Lawn mowers

I never understood the trouble people had with those old downdraft Briggs engines... Full throttle, pull twice, quarter throttle, pull once and start.
Basically the same as starting my old 77' Impala... Push the gas pedal to the floor twice, turn the key, starts right up.
 
Another way of getting one a stubborn small engine to go is to take the filter off the carb, get a propane torch, turn the gas on but don't light it... hold the nozzle to the carb, pull the rope, and the engine will run from the propane torch. Run it long enough to draw the gasoline through the carb 🙂
 
  • Like
Reactions: Juhazi
Another way of getting one a stubborn small engine to go is to take the filter off the carb, get a propane torch, turn the gas on but don't light it... hold the nozzle to the carb, pull the rope, and the engine will run from the propane torch. Run it long enough to draw the gasoline through the carb 🙂
Better than pulling the plug, squirting some gas in there, replacing the plug. Wish I knew back when!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pano and kodabmx
When I was a teenager - that would be in the '70's - my friend's father had one of these. He may have worked for the division, as we lived just outside Schenectady.

GE.png
 
Maybe I should buy some rabbits or sheep and let them do the work. They`d also save me some money on fertilizer 💩

Went to a shop today and of all found two very important gardening features that made the Honda stand out:
  • it looks like a Ferrari!
  • petrol engine looks so cool

Jokes aside, the Honda looked like built on another planet compared to the rest but what was available was just Ryobi, Gardenia, Bosch and Greenworks. The Honda mower looks very big in store, I know this means its really big in real.

And for manual mowers, I`m too busy building preamps so need a lazy solution 😀
 
  • Like
Reactions: Juhazi
Probably a B&S engine.
I was using a corded electric mower in the late sixties. Black and Decker I think it was.
Probably not given the time frame Pano mentioned, Lawn Boy was famous for their engines which were clever and very light weight. The mower was probably a QuietFlite. They have a rather interesting history and go way, way back to the dawn of the infernal combustion age. (OMC/Evinrude tie in as well, pre- WWII)

https://www.lawnboy.com/en/about
 
About 3 or 4 years ago I needed a new mower and hesitated before buying one. I wasn't convinced the battery ones were going to cut it (Yes, that was deliberate). You see I have a split level property with a heavy slope between them. You can't go across the slope you must go up and down. I was worried that the self propelled battery ones wouldn't last so long with all that work on the hill so I caved and got a gas Honda. The property is only 1/5 acre but even with this unit it still takes close to an hour with all the obstructions in the yard and that's after I do the pre-weed-eating. Nice thing is, I never knew you could by a walk behind 21" mower with key start. Wahoo!
 
First mower I ever pulled to start. Two stroke; the reeds make this unique squeak right when it came to a stop. A little gas would burble up out of the cap. You could chew up the end of a branch real good on those spinning blower blades, but my dad didnt like me doing that so much. He'd let me walk along side him, pretending to help. Early 60's, was probably 10 years old by then, looked pretty much like this one. Had KEEP HANDS AND FEET FROM UNDER MOWER embossed in the diecast aluminum base. Exhaust and muffler were underneath, just above the blade.
mower.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pano
First mower I ever pulled to start.
That's a Power Products engine. We had one before 1960, same fan, same rope-wrap, same tank, but utterly naked, no waist bracket around the engine, plain steel deck stamping, no warnings. To turn-off there was a bent rod that swiveled to hit the (bare) spark plug terminal. Same reed wheeze (I had forgot that).
Power Products got some market in the go-cart craze because their original design was a lot of power for the weight.
 
Last edited:
When I was young my father had corded electric mower.

At first it was little odd learning how to deal with the extension cord.
But he showed me how to do one pass , then flip the cord.
Also had a tree and step walkway to work around.
So once you establish a good path approach and flip the cord, not to bad.

I was still jealous, since all my friends had gas mowers.
Seemed so much easier.

Years later, when I had my own house.
I thought, I can buy gas mower and stubborn dad wont stop me.

Well, I soon found out why dad was so stubborn about electric mower.
Gas mower is pain in the butt.
Guarantee if you are tired from long work week, and skipped mowing
lawn previous weekend. That thing will be out of gas.
When your not tired, starts fine.
If you tired, it takes awhile to start.

I buy electric mower, still miss dad. sure he is still stubborn and always right 🙂
 
I didn’t enjoy dragging around 300 feet of #10 for the electric weedwhacker when the gas one simply refused to start, and the twice-a-year weed whacking on the back half of the lot HAD to get done. Till I got smart and hauled out the gas generator and finished the job with 100 ft of #14. It’s why I never even considered an electric mower. It would have taken a $5000 electric tractor to go all electric and be able to finish before it needs mowing again. One with an on-board inverter and 120 volt outlet.

Today, the horse keeps that part mowed. She keeps the fence line trimmed too. The mini has his own small area. Can’t let a mini eat too much green grass (insulin resistance).