25 year old lawn mowers

S

Snagglefoot

Joined
Dec 31, 2017
Messages
17,945
Location
SE British Columbia, Canada
Time goes by fast. My neighbour asked me to help him with his lawn mower. I took a look at it and it’s a B & S manufactured in 1998. It’s was relegated to the shed and he bought another one, but would like to resurrect this one as a spare.

Firstly, the kill switch/ braking cable has stretched and is stuck in the off position with the flywheel brake applied. I ordered up a new knock-off cable from Amazon. Then I got a good look at the fuel hose. Totally dry rotted.

While Bittogers worry about what motor oil to use, the mowers fall apart around the engine. The next issue will be the carb, which I can replace it for $20. My charge will probably be parts plus a bottle of rum. The size to be determined.

Here are two shots of the kill switch and cable. The red circle shows where it shorts out to kill the engine and the blue box shows the brake pad. The second shot shows the switch rotated into the running position. With the cable stretched, the assembly can’t pivot enough to open up the switch or release the brake. The third shot is the rotten hose. The plastic tank is unbolted and set aside. Worth fixing?

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Does it run now, with the new cable? The carb is not a wear item and doesn't need replacing unless it is bad. They can always be restored with a thorough cleaning and new rubber needle seat which is about $2.00 on Amazon. The fuel line is standard 1/4 inch ID available at any parts store.

These engines seldom wear out unless abused with lack of oil. Usually the rest of the mower such as the deck and wheels becomes beyond repair first.
 
oil pan 4 said:
The cheapest mower at Lowes right now is like $280 and absolutely no way it will last 20 years, it's a plastic piecenof junk. So yeah the 25 year old Briggs is worth fixin.
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From the pics I can sort of see that it may be a Craftsman push mower from the green deck. Those mowers will last a heck of a lot longer than anything new from the box stores. I don't really even work on box store mowers anymore unless it is just to do maintenance, because they usually are not worth the money to fix for the problems that they have.
 
jeepman3071 said:
From the pics I can sort of see that it may be a Craftsman push mower from the green deck. Those mowers will last a heck of a lot longer than anything new from the box stores. I don't really even work on box store mowers anymore unless it is just to do maintenance, because they usually are not worth the money to fix for the problems that they have.
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Yes, it’s a Craftsman with those super sized rear wheels with ball bearings. The thing nearly took off down the hill by itself!
 
mk378 said:
Does it run now, with the new cable? The carb is not a wear item and doesn't need replacing unless it is bad. They can always be restored with a thorough cleaning and new rubber needle seat which is about $2.00 on Amazon. The fuel line is standard 1/4 inch ID available at any parts store.

These engines seldom wear out unless abused with lack of oil. Usually the rest of the mower such as the deck and wheels becomes beyond repair first.
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Still waiting for the cable. And yes I’ll buy a chunk of hose and see if it will start. I removed the heavy spring in the first photo and for now disabled the kill cable.
 
For a $20 carb and a big bottle of rum? Dang right fix it! It'll probably last another 25 years.

And while the carb isn't necessarily a wear item, it is cheap enough to replace rather than go through the hassle to disassemble and clean. Had numerous coffee cans full of OPE carbs and solvents, and while some ran well afterwards, some didn't. Lots of time ate up trying to make a pot metal piece full of tiny passageways work right.
 
I bought my mower in 1997, and it will start on the first pull just about every time. The only thing I've replaced was the blade and the air filter. Those things were made to last. It may have had 6 oil changes in it's life and like was said, the body and other parts will wear out or break before the engine will.,,
 
My 25 year old JD F510 is giving me spark problems. I got a coil on order but it may be that pesky ignitor module. Not much info other than if all else fails replace..... Some days it starts some days it won't.I don't use if for the regular mowing but do use it almost daily for hauling.

$100 for a new JD one or $20 for Amazon.
 
shortyb said:
For a $20 carb and a big bottle of rum? Dang right fix it! It'll probably last another 25 years.

And while the carb isn't necessarily a wear item, it is cheap enough to replace rather than go through the hassle to disassemble and clean. Had numerous coffee cans full of OPE carbs and solvents, and while some ran well afterwards, some didn't. Lots of time ate up trying to make a pot metal piece full of tiny passageways work right.
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I haven't had luck with the cheap Chinese carbs. I would clean it if there is a problem. I currently use a 20+ year old Craftsman with a 6.75 Briggs. Takes about an hour to mow my yard. Only thing I have had to fix is the arm for the auto-choke system. It always gets non-oxy 91 and I have never touched the carb. Change the oil and a splash of Seafoam when I put it away for the winter and it starts right up every spring. The new gas mowers are junk.
 
Any decent quality older mower is worth repairing. Any new high quality gas powered mower is likely to be silly expensive.

I have a quarter century epic-good Snapper commercial mower. I’ve kept the thing operational and thank goodness I did. It can’t be replaced at any cost. It has the metal wheels and lockable, swivel front wheel setup.
 
My 2018 Craftsman "Professional" 190cc mower very recently cut out suddenly. It was sputtering before in the beginning but would even out the last 2-3 mowing sessions. It has a plastic carb. I did an initial carb cleaning and its running better, but I'm going back in soon to attempt widening the main jet 1 or 2 notches. I found a few YT videos suggesting this, as the jet size is much smaller then standard and its a common issue. Initially, I was disgusted seeing a plastic carb, but the body plastic itself looks to be high quality that i've seen on vehicle intakes. I believe all B&S mowers have plastic carbs now, which is disheartening.

The oil itself was changed in Jan of this year, and looked terrible this past weekend with swirls of metal. I went ahead and changed it and going to send it until it explodes and hit FB marketplace for something better. I recently helped my neighbor with his Husqvarna AWD, also from 2018 and it was built a bit better.
 
Later model Briggs engines (years 201X) had faulty fuel line that clogs up due to the inner layer swelling. This causes starving for gas and cutting out. Take the line off at the carb and check for free flow from the tank.
 
Was common to get 30+ yr old mowers at the shop when I did small engine work.

Problem was the customer often expected a $20 bill or something crazy cheap like it was also 1995.

Had a few get pissed when I'd tell them to put it back in the truck, it wasn't worth fixing, at least not at our $90/hr labor rate. (Which is cheap)

Sorry but I can't try to reverse the abuse and improper care, plus source mostly obsolete parts for a net loss!
Not my fault it's been sitting outside in the weeds most if it's life!
 
I run a 2004 Snapper along with a couple V21s from the 70s. Had a Craftsman from 1996 era with the Tecumseh until 2004. So yeah totally worth fixing these old mowers.
 
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