First Start in 20 Years - MTD Riding Mower w/Briggs IC Engine 

Your remark regarding the mowers' lack of a blade brake led me to visit the MTD site. I was able to locate and download the owner's manual for this machine; In it I discovered that on page 14 of the manual it describes the adjustment of the blade brake. It appears that the brake is an assembly attached to the mower deck nearest the rear of the machine and that it pushes against the belt on main pulley. The brake appears to be activated by a cable connected to the 'brake assembly, (although I'm not certain where the cable attaches to the engine). You may wish to contact MTD to determine the availability of the brake assembly. Given the size of the blade on that machine I would be very leery of operating the machine with such a vital safety feature absent from the machine. As you say at the end of your videos "I hope this helps."

This mower brought back memories. My first ever riding mower was the Sears Craftsman version of this mower that was made by MTD. It was essentially a cheap piece of junk, but it beat push mowing. After a few years of using it the engine would randomly shut off and sometimes would re-start, but usually not. The following week it would fire right up and once again randomly die somewhere in the yard. I finally got sick of it and started tracing down the magneto kill wire from the ignition switch and found the insulation slightly rubbed through where they had ran it down through the engine cooling fins. Vibration would cause the wire to occasionaly ground out and kill the engine.

I did not read all the comments so I don't know if anyone brought this up. The blade brake has been removed from the deck. It's a small part that uses a cable and spring to push against the blade pulley when disengaged, and then pull away from the blade pulley when the blade is engaged (spinning). Manuals and parts guides are available on-line and if you look at one you will see what I am talking about (MTD p/n 16053). I purchased this exact model in 1999 and used it for 14 years. When the tires were inflated properly and the the deck freshly leveled according to the manual, my lawn looked as smooth as a billiard table after I cut the grass. Man it looked good! The problem was that the deck did not remain level throughout the mowing season and needed quite a bit of adjustment the following Spring. I sold this mower in 2013 because the 4-foot long clutch rod (p/n 747-0560) broke off at the engine side and a replacement was not available. This clutch rod eventually wears out because there is no bearing or bushing at the pivot point near the engine and it "saws" its way through the pivot attaching bracket (p/n 15585). Also the differential leaked near the brake assembly and I removed it entirely (twice in 14 yrs) to replace copper bushings (p/n 741-0336 & 741-0337) for the aux axle shaft (the shaft with the disc brake attached to it). Not a big deal but still a PITA to replace the bushings. You might consider removing the engine/mower cover because it will rattle itself to death. The corners will crack and the aft end will vibrate like a paint shaker when the engine is running. This mower uses a twin-belt CVT drive system and is by far the smoothest mower I have ever used (except for a hydro drive). Keep some spare belts on hand cuz you will need them eventually. Nice job bringing this mower back to life! EDIT: One more thing - this mower could cut going in reverse just as fast as it could going forward and I liked that a LOT!

As a retired die _sel mechanic I have enjoyed your videos !

Watching your videos reminds me of when I was a kid 60 years ago, before OSHA, Insurance regulations and legal issues, I would go down to the local car repair shop sit back in the repair bay and watch the mechanic work on the cars. It was a great experience as he would take the time to explain to me every thing he was doing and why. Too bad those days are gone.

That old blade. Wow. Someone must have been scalping the heck out of their lawn… The backfire when you shut off just added to the “I live!” Great vid James, as always!

I actually held my breath when you were attempting to remove that emulsion tube.

You can polish the needle seat with a q-tip chucked up in a drill and some aluminum polish to achieve much better results. I've seen a lot of small engine repairmen use this technique. Nice job.

James I have watched your videos now for 3 years. I must say that you have amazing skills to figure out and complete the repairs to what ever engine or generator comes to you.

Yup, the older stuff is far superior to any junk that is for sale today. Good job...maybe this one is a keeper for your lawn requirements.

The pressure washing alone is a very satisfying watch

I wish I had more room in my garage to buy stuff like this to fix I love doing stuff like that, great channel 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

I have my grandfathers1968 Massey Ferguson lawn tractor. Its only an 8 horse Briggs but it's a beast! 3 gear driven blades, hydrostatic transmission. Going to start on it soon.

