This ride on lawn mower is rusty and rotten. It has been left in an open fronted shed for decades. The engine won't turn over and the whole thing looks like it's ready to be scrapped. Will it run? Thank you to my Patrons / daggerwin
Pro Tip: Put a thin layer of heavy bearing grease on both sides of the carburetor/fuel tank gasket and it will allow the gasket to be re-used instead of being destroyed each time you need to do servicing. Those paper gaskets usually don’t come off in one piece. Kart racers (Briggs Raptor 5hp) use the same method for maintenance or changing out carbs between races, etc.
I agree a 💯% it’s just that rare that It needs to be saved including the mowing deck I believe that mind that could probably be restored with some welding or re-created and reuse the old spindles after they’ve been rebuilt
Used to do this and similar stuff for a living most of my life. Never ever got tired of it, still enjoy watching someone one else. The reward was always in getting something to function correctly again. The money was only an incidental really to allow me to go on playing. Getting closed to 80 years old now , wonder what will happen to all that experience and knowledge that's still in my memory and brain when I go. Seems a pity it can't be transferred to one of these usb things, or is this the way of doing that ?.
Thanks for all the amazing videos that you do for our entertainment! I really do enjoy all of your content across all 3 of your channels. You are a great inspiration to my wife and I and I would love to meet you some day. Your videos inspire me to continue making my own content even though it is difficult to do so sometimes. Thanks for all you do, it is greatly appreciated!
G'day and greetings from Tasmania Australia, I've been watching and subscribed to your channel for a while now and I'm always amazed how you get these machines running again especially when they really look like they are headed for the tip. You explain what your doing very well and it's great to watch you disassemble it and diagnose the problems terrific channel really interesting thanks for showing this one, kind regards John
The old Briggs & Strattons are quite tough. Sad to hear lately that they are in a financial bind. They have survived many a year of competition that saw a lot of other manufacturers go under.
@@Seasonal50 - I had an old 3 hp briggs of 1973 vintage on a push mower. Near the end of the summer I was mowing and it just quit, about the time it would have run out of gas. Filled it up and it still wouldn't start so I got annoyed and chucked it out the door of the shop and where it landed is where it sat for 3 years. This is also where one of my snow banks got built when I pushed snow. After sitting outside for 3 years, half the time under a snow bank, I put a new coil on it from a 12 hp I had sitting around, cleaned the points and it fired on the second pull. Still running 6 years later.
@@Kryten428 Had an old,old,hard to remember, l'm 83 last Nov. 24,2020,B&S 1&1/2 hp,cast iron ???? No spark,wasn't the coil,magnets went dead on the flywheel !!!!!! Didn't know how to remagnagnitize them,engine got lost in the shuffle,don't know what happened to it !!!!!! Probably could have wired it up for a battery ignition,but didn't think of it until right now !!!!!!!!!! Dummy 😣 ♿ 🇺🇸
Very good restorer very well explained I appreciate that you show part numbers I think you are the best on RU-vid this is the first video I watch of yours I enjoyed all 57 minutes looking forward to seeing more from Canada
Should try some baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in your sand blaster for carburetors. It blasts everything off them but doesn’t take away the base material like sand or glass bead. Works amazing! Then run it through your ultrasonic cleaner and the baking soda dissolves in the water, leaves everything looking brand new!
My grandfather worked at wheelhorse in South Bend for many years up until he passed away in 1986, though he worked in production for quite a while he eventually became a delivery driver transporting them into Canada.
Bravo sir, Bravo. An old B & S engine that has lots more years of life in it yet. Now you have to disassembly it, remove all the old peeling paint and rust, prime and paint it to look new, since you got it running like new... Thumbs Up!
Nice work bringing the old Briggs back to life again, i would have given the recoil spring a bit of oil, also would have been interesting to see what compression you got psi, ido love a old Wheelhorse.
Great video I love your restoration projects so relaxing to watch and very educational to I feel like I could tear apart an engine rebuild one now 😁 keep up the great content thanks dagger 😁
Nice video, picked up a Web self propelled mower for £10, plan is to get it going again, this sort of inspires me to start lol. like all the videos. Thanks for sharing :-)
Nice Job Great Video! Sometimes more work than worth but it proves the point you can do anything you set your mind to doing! Look forward to seeing more videos!
I have a wheel horse ranger 700, and it looks just like it! It was made in 1974 I think, and is pull start. But I don't think it has the original engine though. Great video!😊
my neighbor just gave me a wheel horce c-120 or something.i got it running after being outside for 6 yrs.this thing is a beast.way better than my crastman v twin.
Very typical seeing all that corrosion and gunk when the head comes off. When I used to do this, I'd tear it down till it was only the block, piston, and crank there. The rest I'd take off, clean up, and it would run almost immediately. Love these small engines.
"Will it run" is a rhetorical question by now....knowing your skills. When I was a kid, we could pick up refurbished Briggs & Stratton motors from our neighbors (Japanese landscapers) and motorize our "fat tire" bicycles.....youth and no sense of mortality. Best wishes and be well.
For rusted and corroded stuff use apple cider vinegar... For rusted cylinders.. Fill them full with the vinegar and wait 3 days at least... Keep topped off and it may take 7-10 days... But it will come loose.
the engine is exactly the same as my flymo 5gxl wheeled mower i managed to find an original old stock brand new in box coil for mine on ebay very reasonable price too , they have so much power mine will cut long thick grass on tick over , great videos .
Good resurrection video! Personally I think the mower, and especially the deck is too far gone. But, you have a good engine for something else that may come along :-)
Just out of curiosity, what do you do with all of these project mowers after you get them running or restore them? Do you have a large collection around your house or do you sell them?
I like the philosophy that you arent just replacing parts. Fixing parts that you can to get it to go instead. Awesome approach. This machine was a real disaster.
next time you have a seized engine, you should lube the cylinder before you try to turn it over. regardless of it being the coil or not, it can help preserve the cylinder wall. great video though!
I had a used Wheel horse when i was around 13 years old.. Back in the 70's.. the mower stopped running and sat for a few years before we scrapped it.. Wish i had youtube back then.
I agree with alot of the comments this mower deserves a full restoration after years of hard work mowing countless yrads( gardens ) it want's to be returned to the days of old when it was new
Did you really take off the flywheel with one hit of a mallet and a screwdriver? Just goes to show that sure proper tools are nice, but you don't really need them. Btw the engine looks great!
Thats funny--for the last ten years I have been putting on the air filter cap on my mower with the v-shape the other way and my genset too. My mower had the valve seat pop out after a couple of years, but I staked it into the aluminum about ten years ago been good. I don't run it to fast any more.
Really is interesting seeing the difference in lawn mowers of the same time period in the UK and here in the states. The way the seat was made blew my mind haha, i feel sorry for the people’s backs that operated those back in the day. But at least the engines from both here and there had the same name. Haha
Nice rebuild Dag. I recently overhauled a similar carb an fuel tank on a old tiller I found cheap. It was rusted badly within the tank and the carb draw straw was shot. I actually put small coins with gas and some cleaner in the tank and shaked the 🔥 out of it several times. That process got the inside of tank shining brand new! The draw straw problem was fixed as well also, by splicing a fuel filter line that came off a in tank weedeater part. Finding the parts on that carb an metal tank combo are dang near impossible! Uggh! Sometimes you just have to JerryRig it! Lol 😆. Again, Great video Dag! I learn something new every time👍