lawnboy lawnmowers, the best hand mower

I always use synthetic oil & mix at 53:1 or higher, depending on the oil. My last 2-stroke ATV was mixed this way -- ridden VERY hard for 2.5 years. The combination of being 20 & still drunk from the night before was about as much abuse as you could possibly dole out on an engine. When I sold it, it still had the same plug, piston, rings & compression the day I rebuilt it 2.5 years prior. Front wheels would aim skyward in every gear.

I always run into people around here that mention "fouled plugs every 5 minutes" with 2-strokes. Never once have I fouled a plug, after proper tuning, & proper plug heat range selection. Probably the same people that think American cars/trucks are junk, & can't ever come close to there 300K mile Honda or Toyota.

I rode my RD last year (without knowing it's history) for over 1,200 miles with only a points adjustment, carb clean, & condenser replacement ... oh, and a modern voltage regulator/rectifier combo.

I bought a commercial lawnboy new 2 years after they stoped making them. I found a small hardware that sold them to a country club (not self propelled) thought I would get one while I still could. Wish I would of kept it new in box, on ebay I could of doubled my money and found a hungry goat.

I have a 1976 lawn boy and have restored it to great shape.... i use only lawn boy 2 cycle mix cause thats all ANY one should use in them. Being a amsoil dealer to boot. now the newer ones are not as pickey.

that ole green thing is amazing!!!

i also have a passion for a "fly-mow" another german made 2 stroke lawn mower that is great cause it has no wheels. it hovers due to its fan/hovercraft design and is great on severe slopes
as its like using a floor buffer in so much as it floats back and forth without much effort.

for really long slopes yo can tie two ropes on the handle and control it back and forth like a kite..

http://www.seogoggles.com/flymow-hovercraft-lawnmowers/

I need to see a video of this in action

SMITTY wrote::funny: Yeah, I hear that!

I don't care how advanced 4-stroke technology gets, there's no place for a 4-stroke in mini applications: chainsaws, weed whackers. leaf blowers, etc.

2-strokes are also ideal in motorcycle applications .... hell, ANY application in my book! I just wish someone would build a V8 2-stroke!

BRP (Bombardier) is leading the pack in 2-stroke technology. They are the only company that hasn't forsaken this engine. Their 2-strokes are rivaling 4-strokes in emissions output ... so the greenies can ram it! Their E-Tec line of outboard marine engines & snowmobiles shows how much better the 2-stroke really is.

And I forgot to mention in my list .... EASIER STARTING! One pull every time ... actually, sometimes 1/4 pull ....or kick.

Hey Smitty,

Here's a nice little 12 cylinder two stroke...lots of torque
http://science.howstuffworks.com/diesel-locomotive7.htm


Bob

9" bore & 11" stroke ... now we're talkin'!

That's like compared to --

Are the new lawn boys not as good? I looked at them seems they are offered with either a Honda, Techumsa or Briggs engine, I always thought lawn boy made there own engines...

Bk

the older lawn boys had what i recall a german (bmw) horizontal one lung designed engine.

"Well, In the early days there were "A" series engines, small two cycle engines produced by RPM. Then we saw the birth of the "C" series engine and the foundation to the ever popular "D" series engine produced in the sixties and seventies with engines such as the D-400 and the later electronic ignition equipped D-600 in 1975. In 1976-77 Lawnboy produced a fabulous little engine known as the "F" series and was mass produced till O.M.C's demise in 1990ish and sold to the Toro company.
Lawnboy had designed the "M" series engine and deck but Toro continued to sell it as well as the "F" series engine up till around 1997-8. In the mid nineties Toro produced under the lawnboy name the "V" series engine which was a budget series project with a few quirks. Sometime in the late nineties Toro produced the "E" series or the dubbed Duraforce engine and was stopped of all production by the epa because the large two stroke engine could not pass emmissions regulations. "

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/loa ... 16766.html

Are the new ones any good?

Bk

bksaun wrote:Are the new ones any good?

Bk

I can't say whether they are any good or not, but today Lawn-Boy is nothing but a "big-box" store brand now. People see "Lawn-Boy" and recall the mowers from 30 years ago and buy a new one - only to find out they are nothing like the classics.

Lawn-Boy is dead. It is only a name now, basically a cheap Toro painted green, just like Troy-Bilt after they got bought out by MTD.

Lawn-Boys were defined by the cast aluminum offset wheel deck and two-stroke engine. For a while, the deck lived on with 4-stroke engines, but Toro killed that off, too.

Toro still makes a good mower - they have a semi-commercial "PT21" that is really nice, and the true Toro Commercial mower with the Suzuki 2-stroke is legendary, but it's also a 100 lb. mower! The deck is HEAVY DUTY! The Lawn-Boy Commercial is likewise built very well, but about 25 pounds lighter.

I'll mourn the day my Lawn-Boy passes.....no other mower discharges as well as the offset-wheel decks. I can blow grass a long way, and it never clumps up. It even mulches pretty well, but the Toro Super Recycler mowers are better dedicated mulchers.

I can't speek for all decks ,but some were magnesium, now that would be fun to weld. I worked for my neighbor in his landscaping buisness when I was 16, he still has one that he uses and he retired long ago, it's been 20 years since I worked for him. If you cut banks, the 2 cycle has no oiling issues like a 4 cycle.They seem to run forever if you remember to mix the oil and gas.

I picked up a Snapper 2 stroke commercial late last season. I'll know more once the season starts up. But I've always had 4 strokes up till now.

Cap wrote:I picked up a Snapper 2 stroke commercial late last season. I'll know more once the season starts up. But I've always had 4 strokes up till now.

I should start trolling around and see if I can find me a 2-stroke commercial for a good deal. I remember sometime back in the mid 90's Tecumseh had a larger 2-stroke engine for commercial-style push mowers that looked really nice, I think it was rated 4hp. They also sold their classic 3hp "earth auger" 2-stroke engine for mower duty. I've got one of these engines on an earth-auger and idles like a big-bore '80s motocross bike! It's a two-man auger, which is good, because when drilling a 12" hole and you hit a big, solid rock, it kicks a wee bit! In addition, it allows my "assistant", usually my wonderful, ever-patient wife, to partake in the wonderful cloud of 2-stroke smoke it produces!

I have 3 old lawn-boys, 2 running one Im working on. They are the best in my opinion. The oldest (1982-3)a 4hp, I found in the
trash, cleaned the carb and have been using for 4 seasons now. The other is a mid 90's 6hp. It is good but not as good as the older one. Craig's list!