The best advice presentation I have seen on RU-vid for fixing an an old mower

Thanks, AGAIN, to Stanley for the donation to the channel! The machine cleaned up great and the engine ran very well it seems. Would have been great to see where the new blade aligned relative to the bottom of the deck and I agree that no blade brake is a safety hazard. Truly shocking that the spindle and bearing spun as well as they did though! As you stated, equally as shocking was how well it mowed through your very high grass. Will be a great machine for Stanley or someone else for years to come. Top quality content as always! 👍👍

This is the perfect size for a typical homeowner, instead of the large tractor types that seem to be on th market now days

I wouldn't have expected a good outcome for an MTD but looks like they built a better machine 30 years ago. Good video. thanks!

James im glad you have a community with support and willing to help out is beatiful. 💯

That baby will run for another 20 years without breaking a sweat!

Great job James. I have serviced many of those Briggs I/C engines over the years. They are great engines. Wish Briggs still made them. Thanks for the video.

Those old MTDs are true workhorses. Glad you got it running, and I hope you give it a good home!

Very cool mower. Man that emulsion tube gave you a fight. You won😂👍👍

A trick that works for me on the carburetor is use a piece of beveled brazing rod as a lapping stick with past to change the seat angle . Most of the time the seat needs to the needle in a different spot to seal . Long term leaking can cause pitting or ware on the seat . I also use a Q tip in a drill with past to polish the seat .Good Luck

I can watch you work all day!! Thanks for bringing us along

Solid simple machine that is showing little useage wear. Great to bring it back James, it has heaps of life yet.

That was around the end of the era of decent quality equipment.

For 10 years of use, this mower looks amazing!! I bought mine last year and it already has some rust spots.

The oil drain may have been designed for a hose to be connected and run out to a pan and then the screw opened thus preventing a mess. The backfire when you shut it down was caused by a very hot engine after working so hard, a fast idle and not giving it sufficient time to cool down. The fast spinning engine pulled lots of unburned fuel through the engine and into a hot exhaust manifold. "BANG"

Wow. That one has done a lot more time in a garage than it has ever been used. Nice of that guy to donate it to you.

i seldom see people wash their old project before tinkering with it...your doing the right thing because you will see more what is wrong with it when the dirt is off.

Always fun to bring an old machine back to life,Great video

Very good job bringing this old machine back to life, I think I would have replaced the deck belt just because of age and possible dry rot or maybe I missed that in the video. I wonder if the check valve on the oil drain was designed to use with an extension hose with a coupler on it to drain the oil. Something like the newer riding mowers have today. 👍

Very nice little machine, superbly reconditioned by the best small engine expert on YT. You almost busted your tush getting that tank leak repaired, glad you didnt get hurt... Love the surgeon like hand movement, keep your amazing vids coming.

You helped me a A lot to fix my lawnmower

Hi James I'm a new subscriber to your channel here and wanted to say I really enjoyed your project and I can see your attention to detail which I really like. I also noticed you have great problem solving skills which is extremely handy working on old iron. Thankyou for your time taking us along for the ride. Take care and cheers from Australia. 🤠🤝🇦🇺

Your skills and patients always show how to get it done. Great job as usual James. Thank you. Ed

Use to work for MTD building these mow ers on the assembly line. Brought back fond memories.

Nicely done James, great resurrection! I’ll bet your grass doesn’t look like that anymore, we haven’t had rain in well over a month and everyone’s lawn is completely brown and dried up. I haven’t had to cut the grass in a couple of weeks, I really miss that lush green lawn we had last Spring!

My grandpa bought one just like that. It was his first brand new mower and I would cut his lawn on it for several years before he passed. Such a great memory!

The leaf blower after pressure washing is a great idea! I've always used compressed air, but the leaf blower goes a lot farther than does my air hose! NICE. :)

James you have magical hands when you restore old machinery. Thank you for another great video. Love your channel and content. Always waiting for your next video. ❤🇨🇦

Hi, James. That was a new challenge for you. You were lucky to be able to get the parts you needed or to be able to make the parts yourself. I found it very satisfying to see that old mower running again. They don't build them that way anymore, But they built them well back in the day. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

For someone who doesn’t know a lot about fixing mowers I learned a few things and enjoyed the video! Very informative! 👍🏼

It didn't take much to get that old mower going again, nice work bringing it back to life James!

That thing runs like a dream. Bravo!

While not the pinnacle of mowing technology at the time it was made, it is tremendously adequate and dependable. Changing tires on one of them is a complete pain. The smaller the tire, the harder it is to do. I'd rather do a dozen car tires. Glad you got it worked out!

Jim, I used to have a wagon with air tires, and they used to go flat over the course of a few days. I cleaned them up like you did, but put dish soap on the beads, and they finally stopped leaking. The wheels were plastic, so it was likely just dirt in between. Worst case scenario, one can get bead sealer and apply it to the wheel, and that will usually do the trick.

