Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Whadda ya think for $10?

Saw this with a FOR SALE sign on it, while taking my lovely wife to work this am. Left my number on the door since no one was home at the time. The guy calls an hour and a half later later, says it needs work. I go over to check it out more closely. Now this thing was quite oily & dirty (I always forget to take a "before pic")  - earlier it looked NOTHING like it does above! Owner says "one day it just stalled". I tried to spin the flywheel & crank pulley, but the engine is LOCKED SOLID, & a check of the dipstick revealed NO OIL. I figured, its a parts machine with a seized engine, so I offered $10. The guy said "I'm moving - take it. Its your lucky day". I get it home & throw a breaker bar on the crank nut , it frees up & I hear a noise from the flywheel area.  I removed the flywheel, and AH HA!!! All that happened was that the stator (for battery charging) broke & jammed the flywheel! I removed all the broken pieces, reassembled it, cleaned the carb, added oil. Battery was good. Started right up, runs 100%, blade spindle is quiet. Drives perfectly & mulches great! Then I gave her a quickie cleaning up. Total time spent on this was 2 hours, including the 15 minutes to pick it up! Its a 1986 Toro,  8hp Briggs Stratton, electric start, 32" deck with complete mulching attachments & blade, 5 speed transmission. I even got the bagger attachment but its missing the bags! I guess it really WAS my lucky day after all...

Marty

I agree! More than once I have had someone stop at my house as they are driving by when I have it in the driveway on it's end and inquire as to what it is. I'll take it out there to change blades or sharpen them, etc. Always get's attention like that, I've probably sold a few for the local dealer because of it, I know I sold one for him.