My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

The more I look at it, the more I want to weld it, but I know what Mg
does when it gets hot enough to burn! Is there a way to do a decent
join without destroying the mower? I only have a Lincoln tombstone AC
welder, a cheapo HF DC Tig, and O/A gas setup. I also still have some
of those "miracle" repair sticks that used to be touted at flea
markets ("fix any Al device with just a propane torch - developed by
NASA").

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:09:16 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

The more I look at it, the more I want to weld it, but I know what Mg
does when it gets hot enough to burn! Is there a way to do a decent
join without destroying the mower? I only have a Lincoln tombstone AC
welder, a cheapo HF DC Tig, and O/A gas setup. I also still have some
of those "miracle" repair sticks that used to be touted at flea
markets ("fix any Al device with just a propane torch - developed by
NASA").

1. Call LawnBoy (or get on the Interwebs) and see if you can get a
new deck casting, and move the motor and all the other parts over.

https://www.shoplawnboy.com/Comergen...ineModelLookup

1A. But first, do a financial study - the replacement deck part might
cost you more than a brand new mower, and you get a zero-hour engine,
new blade, etc. for that price.

The MSRP for the Manual Push model is $259, and if you can't beat that
price by quite a bit you aren't trying very hard.

2. Find a local Aluminum Casting foundry. and take them the stripped
bare mower deck casting to use as a casting blank - they'll probably
want you to fill in the crack with Bondo and fill in any drilled and
tapped holes that you'll need to drill and tap yourself on the new
casting.

It will weigh a bit more in an AL Casting Alloy rather than Magnesium,
it will be a little rough from the sand-casting (unless you spend a
lot more to make an injection mold like Lawn-Boy did) and it will Not
be cheap (it would be certifiably insane 10X the price of a new mower)
- but it'll work.

-- Bruce --

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:19:56 -0700, "Bruce L. Bergman (munged human
readable)" wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:09:16 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

1. Call LawnBoy (or get on the Interwebs) and see if you can get a
new deck casting, and move the motor and all the other parts over.

https://www.shoplawnboy.com/Comergen...ineModelLookup

1A. But first, do a financial study - the replacement deck part might
cost you more than a brand new mower, and you get a zero-hour engine,
new blade, etc. for that price.

The MSRP for the Manual Push model is $259, and if you can't beat that
price by quite a bit you aren't trying very hard.

I just did a random search for a deck from a 1996 model 10310, and
they are available as repair parts - Over $310, not counting taxes and
shipping. And since a new mower street price will be about $200...

Dig a hole, Say Kadish, have a quiet mourning period, and go get her a
new mower already. If she's willing to mow the lawn for you she's
already a Keeper, dammit!! Stop griping and spend the money!

Buy her a Rider, even. Or a little Tractor with a mower deck.

-- Bruce --

Well, I am unable to find any new Lawn Boy 2-cycle mowers. Every
4-stroke mower I have owned weighs a great deal more than this old
machine. Since we end up picking it up to mow raised areas, weight is
important enough to make this a "must repair". Spending the money for
a new deck is not in the picture, either.

You are right about her being a keeper, so if she says this mower need
to be fixed, well...

We also have a Wheel Horse, but need the pusher for tight spots. OTOH,
we are looking into getting a ZTR to replace the Horse. I tried to
talk her into letting me use the finish mower I have for my 4WD
Mitsubishi, but she won't let that beast anywhere on her lawn -
something about ag tires and a heavy machine, whine.

This Lawn Boy is a 1975 model, BTW. They don't make 'em like that
anymore!

Joe


On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:41:06 -0700, "Bruce L. Bergman (munged human
readable)" wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:19:56 -0700, "Bruce L. Bergman (munged human
readable)" wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:09:16 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

1. Call LawnBoy (or get on the Interwebs) and see if you can get a
new deck casting, and move the motor and all the other parts over.

https://www.shoplawnboy.com/Comergen...ineModelLookup

1A. But first, do a financial study - the replacement deck part might
cost you more than a brand new mower, and you get a zero-hour engine,
new blade, etc. for that price.

The MSRP for the Manual Push model is $259, and if you can't beat that
price by quite a bit you aren't trying very hard.

I just did a random search for a deck from a 1996 model 10310, and
they are available as repair parts - Over $310, not counting taxes and
shipping. And since a new mower street price will be about $200...

Dig a hole, Say Kadish, have a quiet mourning period, and go get her a
new mower already. If she's willing to mow the lawn for you she's
already a Keeper, dammit!! Stop griping and spend the money!

Buy her a Rider, even. Or a little Tractor with a mower deck.

-- Bruce --

Joe Gandalf fired this volley in
:

we are looking into getting a ZTR to replace the Horse

I've got a Scagg 61", and wouldn't trade it for cash, unless it was
enough cash to buy a brand new one!

