I bought an MTD lawn tractor 18 years ago. I ran that thing hard. I gave it to my nephew 4 years ago when I moved to a house with a postage stamp lawn. Still running fine. Guess I'll have to tell him to get rid of it as it's not any good.
Junk lawnmowers...
- Thread starter Andy Griffith
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Jim in Wisconsin
Member
Neighbor north of me has an MTD tractor 20+ years old-goes whenever he wants it to; neighbor to the south bought a brand new Sears-has had 5 or 6 service calls in the last 3 years.
I kinda wonder if those older 'cheapies' still running might have been built better than their reps?
I kinda wonder if those older 'cheapies' still running might have been built better than their reps?
David LaPell
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We HAD a nice little Craftsman with a Briggs & Stratton I liked until my wife found a rock last year about the size of a softball. When she hit it, the rock got stuck between the blade and the underside of the mower deck stopping it cold. It then proceeded to leak oil out of places it was never intended to and the blade wouldn't turn once it was freed of the rock. Needless to say it died a quick death. We still have the rock minus its missing chunk as a reminder. We now have another Craftsman, a little bigger with a slightly bigger motor. My mother had that one and ruined the cable by folding up the handle the wrong way, fixed that and it runs like a champ.
Well I have a bit to cut around my place. Kind of chopped sections of grass with lots of trees and I have thought of getting a small riding lawn mower, still waiting for what I using to die. I have a 31HP diesel tractor but the lawn mower attachment for that is way too big to use it in a practical manor at my place!
My junk lawn mower is an over 40+ YO Lawn Boy. Its 21'' not self propelled and appears to thrive on neglect. It starts on maximum 2 pulls & runs good. I give it only premium grade non ethanol gas and Stihl synthetic 2 stroke oil. (I can only get premium none E gas), I use it for all my 2 stroke toys and tools) even though most all manufactures say to use regular grade only.
Lots of rocks work their way to surface, they make lots of noise but the mower and old blade work fine yet. I do carefully sharpen it as needed
Getting parts is getting to be a hassle. Needed an air filter a few years ago and they told me around $20 and no telling how long for it to come it. Took one of my wife's new pot scourer pads cut it to fit x2 and put in the filter housing works great, total cost about 50 cents and 2 minutes work with a knife.
Long live junk lawn mowers. When and if this mower dies I will have to find something else and all the new stuff has all those safety nanny controls on them and I doubt will last a ¼ as long as my junk Lawn Boy has!
My junk lawn mower is an over 40+ YO Lawn Boy. Its 21'' not self propelled and appears to thrive on neglect. It starts on maximum 2 pulls & runs good. I give it only premium grade non ethanol gas and Stihl synthetic 2 stroke oil. (I can only get premium none E gas), I use it for all my 2 stroke toys and tools) even though most all manufactures say to use regular grade only.
Lots of rocks work their way to surface, they make lots of noise but the mower and old blade work fine yet. I do carefully sharpen it as needed
Getting parts is getting to be a hassle. Needed an air filter a few years ago and they told me around $20 and no telling how long for it to come it. Took one of my wife's new pot scourer pads cut it to fit x2 and put in the filter housing works great, total cost about 50 cents and 2 minutes work with a knife.
Long live junk lawn mowers. When and if this mower dies I will have to find something else and all the new stuff has all those safety nanny controls on them and I doubt will last a ¼ as long as my junk Lawn Boy has!
NCW Ray
Member
I buy the cheapest, highest horsepower, B&S engine, non-self-propelled model I can find in my price range. I never change the oil in them, the mower body always wears out before the engine does and I just add oil as necessary and sharpen the blade once or twice a year.
I have a 1972 Cub Cadet 149 that still runs but is to big for my yard, it was my dad's and he spent many hours mowing our churches lawn and cemetery every weekend on it. I am going to be restoring it in the very near future.
I have a 1972 Cub Cadet 149 that still runs but is to big for my yard, it was my dad's and he spent many hours mowing our churches lawn and cemetery every weekend on it. I am going to be restoring it in the very near future.