Ur videos rock I've been binge watching for 2 days straight. Appreciate ur skills and knowledge 🤝

I really enjoy your videos you are very knowledgeable when it comes to small engine repair I owned a small engine shop for nearly 20 years and you work on things the way I used to and the same way in the same patterns I'm retired now because of disability I am 57 years old not too far from regular retirement anyway you're the only small engine mechanic I've seen on the internet that actually knows what they're doing I get so frustrated watching other mechanics make huge mistakes so far you're decent mechanic I really good mechanic in fact keep making them I enjoyed it a lot I'm as I miss working on small engines

Good video you use some techniques that others don’t and things I would try myself. I like it!

I have the same model Ultrasonic cleaner but the next size up. I can put the cylinder heads in it and it's amazing how they turn out. Thanks James!

Great mate. Lucky you to have a ride on mower. Top learning video thanks.

That was an excellent repair video and enjoyable to watch all the way through.

What a cool little mower! Always wanted one when my Grandmother took me to the Western Auto Store. Its great this machine made it to your shop and now running as new. Good job! Again!

Nice repair. That mower still has another 10 years of service. It's a nice size for a large yard.

Nice change up, James. Glad you did not have to do any major repairs to the motor. That will make someone a great mower. Thanks for sharing.

I had one of these 'back in the day' - but seem to recall a 'grill' in the rectangular opening at the back. Nice job!

Thank you for this. This one has inspired me to go drag that 35+ year old Snapper riding mower I've had stored under the house for near 30 years, and see if I can get that thing going again. It may qualify for Antique Vehicle status by now. Oh, one thing I meant to mention, cleaning and buffing or de-burring needle seats, I use Cratex rubberized abrasives very successfully. They look like pencil erasers with a 1/8" arbor that fits in a drill, or a dremel. They have all sorts of different tips and shapes. I use them for porting and polishing heads. Pricey a bit, but they work.

Excellent job as always . Appreciated that you updated on how long it took for the parts to come in. Gives an idea on how long the job actually took. Just subscribed. Kudos

That’s one of the good ones, on the modern version of this one I’ve had the Troy bilt and it barely discharged any grass even when cutting back the chute. Thinking it’s because it’s a big blade and the homeowner mowers can’t spin over a certain mph is my theory. Yours was kicking it pretty good

Hello James, As always enjoyed your unhurried careful presentation and the use of the pressure washer. I stated prev as a contractor Supporting our Great Military we lived with/by pressure washer function. Everything just about got the treatment, Abrams tanks, Bradley's, 155 howitzers, bull dozers and last but not least "generators". The shop foreman would run us off with a stick if dirty stuff was in the shop. Yes we were subject to inspection by the customer at any time.(US Army) Keep up the good material as I thoroughly enjoy your presentation.

Great Video ! It makes me immensely happy to see you restore old, temporarily sick, but essentially good machines !

Great job, great resuscitation! That mower is a keeper!

when you pulled that thing out of the tank it reminded me of a day or two ago when i went to pull a root out of my garden and lost my footing and fell backwards onto the ground lol

I have the same engine on my Toro tractor from mid 1990's. Couple times it has flooded the crankcase with gas. Fuel shutoff is a good idea. Surprised you also didn't replace the seat (along w needle). I tried cleaning the needle/seat once but it flooded the crankcase again month later with gas. Got a new needle 231855 and seat 690577 and problem solved. Simple drywall screw and prybar will leverage out the seat. Good engine for me...20+ years.

Another excellent video James! For the first time that I know of something went flying (the tank) across your work area....lol Not your fault, as that tank seal was a real bear and it took that much force to free it. You really care about the quality of you work and we see it every time. My dad was a machinist and had extreme hand skill like you do. Also he could fix almost everything. Had both arc and acetylene welders at home etc. He made a trailer for our Penn (engine in the rear) riding lawn mower and attached a stainless steel bed in that trailer. I bet someone is still using that trailer today. That Penn mower rode and cut very smoothly on our acre in Kansas decades ago. Good times and many good memories growing up, and the 3 speed 2 cycle scooter motor he mounted on a go cart was one of my favorites...

Awesome! I have a Cub Cadet version of this. Mine is a 1990. Almost done bringing it back to life.

Awesome little mower. Great video! Perfect for going through back yard gates. Your gonna have to get out the hay baler now.🙂

My Sears & Roebuck riding lawn mower is 22 years old and still works great.

