what's so special about lawn boys?

[Cujet]

I have a Silver Series 6.5HP two stroke LawnBoy. It's a lightweight powerhouse. Cheaply built, crummy plastic wheels, leaky carb and fuel cap. It matters not. That thing ROCKS!

I also have a Commercial Snapper mower, repowered with a Honda 190, as the original Kawasaki engine failed.

The Lawnboy is a far, far easier to use mower. It's half the weight of the Snapper, and has far more torque than even the mighty Honda 190 (new engine on the Snapper)

Also, when mowing hills, embankments, canal banks and so on, the Lawnboy does not have a crankcase with oil in it. So the engine is never starving for oil. Plus it's extreme light weight means it's easy to manage on a hill/embankment.

I even flew my airplane to the other side of Florida to pick this thing up. It was worth the trip!

 

[spasm3]

I have a 6.5hp lawnboy 2 stroke. It has more power than any pushmower i've used. It cuts like it has 8hp or more. plus it sounds cool.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I've had three of the 2-stroke Lawn-Boys. I never have cared a ton for any of them. Far too loud and smoky for what you get in return in my opinion. They were all finicky to keep in tune, too. The air vane governor on the carburetor is difficult to adjust if it comes out of adjustment in my experience. I still have one. It's a model 8157 4-square aluminum deck from 1987. It has very few hours on it; I hardly ever use it.

I will say, though, that I do prefer any deck material other than steel, and Lawn-Boys often used alternative materials here (aluminum or magnesium). That's their charm to me, the high quality deck, simple controls, and staggered wheel design. If I could retrofit one with a modern 4-stroke engine, I'd like 'em more. (You really can't -- the F engine uses a completely different style and height of mounting plate than the popular 4-stroke engines.)

 

[JTK]

Yep, like said above, the last 2-stroke lawnboy was made about ~2004. It was the 2-stroke and lightweight but awesome decks that made them great mowers.

 

[Tdbo]

I bought mine in Spring, 2005.
They had recently introduced the 4 cycle and I picked up one of the previous years models, which was the last year of the 2 cycle.

 

[Nitronoise]

when we got married my FIL gave us a the time a 20 year old Lawn boy with the square top and verticle pull cord to start it , we had it for 10 years until my MIL and wife decied to mow the lawn and put straight gas into it , then my neighbor who we called Biff and his wife muffy tossed out his 6.75 horse dura force after 1 season because he didnt store it properly it was a a 1995 model, I of course commondeered the mower from the trash and wheeled it into my garage, new plug, fresh gass and carb cleaning and to this this day the dura force still runs and cuts our lawn and 3 others my son does for pocket money during the summer with no issues except to replace the drive belt you have to pull the motor off of the deck

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
I have a Silver Series 6.5HP two stroke LawnBoy. It's a lightweight powerhouse. Cheaply built, crummy plastic wheels, leaky carb and fuel cap. It matters not. That thing ROCKS!

I also have a Commercial Snapper mower, repowered with a Honda 190, as the original Kawasaki engine failed.

The Lawnboy is a far, far easier to use mower. It's half the weight of the Snapper, and has far more torque than even the mighty Honda 190 (new engine on the Snapper)

Also, when mowing hills, embankments, canal banks and so on, the Lawnboy does not have a crankcase with oil in it. So the engine is never starving for oil. Plus it's extreme light weight means it's easy to manage on a hill/embankment.

I even flew my airplane to the other side of Florida to pick this thing up. It was worth the trip!

You are the one that influenced me to buy a Duraforce.

It isnt self propelled (less to go wrong IMO.) and doesnt have a bagger, needs a new primer bulb too, but it starts on the first few pulls and runs like a top on 'roids. Paid $25.

 

[Papa Bear]

Here's mine..




I'd like to get a new mower but this one won't quit !

 

[55Test]

I've got 2 Lawnboy mowers. The first I got from an ad on Kijiji when someone who stored it in their garage over the winter couldn't get it to start again. I just cleaned the carb with carb cleaning spray and it started up. Still didn't run quite as well as it should have, but it worked well enough for what I needed it to do. Unfortunately last year the recoil spring for the pull start broke and since I don't really have any mowable grass and nowhere to store it, it just sits under the edge of my deck year-round. The next one I got also from an ad on Kijiji had a completely rotten deck and muffler but it started and ran better than the first one. It looks to have a different pull start mechanism so I couldn't use it on my first one. Right now it's just sitting in a trash heap. I'm going to try and get the first one running again this year, if only to annoy my [censored] neighbours

 

[mtgrs737]

I like two cycle Lawnboy mowers, I must have 25 of them out in the shed. They are light weight, powerful and easy to work on needed to. I use only synthetic oil at 32 to 1 ratio so they don't smoke much or smell too bad when in use. All oils will smoke at start up until they get good and warmed up. The Duraforce engine was the last two cycle LB engine and was designed by Toro whom bought LB. The DF engine was unique in that it was a reed valve engine with a boost port and a tuned exhaust to increase the power and torque. It is a great engine with one major short coming. The DF carb is a fixed jet carb and that limits the fine tuning needed to make that engine the greatest walk behind mower engine ever made. I suspect that the EPA had a lot to do with the leaned out fixed carb as it had to pass emissions to be sold here. If the DF engine would of had a adjustable jet carb like most LB engines did it would of been the greatest ever. Two cycle engines like to have a rich mixture and the DF is no exception, but without an adjustable carb you can only drill out he main and low speed jets and hope that it will be close to right for the average days air pressure. Most LB engines were reed valve engines with the exception of the M model which had a piston port controlled intake and sounded like a dirt bike. The M series was twice the price so not so many were sold and they stopped making them in just a few years. Also many of the M series engines were oil injected which was unique for a lawn boy. Most LB engines only need normal maintenance to stay running good. Clean carb, air filter, spark plug, and every twenty years a exhaust port carbon removal. Great mowers! You can get ball bearing wheels to replace the plastic ones that will make them even easier to push.

 

[JetStar]

My first exposure to Lawn Boy mowers was back in the mid 60's, when my dad used to mow the yard with one. Later on, when I was around 12, I made some good money mowing yards with my trusty lawn boy. I remember loading one in the trunk of my Grandma's '68 Impala and thinking how light the things were. So for me it's partly sentimental, the smell of the 2-stroke, and grass on the hot muffler brings back memories. My Grandma bought her last new one in 1975, she mowed with it until 1995. When she bought the new 1975, she had a running 1969, and 1956 out in the barn. She owned a small trailer court, and those mowers were used by the renters. I currently have a 1994 alloy deck in my barn that starts on the 2nd pull, sometimes on the first. The things run forever if maintained, and there isn't much to maintaining one. I dread the day mine gives up.