Lawn Boy engine

[kibble]

I finally got around to taking that 2 cycle lawnboy engine off of the deck. I'm gonna try to get it cleaned up and running kinda like Russ's. I was playing with it and I noticed that noise that Russ had mentioned was caused by the bearings on the crank. I got freaked out for a minute because I thought that the piston was messed up because when I turned the crank it was very difficult and it made a squealing noise that I thought was the piston rubbing on the cylinder walls. It turns out that the mower has a brake on the flywheel itself! Well, actually "had", I took it off. I told a friend that came over today about it and he said: "I've never seen a 2-cycle lawnmower, they're always 4-cycles." He didn't believe me at first but I explained it to him.

Oh yeah, Russ, that plate adapter that you said would be difficult to remove came right off when I took off the bolt that holds the blade on. I thought to myself: "Well that was extremely hard!"

It's a pretty neat little engine! Here's some pics of it as I took it out.

 

[ironman]

so is that the next project you going to build on

 

[kibble]

I'm hoping to eventually use it for something. It makes a nice sound, even with the stock muffler. Maybe the next kart I build will have this engine on it, or I could put it on the kart I'm building now at a later time.

 

[ironman]

i sure russ got some idea for it to work you know

 

[ironman]

kibble check out this motor here on ebay dude
180230595011

 

[kibble]

Awww man that would be a sweet engine to have! Unfortunately it's out of my reach for the time being. I'm trying to pay off as much of my credit cards as I can, I have quite a bit of debt. I'm also trying to save up to buy a decent mill with money I'm getting from recycling things, selling stuff that I don't use, and helping people with computer problems and such. Man it was difficult to write all this (I have a major buzz going right now LOL :rolleyes3: :arf: ). Maybe sometime later I'll be able to get something cool like that.

 

[ironman]

i hear you there get with russ on that motor see what you can do with it thats could be a cool setup.

 

[Russ2251]

Oh yeah, Russ, that plate adapter that you said would be difficult to remove came right off when I took off the bolt that holds the blade on. I thought to myself: "Well that was extremely hard!"

Yeah, I've had this happen. I just wanted to prepare you for the worst/usual case.

 

[kibble]

Well, thanks for the heads up though!

 

[ironman]

sounds good russ mototor looking real nice

 

[Russ2251]

You can remove this tank support as it will not be needed and will give you more clearance. Remove engine to mower mounting plate (4 bolts) along with muffler.

 

[Russ2251]

I told a friend that came over today about it and he said: "I've never seen a 2-cycle lawnmower, they're always 4-cycles." He didn't believe me at first but I explained it to him.

They've been around since early '50's. Only 1.5 hp back then.

 

[kibble]

I did as you said, my lord, and I took the plate off of the bottom. :arf:

I didn't take off the support plate as I noticed I'd have to cut it off, so I'll take that off later. I have three pics here. One is of the bottom of the mower before I took the deck adapter off. Was it supposed to be that oily in there? Next, the carb is filthy, as you can see. Last, is this plate needed at all? I didn't see any reason why I should put it back on after I clean it up. Do you recommend keeping the stock carb, or should I try to find a better one? All the stock stuff that is on the engine seems like it's very restrictive to airflow.

 

[Russ2251]

Was it supposed to be that oily in there?

No, that's about the worst I've seen. Probably due to using wrong oil mix. Should be 32:1 or 4 ounces oil to 1 gallon gas. I use Honda HP2 HI-PERFORMANCE 2-STROKE RACING OIL (3rd pic) which is 100% synthetic. Lawn-Boy 2 cycle oil (4th pic) works well also and is cheaper and easier to find than Honda stuff. Avoid oils that don't specifically state 32:1 ratio. In a pinch I've used a straight 30w non detergent at 16:1 but can get kind of goopy after a while.

Last, is this plate needed at all?

Not really, but I would save it.

Do you recommend keeping the stock carb, or should I try to find a better one?

Find a better one. This can't be over emphasized. There are no adjustments (high and low speed) on Lawn-Boy carb and IS VERY RESTRICTIVE. I have purchased Tillotson carbs (1st pic) on Ebay for about $30 delivered. These are NOS (New Old Stock) and date back to '60's or '70's. Keep in mind that this is a diaphragm carb and requires a tap in crankcase for vacuum pulse as shown in 2nd pic. A new equivalent carb sells for over $100. I have 6 or 8 of them and work best on all my 2 cycles. If I see them again, I will post here.

 

[kibble]

It would make sense that they were using the wrong oil and possibly the wrong mixture because it looked almost like regular motor oil in there. I have a few containers of two cycle oils for our chainsaw and weed eater and none of them look like that after it's gone through the engine. It might explain why the engine ran like crap when I tried to start it. Also, when I did get it running, it gave out a lot of bluish smoke, more so than normal two cycles. It sounded like it had a hard time burning the mixture. Fortunately though, it doesn't look like there's any damage to the engine as it seems to be quite well lubricated and it's got really good compression. I'm gonna be taking it appart completely to clean out everything and I'll add that little barbed connector like you did on yours for the pulse line.

 

[kibble]

Is there any particullar model number of Tillotson that I should search for? I found this one but it says it's modified for alcohol. Looks nice though:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Till...013QQitemZ230238275417QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[kibble]

Dude how'd you find that? I searched and searched and didn't find anything NOS.

 

[Russ2251]

You don't know the power of the DARK SIDE...

 

[kibble]

Yeah, the only thing I find coming out of the Dark Side are foul smells. I try to stay away from those.

 

[kibble]

I got the Tillotson carb you showed me on ebay in the mail today. I'll soon be taking the engine apart and cleaning it. I bought the barbed fitting that will go on the crankcase for the pulse. Now I just need a decent air filter.