A faithful old friend.... gone!!!!!

[limpalong]

Bought a new Lawnboy self-propelled mower early in 1990. 2-cycle engine. 19 years later, the ONLY thing I've done to it is replace the blade about 2 years ago. It has started every time, even after sitting all winter. It still has the original spark plug!!!! Never been to a repair shop in 19 years of hard mowing. Rear drive wheels have worn bald and muffler is noisy. But, it "was" still going strong.

Went out to mow last night. Pulled on the starter rope and the engine pulled right off the top of the mower deck. The old cast aluminum deck had deteriorated and the engine mounts had broken loose. And, yes, I bungee-strapped the engine down to the deck and mowed the entire yard last night. It takes just over an hour to walk out our yard. That gave me plenty of time to say "Goodbye" to an old friend!!!

This morning, purchased a Toro self-propelled as a replacement. Wider, sleeker, 4-cycle. Minor assembly out of the box. Equipped with a B&S that advertises "always ready" and doesn't need primed or choked. Filled engine with motor oil. Filled gas tank. First pull... First pull on the rope and this thing hummed like a top.

Front wheel drive will take a little getting used to. And, I've been able to convince the wife the noisy old lawnboy restricts me from mowing early mornings. That's why she's been so kind in allowing me to always play golf early weekend mornings. The old Lawnboy has been around so long, hope the wife doesn't notice the quietness of the new Toro and suggest I no longer have an excuse for early a.m. tee-times!!!

 

[mddubya]

Poke a hole in the muffler of the Toro, problem solved, :emot-ange


And sorry for your loss. Those old Lawnboys were great. I had one ages ago. All the neighbors laughed at it when I 1st bought it. After a couple of years the neighborhood was full of them once they saw how great it worked.

 

[Clugnut]

I find it sad when an old reliable bites the dust. Even though machines do not have a soul, I always form a kinship with any piece of machinery that performs its duties without complaint for years on end. I'm becoming attached with my wife's car. It just starts and runs, day in and day out. Never takes anything, and performs better than the manufactorer had promised. Almost a family member. Some people feel that way about pets, I get that way about cars and trucks.


Sorry about your mower, Limp. I get it.

 

[DaveE]

My lawnboy is 12 or 13 and still going strong. Not looking forward to replacing it since lawnboys now use other engines. I like the 2 cycle for mowers so it always has fresh oil.

Hell of an investment when you divide it over 19 years.

 

[eclark53520]

My parents got a lawn mower for their wedding, 30 years ago. I dont know what the brand was but it was red, 4 stroke, i changed the oil in that thing for the first time EVER about 6 years ago when it ran dry and stopped....my mom called me, said the mower stopped and she cant pull it anymore....

When i pulled the drain plug NOTHING i mean absolutley nothing came out...bone dry

I said, this thing is shot, seized up and done...poured a bottle of oil in there, let it sit about a half hour, one pull and she started. WTF?

Ran another 6 years, and my dad bought one just last fall when they went on sale for the winter. Still ran, but he decided it was time for a new one while they were cheap.

 

[warbirdlover]

And I thought this was going to be a thread on your dog dying... :biglol:

 

[MCDavis]

Limp, would the motor make a good go cart for a grandchild?

 

[limpalong]

And I thought this was going to be a thread on your dog dying... :biglol:

Nope!!! I've hauled those two mangy, hairy critters the wife calls dogs to every Chinese restaraunt in town.... and they won't even take them off our hands!!!! Both are getting up in years. The one is far too mean and onery to die. He lives to chase squirrels. One of these days, he will accidently catch one and it'll tear him up. He's smaller than most of the neighborhood squirrels but thinks he's the size of a Doberman. The other is going senile. Every two or three weeks, he'll have a "bad day" when he won't know where he is. He'll just sit down in the back yard, like he doesn't know which way to go to get back to the house. You have to go down, pick him up, and carry him back to the house. Next day, he's fine again.

When those two are gone.... no more pets!!!!! We adoped both of these to keep them from going to the pound. We're getting too old to take care of ourselves, let alone a couple dogs!!!!

 

[MIKE1218]

yep, hard to let go of a good machine. Our JD lawn tractor is that way, Polaris atv is that way, F150 is that way, etc. Years of reliable service.

 

[Wi-Golfer]

I bought a Toro a few years back, I change the oil every season & that's it. Thing sits all winter long & starts on the 1st pull every spring. Only paid something like $250 for it & if & when it dies, I will toss it out & buy another one.

 

[Youngun5]

Limp! How could you Man!


Buy John Deere!



(Accountant, John Deere Agricultural Marketing Center :laugh

 

[Bakemono36]

Those old 2-cycle Lawn-Boys were known for their durability. The engine is little more than an outboard boat motor adapted for use in a lawnmower.
About the Toro, take it back while you still can! If you are going to buy a walkbehind mower, Honda is the only one to buy.
The fact that the Toro has a B&S engine is all the reason I would have needed to not buy it.

 

[limpalong]

Limp! How could you Man!


Buy John Deere!



(Accountant, John Deere Agricultural Marketing Center :laugh

Look at the price difference between John Deere and Toro. Do I support your golf habit? Or, do I support mine??????

This thing has a 3-year guarantee to start on the first pull. It, also, comes with a 3-year warranty. They wanted to sell me a 4-year extension on the factory 3-year. I'm 62 years old!!! Will I even be able to pull the dang rope in another 3 years, let alone 7 years? Shoot, by the time the warranty runs out on this thing, I may be looking up at the bottom side of lawn mowers!!!!!

 

[DaveE]

Those old 2-cycle Lawn-Boys were known for their durability. The engine is little more than an outboard boat motor adapted for use in a lawnmower.
About the Toro, take it back while you still can! If you are going to buy a walkbehind mower, Honda is the only one to buy.
The fact that the Toro has a B&S engine is all the reason I would have needed to not buy it.

I've had two honda outboards in the past and both were great. So good in fact that they were both stolen but that's another story.

Anyway, when my lawnboy dies I've already decided I'm buying something with a honda engine.

 

[mddubya]

Funny story about Honda engines. A friend has a Honda generator. Cranks 1st pull almost every time. About 10 years ago we got hit by a freak snow/ice storm that knocked out everyones power. Him and his wife invited me and mine over to stay at their house because they had the generator and we didn't at the time.

Get over there just as he is setting it up, prime it, pull the rope and it fires up, runs for a second, backfires and makes a funny noise then dies. We take turns pulling and pulling on it, nothing. I remembered a old Dodge 440 I had that did this and had bent the pushrods. We tear it down and sure enough, they are bent. A few calls resulted in discovering nobody was open to buy some new ones. We took a hammer and beat them straight on the driveway, put them back in and it fired right up. Those same pushrods are still in it today!!