my lawn service biz has been extremly slow due to severe drought here in north florida. i have lots of time on my hands so i decided to pull 2 of my many lawnboys out of deep storage of 25 years. the 2 i picked are ones most likely to get used in my lawn service route. both are identical lawnboy 22261 commercial mowers with the dura-force engines. 1st one needed a new coil.(very common on duraforce) and 2nd one just a good cleaning and new primer bulb. going to run them on OMC Johnson outboard oil. both running well but no 1 is hard to start. -will change out primer bulb on it as soon as i get more new ones from ebay.
reviving lawnboys after 25 years in storage
- Thread starter super20dan
- Start date
This is pretty cool. Kinda thought that I had seen the last of these awesome mowers.
Reminds me of this scene from the movie "Sleeper"
The benefits of using a trickle charger.
i am running 40/1 till i use up this batch of oil/gas mix -then i will go to 32/1 . i will have to have a separate gas can just for the lawnboys as everything else i run a 40/1 . i dont use exotic synth oils as i go tru at least 5 gallons a week in the lawn biz. today i got out a uber rare 22241 commercial. one year only made . these were the very last F engined commercial model. i converted it to metal walbro carb from the plastic carb years ago and it really runs fantastic now. i like this one better than the duraforce engined ones. all it needed was a new self propel cable and these are cheap on ebay now. 19$ to my door! i am debating on dragging out my M model lawnboys next. at least if i have most of the fleet working again it will make it easier to sell them as running/working machines tho id rather see these go to to a person who likes old lawnboys.
Nice to see Lawnman23's pictures. It seems like this marketplace is being dissassembled with the absolute best stuff (Lawn Boy and Honda) leaving first. I do note that they left for different reasons - Lawn Boy the company was acquired, reduced to a brand and then churned through until there was nothing left. Honda, apparently, just looked at the spreadsheets one day and determined that other business lines were structurally better.
I have had 4-5 lawnboys and they are still for me the best and most powerful mowers. Even my wife can start it.
i my view the best lawnboys were from the toro first half of ownership years. toro put their 3speed proven transmissionmission in and it was worlds better than any of the lawnboys own transmissionmissions. an f engined self propel with the 3 speed toro transmission was as good as it got . bear in mind i was using lawn boys for light commercial duty. the dura force engine was uber powerfull but delicate and finicky. i am really enjoying putting mine back to work. light duty of course
Here's what's on my shelf. Need to get the aluminum shroud done to give it the first startup. But you probably need all of yours for work...lol
What a shame those 2 strokes were banned, some of the best mowers ever. I wish I still had the one I bought new in 1975. I used it from around my 18th birthday, until after buying my second house, a lot of years and it was going strong when I sold it.
Elkins45
Site Donor 2026
I have 10323 models (6.5 HP self-propelled) that has served me well for over two decades now. I actually have two of them: I bought one from a Craigslist ad for $75 because it wouldn’t start. A new coil fixed it.
They were made in my home state of Missouri for the early ones until they moved to IL?. I'm sure that established quite a few Lawn-Boy dealers around the area. I remember seeing quite a few LB's in peoples garages or out mowing in the early to mid 1990's. Getting service was what the locals sold. For some that were already mixing for their weed trimmer why not use a 2 stroke walk behind? They had a somewhat unique front discharge & got into the walk behind mowers early. Your mom or grandpa had one so that was in your mind. They eventually started making 4 cycle engines & I'm certain that met expectations for the times as well. I think you could even get one with electric start. They advertised for years.
Lightweight & simple machines! Magnesium decks didn't "rust".
Even International was rebranding them for their walk behind mowers with that yellow/white paint scheme.
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While I agree with everything said so far, I have to add that the drive system was fantastic on those older 2 stroke lawnboys as well. It used a couple of serated metal rollers that clamped down on the rear tires to drive the mower. Very simple system that didn’t slip even in wet conditions, and the only real thing you had to do was replace the rear wheels when they eventually wore down. Sure the rollers might wear out eventually but I never had to replace them on mine.
It didn’t use any sort of pawl based one way clutches that created a ton of drag when you pulled the mower backwards and are spinning the entire transmission like most other mowers do. You had a self propelled push mower that was as easy to push and pull as a non self propelled push mower. Also those pawls used on most other mowers are always needing replacement and lubrication.
Also the system didn’t seem to eat many belts or need much adjusting. As the belt was always engaged.
Lastly the drive locked in the engaged position and the mower would drive forward even if you let go of it. Made mowing straight lines very easy and very little fatigue from using it as you didn’t need to constantly hold the thing. You could let go to light a smoke or take a sip of your drink and it would still be mowing in a straight line.
Only downside to the drive system was the fact it was one speed, but I never felt like it was too slow or too fast for my liking.
Also the front discharge seemed to have much better velocity compared to the traditional side discharge and even with the bagger I can’t remember it ever clogging on me even in soaking wet grass.
The engine was very smooth and I like the 2 stroke sound. They seemed to have a lot of power as well compared to other mowers of the time.
Anyway it’s been a long time since I’ve used one let alone seen one so it’s hard to remember everything.
It didn’t use any sort of pawl based one way clutches that created a ton of drag when you pulled the mower backwards and are spinning the entire transmission like most other mowers do. You had a self propelled push mower that was as easy to push and pull as a non self propelled push mower. Also those pawls used on most other mowers are always needing replacement and lubrication.
Also the system didn’t seem to eat many belts or need much adjusting. As the belt was always engaged.
Lastly the drive locked in the engaged position and the mower would drive forward even if you let go of it. Made mowing straight lines very easy and very little fatigue from using it as you didn’t need to constantly hold the thing. You could let go to light a smoke or take a sip of your drink and it would still be mowing in a straight line.
Only downside to the drive system was the fact it was one speed, but I never felt like it was too slow or too fast for my liking.
Also the front discharge seemed to have much better velocity compared to the traditional side discharge and even with the bagger I can’t remember it ever clogging on me even in soaking wet grass.
The engine was very smooth and I like the 2 stroke sound. They seemed to have a lot of power as well compared to other mowers of the time.
Anyway it’s been a long time since I’ve used one let alone seen one so it’s hard to remember everything.
Elkins45
Site Donor 2026
I loved them because of the power to weight ratio. Also because they were the best choice for mowing on a steep slope because they didn’t suffer from oil starvation like four strokes with splash lubrication. I lived on a steep lakefront lot for a few years and a self-propelled Lawn Boy was absolutely the best choice for keeping it knocked down enough to keep the HOA happy.
