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$99 lawn mower!

C

compudog

Diamond Member
13 years ago, after the wife and I got our own place, I bought a cheap, Murray lawnmower at a local department store. $99.00 with a Briggs and Stratton engine. I never had any problems with it. Last mowing season, I hadn't even used the mower as our lawn was torn up from construction and I just used a gas line trimmer to keep things in check. This year, I have a lawn again so I pulled out the mower, added fresh gas, hoping the thing would start. On the second pull, it started right up! In all the years I have owned it, I may have changed the oil twice.

I don't know what the point of this thread is. Just relating an experience.
 
my parents have a ~20 year old Lawnboy we put to rest. Hopefully, we get another 20 out of this Honda.

-=bmacd=-
 
You have to change the oil for a lawn mower? 😱

All I've been doing is just adding oil. And our mower is at least 10 years old.
 
My dad's got a Lawn Boy mower from when my parents first got married (1975, I think). It's still going strong, and it's never broken down on him. He gets it tuned up at a local mower shop every year, but I think this is the last year for the Lawn Boy...the tune up cost $100 and new mowers are available for $150-$200 at Sears.

Some appliances are like that...my parents just replaced a 30-year-old fridge last year that they used as their primary fridge for 30 years (with two kids!). Frigidaire...mustard yellow! 🙂
 
:thumbsup:

i bought a 20" murray at kmart in ~1994/5 for about $129 and it runs like the day i bought it

i have never changed the oil, i might have added a little oil, but i cannot remember when

i let the gas sit each winter without stabalizer and every spring it fires right back up

i wash out the grass from under the deck after every use and it has no rust at all

it is like the energizer bunny
 
i swear they build stuff to break nowadays...this new stuff never seems to last as long as the old appliances. Quality control is slipping, or maybe they're doing it on purpose! If it worked forever, you'd never need to buy another...and they'd go bankrupt!

-=bmacd=-
 
I know the feeling... I have a Murray riding mower... The people that I bought my house from left it for dead in the woods. I ended up pulling it out, putting a new spark plug in it, sharpening the blades, and she runs smoooooth! I can pop wheelies all day long in it, and it still mows the lawn really well 🙂

Jeff
 
Originally posted by: PTCvette
I know the feeling... I have a Murray riding mower... The people that I bought my house from left it for dead in the woods. I ended up pulling it out, putting a new spark plug in it, sharpening the blades, and she runs smoooooth! I can pop wheelies all day long in it, and it still mows the lawn really well 🙂

Jeff
Click to expand...

my buddy 🙂

-=bmacd=-
 
When we bought this place in 1990 the house came with a small fridge (GE Combo - 1972) that is still running in my basement keeping drinks cold! That's 32 years and still going nicely. Sure it's not frost free and don't have an icemaker but it's still working great. I don't think I ever even changed the light bulb in it.

Absolutely right, "they don't make 'em like they used to..."
 
LOL! I bought a new mower two weeks ago. My old one was a 15+-year-old Craftsman gas mower, the cheapest one they had at the time. I needed one when we got our house so I got a cheap one figuring down the road I'd figure out which one I should have bought and replace it. That mower would not die! Never changed the oil, never drained the gas in the winter. Took it out this spring - started on the first pull. Finally my wife had pity on me and told me to just go get a new one.
 
We have a murray push mower that is about 18 years old. Synthetic oil keeps her going. The motor will outlast the deck.
 
Yeah, they'll run for a long time. The reason being is that these things will start on as little as 30-40lbs of compression.

Since these engines have no oil filtration of any kind, after a while the oil gets full of metal particles. At that point, wear becomes exponential each time you run it - the worn particles cause more wear, causing more wear, etc. I've seen mowers that were so worn, the bottom bearing was so sloppy, it wouldn't even HOLD oil! :Q But it still ran, with an audible "thud-thud-thud-thud" everytime the mains slammed home.

As long as you keep the blade sharp and your lawn isn't over 2-3" tall, you're probably fine. But if your yard ever gets out of hand, that's when you'll really notice it, because the mower won't have any power at all.

That's the way our current mower is, also. It's probably about 10 years old, and even I, the king of anal machinery maintenance, haven't changed its oil in a couple of seasons.

I'm waiting for it to finally die so I can be forced to put the new shortblock I got for it together.

It knocks so bad, I run 3/4 20W-50 and 1/4th that Motor Honey stuff - the really thick oil additive. Probably makes it a 60+ weight oil easy, lol.

Maybe I should just get some gear oil.

If you ever run it with very little/no oil, it will throw its rod within 5 minutes, guarenteed. So make sure you at least add it.
 
I found a lawnmower by the side of a dumpster, took it apart, and cleaned it out. Started right up on the second pull and ran perfectly. Right now it's just sitting in someone's basement.
 
Originally posted by: bmacd
i swear they build stuff to break nowadays...this new stuff never seems to last as long as the old appliances. Quality control is slipping, or maybe they're doing it on purpose! If it worked forever, you'd never need to buy another...and they'd go bankrupt!

-=bmacd=-
Click to expand...

No, they're just building everything more cheaply. NOTHING is made like it used to be - clothes, electronics, cars, even frying pans. Ever seen a car crash between an old steel Buick (the ones that weigh like 4000 pounds) and a modern Ford Escort? Let's just say that the Buick had a few scratches.
 
We sold an old fridge, a Philco, that must have been made in the 1940's. It was the best running fridge I have ever seen.
 
About 6 years ago I bought a $300 lawn mower from sears (I think it was the sears brand) and I worked for the first year. It wouldn's start after that. I took it back for warrenty service for the next two years and every time the reason was "the carburator was clogged". I'm not paying $60 to have it serviced every year.

and yes I dumped out the oil before putting it in storage for the winter and ran the gas dry.

It is just sitting in the garage now and I use a much older electric. Pain in the ass to drag the cord around, but it always works.
 
Originally posted by: gotsmack
About 6 years ago I bought a $300 lawn mower from sears (I think it was the sears brand) and I worked for the first year. It wouldn's start after that. I took it back for warrenty service for the next two years and every time the reason was "the carburator was clogged". I'm not paying $60 to have it serviced every year.

and yes I dumped out the oil before putting it in storage for the winter and ran the gas dry.

It is just sitting in the garage now and I use a much older electric. Pain in the ass to drag the cord around, but it always works.
Click to expand...
You shouldn't drain the oil before storing it, just change it in the spring before the first use.

Sometimes running the engine until it dies isn't enough. It might be better to use some fuel stabilizer and fill the tank completely full.
 
The worst thing about old refrigerators is that they suck down mass quanities of electricity. Its hardly worth keeping them around.
 
Another 20 year old Lawnbow mower here. My dad's had it since before I was born... runs loud, but damn it still works. The bag has fallen apart, been sewed up, and is about to fall apart again. Going to put a mulching blade on soon and just cut the grass more often.
 
Originally posted by: Sluggo
The worst thing about old refrigerators is that they suck down mass quanities of electricity. Its hardly worth keeping them around.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Anything pre 1990 is going to make a noticeable jolt in electric bill compared to a modern unit.
 
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