The Surplus Center in Lincoln, NE sells engines.
Sounds like a broken con rod.
Same again is my guess. An expensive repair awaits.
I just had to fix a neighbor's John Deere lawnmower. The throttle cable had failed and the wheel drive would dissengage spontaneously.
I thought Deere was pretty proud of their throttle cable at $99 and change Canadian. It wasn't in stock anyway - would have had to wait a week - so I decided to replace with generic cable. DANG they are proud of that stuff to!!! a 4 foot cable cost $50 - and I had to bend the ends to fit and get the rusted broken sheath out of the cable retainer.
The wheel drive control was a chinese puzzle - getting it all together was a REAL PAIN!!!
Or buy a few rabbits.
Always a good idea. If you still have it, try laying hands on it.
One hand on the recoil starter and one hand on the air cleaner is best.
I think I once had a lwan mower engine where the pin that held the valve spring in place broke or came out and the only problem was that the valve never closed. So it had no compression. (But if that were really the only problem, how come I can't remember fixing it?)
I wonder how even the most obnoxious kid could do that.
Just a coincidence?
It sounds like there are three ways to go. I just got my tax refund so I can afford to buy something good.
Anyway, I can buy electric, I can buy decent gas, or I can buy a new engine that fits. I like my mower and of the three I'd prefer the engine solution, if the cost were reasonable and I could get an exact fit - my experience with exact replacements has been that I don't seem to understand the word "exact". It doesn't always mean unbolt the old one and bolt in the new one. Lots of times it means unbolt the old one and do a bunch of machining to make the new one work. If it matters, it's a Toro Recycler, 6.5 HP. I looked at some engine prices and they cost as much as a new mower, but i wasn't sure what engine would fit mine.
Corded electric? sounds good, but I know dragging that cord would get old. Electrics in general run from 3/4 HP up to about 1.3, and I'm not sure that will handle my grass, and rechargeable batteries have a lifespan. I like the idea of an electric but I'm leaning away. .
What brand of gas mower do lawn companies use? Or do they just wear them out in a year and replace anyway, so it doesnt matter?
The mowers the pros use cost as much as a small car. You can pay $5k+ for a used Grasshopper. It has nothing to do with what a guy who spends an hour or two a week needs. These things run all day long 50 or 60 hours a week. Some are even diesels. I would just find something with a Honda motor and it might outlive your willingness to cut your own grass. 10-15 years is not unusual tho.
I think what you're saying is that you better have a small lawn. I could not do mine on that run time and I don't have a really big one either. I guess you could do it in two phases, but I bet it takes quite a while to recharge. And now you have two charge cycles per cutting, which means the battery lasts about half as long.
I saw my neighbor using a cordless leaf blower. It was quiet compared to a gas one. But it also wasn't blowing anything like a gas one either. It would be useless on my yard where I have lots of leaves.
Toro recycler - Cast deck or stamped? If you can get an engine for the old recycler the deck (cast) will last forever I have one that is almost 40 years old
I bought a Craftsman for $160 on Ebay. Some local guy had it listed, it was brand new. That must be ten years ago, it still runs fine. The only thing that failed was the drive engage. I took two screws off a plastic cover to expose the belt and spring. The end of the spring had broken off, a cable tie fixed it. It does need a new belt and front wheels at this point, but it's still usable.
Previous mower was a Honda. Their brilliant idea was an actual gear drive transmission that had 3 speeds. The drive bushing on the transmission wore out and it failed. It was unbelievably complicated to take apart, dozens of pieces I put into two egg cartons. And a new tranny would have been $130 plus shipping. That's when I bought the Craftsman instead. The Craftsman if you bought it at Sears would have been half the cost of the Honda.
The differences between the two:
Craftsman
Half the price Noticeably more powerful More noise Simple belt slip design that gives variable speed and cheap to fix that
Honda Much quieter Composite deck that can't rust Fixed 3 speeds, I never used any speed other than 3, $130 plus just for parts if it fails. So the part that failed, I didn't even need. Two blade mulching design that gave the smoothest, nicest cut and mulched into very small pieces that disappeared better.
IMO that last part is the one reason to buy a Honda, if the new ones still have that dual blade design. It was one blade over the other on the one shaft, spaced about 1/2" apart, different shapes. It's the only thing I really miss. Not that the Craftsman cuts badly, it's just the Honda was nicer cut than any mower I've had.
It's good to see that even after 30-35 posts, no one has made the foolish comment about how an electric mower is better for the environment than those nasty gasoline engines.
Where do those virtue-signaling Tesla and other electric car drivers think all that extra electricity comes from to constantly recharge their feel-good-mobile? The Energizer Bunny Fairy? Maybe from all those new high capacity clean nuclear generating plants we've built?
Speaking of which, after reading your post, I went to Facebook and this popped up:
OTOH, I would never fall for that electric car crap.
Actually it is a lot of skin off their nose. They lose a day, maybe two and these guys are usually booked all day, up to 10 hours, 6 days a week. If you start missing days, you lose customers. They still have to pay their guys so it is money out of their pocket. That is why they pay $8000-10,000 for a real mower. I have 3 golf course superintendents and 2 lawn service owners here in this neighborhood. I know a bit about how this stuff goes.
I've had my current mower (Honda motor) for 12 years now. Some people claim they never last longer than 2-3 years. Maybe those don't ever change the oil.
Maybe you could ave a second battery.
I get leaves from a neighbor's trees (I think they are pin oaks). The leaves are narrow, but thick and heavy. Not easy to rake or blow.
I would say it is more like 10 to 20 thousand for the 'real mower'. I just bought a JD x590 for about $ 8000 on sale and I would still classify it as a home owner mower. Even the next one up the x700 series starting around $ 10,000 looked to me to be a home owner mower with the possiable use to work a small ( say an acre or so) garden.
With the turn around time of a week to several weeks to get the mowers repaired, the lawn services need a mower they can depend on and have it serviced in the off seson months.
Mistake most of us make is not firing up equipment until it is needed. Wait until grass needs cutting and find mower does not work and needs to be taken to shop for repair is when you will find shop is up to it's eyeballs with mowers needing repair and you may have to wait 3 weeks to get yours repaired.
For 10-20 thousand bucks, you can cover a whole lot of Mexican man hours for cutting your grass for you......for he next 50 or so years, I'd think ;-)
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