I was snooping around my greatgrandfathers,grandfathers,dad and uncles old shop that my father has been cleaning out . I came across 3 old lawnmowers . 1 is a old (early 60s) push mower with a 2.5 hp briggs & stratton motor with the old style crank handle/knob starter . I remember working on this with my grandfather back when I was 12 during summer vacation from grade school . I know no one has messed with it since then so it hasnt been started in 30 years .
The other push mower is a old gold colored19" toro alloy deck unit with an 3.5 Briggs on it with the auto choke that I also remember messing with back then too, so another one that been sleeping for 30 years
The last one I remember very well as the ride-on my father used as long as I can remember and then I used as a youngster to cut the yard. I hadn't seen it in 20 years and thought it was long gone
Its a Snapper Comet 26 rear motor ride on (same model that was used in the movie Forrest Gump by Tom Hanks when he was cutting the football field)
My father bought it new before I was born and I can remember riding on his lap while he cut the grass as a little tike.
By the time I was old enough to use it it was at least 15 years old and I used it till my parents divorced when I was 15 and moved out .
I know my brother and I rode that thing hard , never picked up the sticks, trimmed plenty of roots with it and stopped it dead more then I want to know .
I told my dad I was going to take all of them home. (just what I need another project that wont fit in my garage
)
The 1st one I messed with was the crank start one . My grandfather drained it of gas so all it needed was a new air filter (old one turned to foam dust) ,cleaned and set the points and spark plug . A few wind ups and it was running ,like crap but running . Pulled the side cover off the carb and the plusator diaphragm was torn so for under $7 dollars It was up and running
The next one was the Snapper Comet 26
1st thing was to air up all the tires. 3 out of 4 were no problem but one of the rears had been flat for so long and off the bead I was unable to re-seat it so after messing with it ,with the help of the Cruiser
for 45 mins I said screw it , its getting a tube . $7 later and 3 mins later it was now able to be rolled into the "operating" bay. Before I tore into it I blew out the 20 years of mice nests out of the deck pulley cover . Pulled the flywheel cover off and did the same thing as there was about a fiberglass batt worth of insulation filling up all air cooling fins in the block and flywheel cover.
This motor had never been worked on other then maybe an air cleaner and spark plug The factory paint on the bolts was still in tacked
Its an old Tecumseh 5hp motor
Pulled the plug and checked for spark , none so I pulled the flywheel off cleaned the points and gaped them . Cleaned the coil and flywheel magnet with some sand paper now had great spark .
I removed the head to be able to clean the cooling fins and carbon off the inside and noticed that the mice piss had done a job on the mating surface between the head and block . I took a large flat metal bar and wrapped it in wet/dry sand paper and cleaned the gasket ,block and head mating surfaces . removed the carbon and buttoned it back up .
Next was to work on the carb . which never had been worked on before . The throttle and choke plates were stuck with varnish. I pulled off the bowl and the float was green and everything was varnished . I pulled all the bits out and soaked in carb cleaner . freed up everything and put it all back together . Fixed the throttle cable as it had broke from the stuck plate .
It was now midnight so I would have to try starting it in the morning as I was out of gas on the garage but did pull it a few times with some carb spray and was able to get it to smoke a little out the exhaust .
I woke up early the next morning and found some gas and put it in , just enough to put about a 1/4 inch on the bottom of the tank since I was reusing 45+ year old rubber parts in the carb and fuel line .
Started right up as the Cruiser was leaving for work and was not happy with me running it at 8:15 in the morning :whoops:
As I thought the bowl drain was dripping some so I wrote down the motor model # and hit the google for part #s for the carb rebuild kit and the mower model # and was able to download the repair/svc /parts and ownwers manuals right from Snapper . Most parts are still available which is great and pretty cheap .. Greased and lubed it up
This thing has "no" plastic parts on it other then the leaver handle covers gas tank and the throttle handle knob. .
At the moment I have $25 dollars into it with the tube, carb kit , carb cleaner and gas .
I used it to cut the grass today and wow it did a great job even without sharping the blade yet , much better the my $50 Craftsman ride-on I picked up off Craigslist during the winter
.