I mow 6 acres each week, and it takes only 3 gallons of fuel, and about
four hours. 'Looks like a golf course when it's done.


Lloyd

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 17:41:49 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Joe Gandalf fired this volley in
:

we are looking into getting a ZTR to replace the Horse

I've got a Scagg 61", and wouldn't trade it for cash, unless it was
enough cash to buy a brand new one!

I mow 6 acres each week, and it takes only 3 gallons of fuel, and about
four hours. 'Looks like a golf course when it's done.

I'll never understand why otherwise sane people want so much farkin',
blasted grass. Wasting good time, money, gasoline, fertilizer, and
ungodly amounts of water on something which maked their allergies
flare up and their noses run is beyond me.

Some books for those people:

Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives by Hadden, Evelyn
The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful,
Bountiful Garden by Soler, Ivette

Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for
Your Yard by Penick, Pam

The New American Front Yard: Kiss Your Grass Goodbye by Sarah Sutton
(My sister edited this for her friend Sarah.)

Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden And Your
Neighborhood into a Community by Flores, Heather

Cheers!

--
They must find it difficult,
those who have taken authority as truth,
rather than truth as authority.
-- Gerald Massey, Egyptologist

"Joe Gandalf" wrote in message

You are right about her being a keeper, so if she says this mower
need
to be fixed, well...


If she designs the patch it won't be ugly. Cardboard from a cereal box
etc makes a good pattern that you can trace onto sheetmetal.
jsw

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:38:45 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

Well, I am unable to find any new Lawn Boy 2-cycle mowers. Every
4-stroke mower I have owned weighs a great deal more than this old
machine. Since we end up picking it up to mow raised areas, weight is
important enough to make this a "must repair". Spending the money for
a new deck is not in the picture, either.

FWIW, we had a Sears/Power Products mower with a mag-alloy housing
that my dad bought in 1959. It was light as a feather and I loved it.
He got a newer mower but I would only use the light one. It had a
2-stroke PP motor with an aluminum cylinder, with no lining, and an
integral head that didn't come off. No throttle and a wrap-on rope
starter.

In 1962 - I remember the day -- I hit a rock that flew forward and
cracked the front of the housing nearly off. It was held on by a thin
steel "comb" on the front of the housing, which was held to the
housing with two or three rivets.

When I read about your situation I nearly fell off my chair. It sounds
like the same thing.

Anyway, my dad cut a strip of 1/8" aluminum about two inches wide, the
langth of the crack, drilled holes, and screwed through the housing
into the aluminum. It clogged easily if the grass was wet but we used
it like that for another two years.

'Hope you can keep it.

--
Ed Huntress

On Jun 2, 4:38*pm, Joe Gandalf wrote:
Well, I am unable to find any new Lawn Boy 2-cycle mowers. Every
4-stroke mower I have owned weighs a great deal more than this old
machine. Since we end up picking it up to mow raised areas, weight is
important enough to make this a "must repair". Spending the money for
a new deck is not in the picture, either.

You are right about her being a keeper, so if she says this mower need
to be fixed, well...

We also have a Wheel Horse, but need the pusher for tight spots. OTOH,
we are looking into getting a ZTR to replace the Horse. I tried to
talk her into letting me use the finish mower I have for my 4WD
Mitsubishi, but she won't let that beast anywhere on her lawn -
something about ag tires and a heavy machine, whine.

This Lawn Boy is a 1975 model, BTW. They don't make 'em like that
anymore!

Joe

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:41:06 -0700, "Bruce L. Bergman (munged human



readable)" wrote:
On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:19:56 -0700, "Bruce L. Bergman (munged human
readable)" wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:09:16 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! *However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

1. *Call LawnBoy (or get on the Interwebs) and see if you can get a
new deck casting, and move the motor and all the other parts over.

https://www.shoplawnboy.com/Comergen...o?cmd=ToroLBOn....

1A. *But first, do a financial study - the replacement deck part might
cost you more than a brand new mower, and you get a zero-hour engine,
new blade, etc. *for that price.

The MSRP for the Manual Push model is $259, and if you can't beat that
price by quite a bit you aren't trying very hard.

I just did a random search for a deck from a 1996 model 10310, and
they are available as repair parts - Over $310, not counting taxes and
shipping. * And since a new mower street price will be about $200...

Dig a hole, Say Kadish, have a quiet mourning period, and go get her a
new mower already. *If she's willing to mow the lawn for you she's
already a Keeper, dammit!! *Stop griping and spend the money!

Buy her a Rider, even. Or a little Tractor with a mower deck.

-- Bruce --- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

EPA says 2-cycle=bad ju-ju. So no more new ones. The one Briggs book
talks about getting cat converters stuffed into 4-cycle mowers,
they're ready with golfball-sized ones.