Great job. You always amaze me with your thorough step by step process. Although a bit pricey you might want to pick up a can of rim bead sealer....great stuff. Just swab around the bead and it lays a fine layer of rubber that seals the most stuborn leaking beads. Low volume, low pressure tires have more of a tendency to have leaky beads. That incorrect blade also has the added problem of not providing a good suction thereby contributing to insufficient discharge and grass buildup under the deck as well as a serious safety issue. I remember those little flat-deck mowers well. I think Snapper and Toro had them as well. I would fully expect to see it in at lawnmower race track....yea, that is a thing here in the south.

Great job on the rebuild. Very nice mower.

This one is so relaxing I had to watch it again! Just for the power washing alone!

Another awesome video. Thank you for creating these!

Excellent video. I watched the entire video and followed you through all your steps. You have a ton of patience and know when to back off to avoid causing damage. I was mowing lawns in grade school and eventually bought a Lawn Boy 2-cycle commercial mower for my yard. It was a beast but eventually gave out after 17 years of use. Sadly, they don't make the 2-cycle engines anymore for the mowers. The only issue seemed to be the magneto would fail every couple of years. It was an easy fix, but the pat got progressively more expensive as the years went on. They seem to know the weak spots and failure points and adjust the prices accordingly.

Won one of these in a Fire Department raffle many years ago. It was fine for the size of the lawn I had at the time and was nice not to be push mowing. Moved and the new yard was much, much larger and needed so moved up to a garden tractor with a 54" deck. It was a good little machine and it was given to a friend who had a smaller lawn.

I must also say I do like it when you put in a timer period bit of text - '30 min later'. It really demonstrates some of the tasks are not easily accomplished. Great job!

Great work and nice find😊

'Cute' lil' mower! Reminds me of my 2000 Snapper rear engine.

Thanks James. I have one almost exactly like this one. Mine is an 11hp twin blade and missing the motor shroud. I have been using it for about 8 years and cannot complain about it at all. I will use some of your content for future repairs.

Great video and great job James. Thanks for sharing

Great job James, as always. 👍👍

I have had these issues with needle/seat in the past but I found that polishing the seat and repointing the needle will fix it without having to wait on parts. Double wide 6 has a great RU-vid video on it. I love your videos and your channel has helped me fix many machines.TY

I gotta buy some of that PB blaster, you have excellent results with that. I actually laughed out loud when you got the bushing out of the tank, ......you, the bushing, and the tank all went flying.

What a jewel that mower turned out to be

Another great video. I was surprised at how well that mower was designed. As you mentioned, the time required for the blades to stop is a design issue, but it seems to be a really nice little mower! Nearly everyone, including myself, use zero turn mowers now days, but that little mower impressed me! It seemed to be better than many of the larger tractor type mowers. Thanks again for the video. I really enjoy watching them both for the knowledge gained and simply for the entertainment value as well.

Thank you for posting this. I got my father's machine working again.

Love those old RER mowers. i'm currently restoring a 1970's snapper

Looks, runs and mows like new! Of course, I'm feeling smug since my 60" Yazoo with Wisconsin AGND from 1954 would run circles around it! 🙂 Always enjoy your videos. Greetings from Germany.

You had some fantastic test grass too!

Thank you, wonderful world of reclaiming this fine machine,,,,,great Video, got my eye on some in my area that don't start, maybe get a deal

As always you never disappoint me with the magic you perform on these old machines,outstanding work 👏 👌

Super helpful as usual. I wonder if you could work around a rough needle by chucking it in a drill and holding some 2000 grit sandpaper against the cone surface to polish it up. Nice grass!

Seems like it does a pretty good job. It's compact and easy to get around .

Great job! That ended up being a pretty nice little mower.

We had one exactly the same but the mowing deck ,ignition key was shot as well as the front tyres (replaced with compound tyres) Made a cheap get round for dad👍

I love your video, I always worry about mice nests under the engine shroud. Thanks for another great video.

This is a good quality machine . Like you said , it had no problem cutting the long grass . they do not make them like this any more . these machines should be cherished and loved and maintained and used . Hopefully this machine is owned by someone who appreciates it for what it is and uses it but also takes care of it .

Thursday are my saturday morning. Love firing up the coffee maker and watching you videos. I live and am from Nebraska. Keep up the good work homie:)

Nice little machine.Looks like it has seen very little use , well taken care of . Good work !

Nice. My neighbor picked up a Toro Whirlwind mower similar to this one. Looks to be about a 1979-1980 model. We are working on it to get it going. i am hopeful we can get it running soon.