or mulch, can set the height with a simple flip of a switch, etc.). My only regret is that I stupidly didn’t buy the rechargeable version so I wouldn’t need the extension cord. I realized later it was only about $50 more for that model.
Bought it at Home Depot and should it ever crap out, will buy another electric, but this time the rechargeable version.
Find a lawnmower enthusiast. Don’t laugh - they are out there. As a trainspotter, I find them very useful as an example of somebosy nerdier than I.
Annnyway, I know a bloke who is into tinkering with old mowers. REALLY old mowers, some of them. He always told me to go and see him if I wanted a mower. He’d sell me an old one for a few bucks as compared to a few hundred for a new one. Bear in mind these are not simply second-hand mowers, but second-hand mowers that have been stripped down, refurbished, and rebuilt. He told me that most of his mowers were as good as new, but even if it did crap out after a summer, just buy another one next year. If that one or the one after died, you could buy yet mower of these old mowers, and still have only paid a fraction of the cost of a new one, and have had a few years of mowing.
As long as it’s not smoking or knocking it can probably be repaired for cheap. Provided you do it yourself. Usually new points or electronic ignition and plug/s air filters and oil change, drain the gas tank and clean it good. Blow out the carb. put in fresh gas. new blades and unless there’s any major stuff that should do it. less than $50 for parts usually.
most mowers run poorly in the spring because they were put up in the fall with gas still in the tank and carb. always let the mower run out of fuel before storing for the winter. all garden equip. boat motors etc. should be stored with no fuel. The gas goes bad and will “lacquer” or “shellac” the tank and carb. when the motor warms up this film breaks down and gums up the jets. Its usually a simple matter to clean them out but not usually cheap.
