Bucket list mowers

Here's my Key mower. They were built in Bradenton, FL. in the 70s and 80s ( Samoset is a section of town) when I still lived there. These were everywhere in Florida back in the old days but the company has been out of business for decades and they are pretty hard to find now.
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Mine is my 1975 LawnBoy 5024 Bricktop. I bought it 4-5 years ago with the intention of restoring it, But I love mowing with it. I’ve only had to replace the primer circuit the first year I had it, then clean the carb and replace the original float two years ago. She always fires up on the first or second pull. I have a LawnBoy 5254 that I use to help preserve the life of my Bricktop.

I have been talking to someone who has offered me a fully restored(and beautiful) 5024 that I'm going to buy as soon as I can get up there to him. I was looking for a 19" and he had one.

I definitely have a "thing" for two stroke Lawn Boys that's developed in the last year, and have bought more than a couple in the last few months. Currently favorites are a 10547(Duraforce, aluminum deck, 3-speed, electric start) that's an absolute beast.

I think it might have been displaced, though, by a 7262. The latter is a 73-only model, 21" Magnesium deck with a D600 engine. I bought it from the original owner who could no longer get it to stay running and decided to give up since he couldn't find a shop that would touch it anymore. It looks like a well used, not abused mower with great compression. It needed a lot of muffler cleaning, and in there broke its starter spring and I also needed to replace another starter part since it wasn't reliably engaging. It finally came to life, but was surging and belching smoke badly. This is a very early electronic ignition mower, and I was advised that the coils can get stuck in the "start" phase with ignition very retarded. I borrowed a coil off another D600 I have, and it ran great. This to me is pure Lawn Boy, a nice lightweight easy to push mower but with the great running and great sounding D600 engine.
 
I have been talking to someone who has offered me a fully restored(and beautiful) 5024 that I'm going to buy as soon as I can get up there to him. I was looking for a 19" and he had one.

I definitely have a "thing" for two stroke Lawn Boys that's developed in the last year, and have bought more than a couple in the last few months. Currently favorites are a 10547(Duraforce, aluminum deck, 3-speed, electric start) that's an absolute beast.

I think it might have been displaced, though, by a 7262. The latter is a 73-only model, 21" Magnesium deck with a D600 engine. I bought it from the original owner who could no longer get it to stay running and decided to give up since he couldn't find a shop that would touch it anymore. It looks like a well used, not abused mower with great compression. It needed a lot of muffler cleaning, and in there broke its starter spring and I also needed to replace another starter part since it wasn't reliably engaging. It finally came to life, but was surging and belching smoke badly. This is a very early electronic ignition mower, and I was advised that the coils can get stuck in the "start" phase with ignition very retarded. I borrowed a coil off another D600 I have, and it ran great. This to me is pure Lawn Boy, a nice lightweight easy to push mower but with the great running and great sounding D600 engine.
I hear you on the 7262. I also had one that was an absolute beast! The D600 and D400 engines are so simple, but the power to weight ratio makes them punch way above their class. That mower out mowed the John Deere 14SB I had with the 5hp Kawasaki commercial duty engine on it. But I got rid of the 7262 last year. The magnesium deck was shot so I mounted the engine on a 19” deck. And last July, my Wife bought me a 1978 #5277 with the F100 engine. Three Lawn-Boys now and they’re all 19” decks. Now I think I’ll sell off the 5254 and keep the two older ones. Also been thinking of picking up rings, bearings, oil seals, and a few other parts to freshen up the engines. Here’s a short clip of my 5277.



L8R,
Matt
 
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Thin stamped decks + people putting them away for weeks at a time packed full of wet grass will rot any deck. Super common here too. Are Hondas even more susceptible to this? I see craftsman decks quite often with more holes than Swiss cheese. Then people wonder why they can’t keep the belt on the flexing pulleys.
One of my uncles is still mowing with a Craftsman my dad bought in the 70s. This particular uncle is one of those people who can build or repair just about everything so when the deck rotted out he fabricated a new one from sheet steel. I remember helping dad pull that deck off to sharpen the blades. I‘m sure it weighed at least 80 pounds!
 
My current mowers- a Dixon ZTR 5424(42" deck) and a Cub Cadet Commercial Enforcer 54(54" deck). Had them both for decades.
 
My grandfather has 20 acres, he probably mows about 8-10 of it. He is 81, and it has been getting tougher for him to maintain the property, so I've been helping out a lot more. He currently uses a Scag STHM 3 wheel mower with a 61" deck. It is fun to zip around the property with, but the 3 wheel configuration can make bumps a bit jarring. I added a suspension seat for him, which helps, but it's still taxing on the body after a few hours.

I'd love to upgrade him to one of these Toro Groundsmasters. Always thought they were neat when the town would use them:

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I'd also love one of the large Ferris 72" zero turns powered by the 48hp Caterpillar diesel:
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The Groundsmasters will beat the daylights out of you. We had a bunch at work and they were rough riders. They tried foam filling the tires on one to avoid flat tires, big mistake.
 
The Groundsmasters will beat the daylights out of you. We had a bunch at work and they were rough riders. They tried foam filling the tires on one to avoid flat tires, big mistake.
Good to know, I've never actually used one, just figured they would ride better being higher up.
 
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