Golden Anniversary mower

[jaed.43725]

So a few months back I picked up an unknown mower that says Golden Anniversary on the front of it. Turns out its a Murray. It has an old white B&S 3.5hp engine, as well as an actual throttle cable. I had to drop it off at a small engine shop and they did a full service on it. The tank had a leak, they replaced it with another one (I dont care if it matches), sharpened the blade, oil change, carb clean, new plug and wire, compression check. And the muffler broke taking it off, as it was barely holding on. So I took it to a machine shop and they got it out. Got a used muffler and screwed it in. And I tell ya, this thing beats any of those new mowers, any day. Its lighter and cuts better. And I can leave it running while I pick up sticks or whatever. Best part was I got it for free as part of a deal with buying a Lawn Boy 2-stroke for $30.

The only thing left to fix is wheel wobble. It has actual metal sleeves in the wheels, not plastic. So a good hardware store should have the parts.

 

[Fish]

What is the date on the engine?

 

[jaed.43725]

I have no idea. A lot of the markings are worn down.

 

[Fish]

Look above the spark plug, there should be model, type, and code numbers stamped in the metal. The first 2 digits of the code is the year the engine was made.

 

[Fish]

https://www.briggsandstratton.com/c...na/en_us/Images/Support/Videos/find_model.JPG

 

[Fish]

Here is another example.

 

[jaed.43725]

 

[Fish]

If original, your engine has points. The electronic conversions came along in 83 or 84.

 

[jaed.43725]

So if it's original then it's pretty old. But I tell you what, hit the primer 2x at the most, and 1 maybe 2 pulls and it fires right up. It cuts better and is more reliable than any new mower I've ever seen.

 

[Fish]

Primer?

That is not original!!!!

 

[jaed.43725]

Primer?

That is not original!!!!

What would the original design be?

 

[KYsawman]

It would have been the old bimetallic choke system. It had a little box on the side of the carb with the spring in it. The primer is in my opinion a better carb setup. The shop probably switched it out with the tank since the carb bolts to the top of the tank. The early tanks are different so the new style carb will not fit. If the tank had a leak the old style are no longer available, so the upgraded to the newer one.

 

[Fish]

It would have been the old bimetallic choke system. It had a little box on the side of the carb with the spring in it. The primer is in my opinion a better carb setup. The shop probably switched it out with the tank since the carb bolts to the top of the tank. The early tanks are different so the new style carb will not fit. If the tank had a leak the old style are no longer available, so the upgraded to the newer one.

Or likely they just had a junk mower with a bent crankshaft they stole it off of.

 

[jaed.43725]

That's neat. I wonder how many around here agree that the old mowers run a lot better.

 

[KYsawman]

I only run old mowers, I have a 1954 Fairbanks Morse, 1964 Lawn Boy, and a 1971 Bunton commercial. They are built better, especially the decks and wheels.

 

[sawfun]

I remember mowers like that for around $39 new in the 70's and $59 in the 80's. Most were 3 or 3.5 horse, 4 horse was rare and commercial mostly. In tall wet grass every 1/2 horse increase made a huge difference.