I called my father and thanked him for the birthday present he gave me today and he asked "why ?I didn't give you anything" and I said "the old push mowers and the ride on , They're great and will outlast me"
He didn't know what to say since it was just some old lawn mowers but to me they're great useable gifts with a lot of great memory's attached
Thanks Dad
The other push mower is a old gold colored19" toro alloy deck unit with an 3.5 Briggs on it with the auto choke that I also remember messing with back then too, so another one that been sleeping for 30 years
The last one I remember very well as the ride-on my father used as long as I can remember and then I used as a youngster to cut the yard. I hadn't seen it in 20 years and thought it was long gone
Its a Snapper Comet 26 rear motor ride on (same model that was used in the movie Forrest Gump by Tom Hanks when he was cutting the football field)
My father bought it new before I was born and I can remember riding on his lap while he cut the grass as a little tike.
By the time I was old enough to use it it was at least 15 years old and I used it till my parents divorced when I was 15 and moved out .
I know my brother and I rode that thing hard , never picked up the sticks, trimmed plenty of roots with it and stopped it dead more then I want to know .
I told my dad I was going to take all of them home. (just what I need another project that wont fit in my garage
)The 1st one I messed with was the crank start one . My grandfather drained it of gas so all it needed was a new air filter (old one turned to foam dust) ,cleaned and set the points and spark plug . A few wind ups and it was running ,like crap but running . Pulled the side cover off the carb and the plusator diaphragm was torn so for under $7 dollars It was up and running
The next one was the Snapper Comet 26
1st thing was to air up all the tires. 3 out of 4 were no problem but one of the rears had been flat for so long and off the bead I was unable to re-seat it so after messing with it ,with the help of the Cruiser
for 45 mins I said screw it , its getting a tube . $7 later and 3 mins later it was now able to be rolled into the "operating" bay. Before I tore into it I blew out the 20 years of mice nests out of the deck pulley cover . Pulled the flywheel cover off and did the same thing as there was about a fiberglass batt worth of insulation filling up all air cooling fins in the block and flywheel cover.This motor had never been worked on other then maybe an air cleaner and spark plug The factory paint on the bolts was still in tacked
Its an old Tecumseh 5hp motor
Pulled the plug and checked for spark , none so I pulled the flywheel off cleaned the points and gaped them . Cleaned the coil and flywheel magnet with some sand paper now had great spark .
I removed the head to be able to clean the cooling fins and carbon off the inside and noticed that the mice piss had done a job on the mating surface between the head and block . I took a large flat metal bar and wrapped it in wet/dry sand paper and cleaned the gasket ,block and head mating surfaces . removed the carbon and buttoned it back up .
Next was to work on the carb . which never had been worked on before . The throttle and choke plates were stuck with varnish. I pulled off the bowl and the float was green and everything was varnished . I pulled all the bits out and soaked in carb cleaner . freed up everything and put it all back together . Fixed the throttle cable as it had broke from the stuck plate .
It was now midnight so I would have to try starting it in the morning as I was out of gas on the garage but did pull it a few times with some carb spray and was able to get it to smoke a little out the exhaust .
I woke up early the next morning and found some gas and put it in , just enough to put about a 1/4 inch on the bottom of the tank since I was reusing 45+ year old rubber parts in the carb and fuel line .
Started right up as the Cruiser
was leaving for work and was not happy with me running it at 8:15 in the morning :whoops:As I thought the bowl drain was dripping some so I wrote down the motor model # and hit the google for part #s for the carb rebuild kit and the mower model # and was able to download the repair/svc /parts and ownwers manuals right from Snapper . Most parts are still available which is great and pretty cheap .. Greased and lubed it up
This thing has "no" plastic parts on it other then the leaver handle covers gas tank and the throttle handle knob. .
At the moment I have $25 dollars into it with the tube, carb kit , carb cleaner and gas .
I used it to cut the grass today and wow it did a great job even without sharping the blade yet , much better the my $50 Craftsman ride-on I picked up off Craigslist during the winter
.I called my father and thanked him for the birthday present he gave me today and he asked "why ?I didn't give you anything" and I said "the old push mowers and the ride on , They're great and will outlast me"
He didn't know what to say since it was just some old lawn mowers but to me they're great useable gifts with a lot of great memory's attached
Thanks Dad
