They say my 2-stroke mower can't be repaired...

[Indydriver]

I have the best walking mower ever made, the Gold Series Lawn Boy, a powerful, fast, aluminum deck 2-stroke that is 15 years old. It worked so well, I had not taken it in for service for three years! I took it in out of guilt more than anything, just to get a routine service. They called and said I needed to come into the shop. There, the mechanic had the thing all torn down and showed me what he called "severe scoring" in the cylinder that could not be repaired and parts are longer available. I told him it was running fine when I brought it in, just service it and we will see how it does.

Obviously, I am aware that the Feds have outlawed 2-strokes but I'm not ready to give up. Is it true that these mowers are no longer repairable? No parts? Surely, there's got to be a few 2-stroke fanatics out there keeping the faith. Any ideas? I'm picking up the mower next week and obviously, I'll be anxious to start it up.

 

[Astro14]

Wait, wait, wait...you took it in for routine service (whatever that is...plug? Air filter?) and they tore down the engine? Granted, I used to put rings in my 2-stroke RM-125 about every other month...but a lawnmower isn't stressed like that...

If it was running before, why the tear-down? And if there is scoring, just hone it and see how it comes out...re-ring it and you're back in business...are they saying that you can't even get rings for this?

Worst case, put it back together and keep running it...

 

[Astro14]

Try this: http://www.partstree.com/parts/?lc=lawn_boy&mn=10515%2C+Gold+Series+Lawnmower%2C+1995+%28SN+5900001-5999999%29&dn=3317_124-7_124010-0008

That look like yours? Pistons, cylinder, rings...all available...

 

[Smoky14]

"they" are wrong, pistons,sleves, etc are all available.

 

[NHGUY]

Sounds like somebody wants to make a new sale.

 

[pottymouth]

What was this service supposed to consist of?

 

[pottymouth]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Sounds like somebody wants to make a new sale.


...and get his hands on a nice Lawn Boy for free.

 

[Best F100]

My two cents:

If you look around your local craigslist (and ebay), you can find a replacement engine at a low cost. People are real quick about pushing a no start mower to the curb on trash day. Swap another engine on it, and live for another 15 years. I am using synthetic 2 cycle oil on my mowers to TRY to entend its longevity.

I agree, these are some of the greatest mowers ever made. I have two, mint, 6 1/2 HP, 2 stroke, aluminum deck Lawn Boys. One of them is the rare commercial version, with orange steel wheels and orange, 1 gallon, orange, gas tank. Someone better have some serious change in their pockets if they want to buy one from me.
Any takers?

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: pottymouth
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Sounds like somebody wants to make a new sale.


...and get his hands on a nice Lawn Boy for free.

+1 Mine has had a pretty terrible main seal leak for about 5 years now and it was run hard on old gas mulching 4' tall piles leaves and stick big enough to put a small hole in the deck for many years before that. I just richened up the carb and off it goes, year after year.
Anyways like most small engines, they can take alot of abuse and still function well enough to get the job done.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: pottymouth
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Sounds like somebody wants to make a new sale.


...and get his hands on a nice Lawn Boy for free.


+1. If you brought in for a "tune-up" or average service, I'm not sure how that resulted in a tear down unless there was an engine problem with it. Also, did you give the tech the authorization to tear it down ?

 

[Cujet]

Oh, it's repairable. Companies like US Chrome can re-plate just about any cylinder with Nicom, a very robust cylinder material.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Originally Posted By: pottymouth
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Sounds like somebody wants to make a new sale.


...and get his hands on a nice Lawn Boy for free.


+1. If you brought in for a "tune-up" or average service, I'm not sure how that resulted in a tear down unless there was an engine problem with it. Also, did you give the tech the authorization to tear it down ?
x2.

Anything can be repaired. Cylinders can be sleeved, pistons cast etc. I'd like to hear the rest of the story.

Maybe your city has passed an ordinance that prevents the shop from repairing 2 stroke stuff?

Theres enough parts on ebay to keep it running for years.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lawn-Boy-D-serie...=item4161a161d6


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toro-Lawn-Boy-68...=item27bb84349e

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=+law...6.c0.m270.l1313

 

[Slick17601]

If I took a perfectly running piece of equipment in for service and they tore the engine down....the owner and I would be having a serious sit down.

 

[Vikas]

That is one of the reason I hate these "routine services" :-(

 

[2Fast4U]

Wow. Places like this should not be in business. Sounds like they will be screwing you over bad until it finally ends.

 

[MichiganMadMan]

WHAT A LOAD OF HORSEHOCKEY!!!
I still have 2 Lawn Boy Gold mowers (and used to have two steel deck ones that were rescued), and have re-build these engines before. As of last summer, you can buy long blocks from PartsTree or SuperXPower. The piston-ported version of this engine was still in production until late last year (snowblower), so I'm sure the piston is still available, the cylinder might be interchangeable, I'll have to look into that.

Usually the lower seal is torn up or worn out and they start surging, then the shade tree mechanic tries to cure that by fiddling with the governer. Then they give up and put it on CraigsList. The lower seal lives in a not-so-great place and when it's womped out, allows the engine to pull garbage in from the deck/spindle interface (not the best place to get crankcase air). I resurected two that were like this, and I just ran the cheapo cylinder hone on the cylinder, new piston and rings, BAM! great runner.

I also agree with the above posts about the shop diving into it, what exactly did you tell them to do?

For me a "routine service" is cleaning the air filter, installing a new spark plug, greasing the drive wheels and washing it off at the end of the season.

I have a service manual for this engine if you need it.

 

[Merkava_4]

What's the model number and serial number of the Lawn Boy?

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Slick17601
If I took a perfectly running piece of equipment in for service and they tore the engine down....the owner and I would be having a serious sit down.

X2. What they did was unacceptable. They absolutely should have gotten your permission before tearing it down.

I work for an OPE repair company and there is no way we would tear down a running engine. If it failed a compression test or exhibited symptoms of an internal issue, we would call the customer and discuss repair options with them. A tear down would only be done at the customer's request or for warranty repairs where it is required. Obviously the warranty is out the window, so they should have given you a call.

I'm guessing this place sells equipment too?

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
I have the best walking mower ever made, the Gold Series Lawn Boy, a powerful, fast, aluminum deck 2-stroke that is 15 years old. It worked so well, I had not taken it in for service for three years! I took it in out of guilt more than anything, just to get a routine service. They called and said I needed to come into the shop. There, the mechanic had the thing all torn down and showed me what he called "severe scoring" in the cylinder that could not be repaired and parts are longer available. I told him it was running fine when I brought it in, just service it and we will see how it does.

Obviously, I am aware that the Feds have outlawed 2-strokes but I'm not ready to give up. Is it true that these mowers are no longer repairable? No parts? Surely, there's got to be a few 2-stroke fanatics out there keeping the faith. Any ideas? I'm picking up the mower next week and obviously, I'll be anxious to start it up.



How did this situation turn out?

 

[Indydriver]

Update: my Lawn Boy is home and back in service. The thing is running better than ever. Whatever "scoring" may have been present certainly isn't hurting it's power output. I can barely keep up with it while running in 3rd gear.

The list of work performed included new seals, new plug, new filter, replaced pull starter, tightened and lubed cables, sharpened blade and probably more. The thing runs like it's new. Despite suspicions, this is a reputable shop that I've done business with for years. Yes, they sell new equipment. I'm not sure exactly what they were trying to do, but the bottom line is, they did a nice job getting this 16 yo equipment back into top form for about $125. I'm happy with the result. And thanks to all of your input, I'll never let anyone try to tell me parts aren't available.