If it were mine, I'd drill the end of the crack, polish it up and JB
Weld a piece underneath.

Stan

Joe Gandalf wrote:

Well, I am unable to find any new Lawn Boy 2-cycle mowers. Every
4-stroke mower I have owned weighs a great deal more than this old
machine. Since we end up picking it up to mow raised areas, weight is
important enough to make this a "must repair". Spending the money for
a new deck is not in the picture, either.

You are right about her being a keeper, so if she says this mower need
to be fixed, well...

We also have a Wheel Horse, but need the pusher for tight spots. OTOH,
we are looking into getting a ZTR to replace the Horse. I tried to
talk her into letting me use the finish mower I have for my 4WD
Mitsubishi, but she won't let that beast anywhere on her lawn -
something about ag tires and a heavy machine, whine.

This Lawn Boy is a 1975 model, BTW. They don't make 'em like that
anymore!


Is there a local Freecycle group? Ask for one, if there is. The
same with Craig's list or any free local ads. Hell, even Ebay has got
into local ads. Someone may have one in a shed, or garage and they
don't bother to list it, thinking no one wants it.

http://www.freecycle.org/
http://craigslist.org/
http://www.ebayclassifieds.com/

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:19:56 -0700, "Bruce L. Bergman (munged human
readable)" wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:09:16 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

The more I look at it, the more I want to weld it, but I know what Mg
does when it gets hot enough to burn! Is there a way to do a decent
join without destroying the mower? I only have a Lincoln tombstone AC
welder, a cheapo HF DC Tig, and O/A gas setup. I also still have some
of those "miracle" repair sticks that used to be touted at flea
markets ("fix any Al device with just a propane torch - developed by
NASA").

1. Call LawnBoy (or get on the Interwebs) and see if you can get a
new deck casting, and move the motor and all the other parts over.

https://www.shoplawnboy.com/Comergen...ineModelLookup

1A. But first, do a financial study - the replacement deck part might
cost you more than a brand new mower, and you get a zero-hour engine,
new blade, etc. for that price.

Unless you need the 2 stroke mower for mowing side-hills etc. No more
2 stroke lawn boys.

The MSRP for the Manual Push model is $259, and if you can't beat that
price by quite a bit you aren't trying very hard.

2. Find a local Aluminum Casting foundry. and take them the stripped
bare mower deck casting to use as a casting blank - they'll probably
want you to fill in the crack with Bondo and fill in any drilled and
tapped holes that you'll need to drill and tap yourself on the new
casting.

It will weigh a bit more in an AL Casting Alloy rather than Magnesium,
it will be a little rough from the sand-casting (unless you spend a
lot more to make an injection mold like Lawn-Boy did) and it will Not
be cheap (it would be certifiably insane 10X the price of a new mower)
- but it'll work.

-- Bruce --
Just keep your eyes open for another old lawn-boy - with bad crank
seals or whatever making it hard to start - and harder to sell..
Currently a good deck on Kijiji in Toronto for $15

On 06/02/2013 11:09 AM, Joe Gandalf wrote:
My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

I would do the bolt-on plate. There is no reason that it has to look,
or be "sloppy", unless that is what you are going after.

Jon

On Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:09:16 -0400, Joe Gandalf
wrote:

My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

The more I look at it, the more I want to weld it, but I know what Mg
does when it gets hot enough to burn! Is there a way to do a decent
join without destroying the mower? I only have a Lincoln tombstone AC
welder, a cheapo HF DC Tig, and O/A gas setup. I also still have some
of those "miracle" repair sticks that used to be touted at flea
markets ("fix any Al device with just a propane torch - developed by
NASA").

We used to TIG magnesium quite regularly when I was in the A.F.

--
Cheers,

John B.

On 6/2/2013 21:09, Joe Gandalf wrote:
My wife loves her old Lawn Boy push mower; it's very lightweight (esp.
since I removed all the Rube Goldberg self-propelled mechanism) and
easy to start - still! However, the magnesium deck has developed a
crack that runs across the front of the discharge chute. I was going
to bolt a metal plate across the crack as a repair, but it would be a
really sloppy patch.

The more I look at it, the more I want to weld it, but I know what Mg
does when it gets hot enough to burn! Is there a way to do a decent
join without destroying the mower? I only have a Lincoln tombstone AC
welder, a cheapo HF DC Tig, and O/A gas setup. I also still have some
of those "miracle" repair sticks that used to be touted at flea
markets ("fix any Al device with just a propane torch - developed by
NASA").

How about soldering it?
http://www.weld-aluminum.com/
or use the "miracle sticks" you already have, if they are similar.

If you really want spare one, check ebay..
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=lawn+boy
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=lawn+boy+casting