[Hammerdown]

Hello
Last Saturday I went over to see my Lawn mower buddy. He was glad to see me as he had a classic Lawn-Boy set a side for me. I had some money I onwed him as my wife sold some of his Motorcycle stuff on Craig's List for him. He Gave her $20.00 for her trouble even though I protested as he is always' doing me a favor and locating these Lawn-Boy Mowers. This is the same guy that I got my Commercial model 22241 earlier this spring. The Mower Looked as though it has sat under water as it's deck was full of silt dried on. he said taht he had to give $20.00 for it, so I Plucked the twenty dollar bill out of my wife's hand that he just fgave her and asked him if taht would do ? He was Pleased and helped me loas it. Today was the firsrt chance that I felt like working on it so I went out into my shop and removed the shroud.




I cleaned it's gas Tank and set it a side. I noticed that the engine and Carburetor were all silty too so I pulled the carburetor and cleaned it. I also removed it's coil that was rusty and Polished the face of it as well as the fly-wheel magnet's. I Put it all back together added some fresh Pre-Mix, Primed it three time's and on the second Pull it's D-engine fired up, of which I could Not believe as I still feel that this entire mower sat somewhere under water due to all of the dried silt that it had. It has The Dreaded Modular Carburetor but it seemed to be running well so I let it warm up good then adjusted the carburetor. I then shut down gave it a bath then towle dried it. So, here is my $20.00 Model 5244 that dates to 1976. Regards, Hammerdown

 

[miller17636]

I have that same mower I picked up earlier this spring. Great lightweight trimmer. Looks to be in really nice shape great score.


Sent from the MTF Free App

 

[PeoriaMurph]

You done good... Not one of my favorite designs but still every bit a classic LB.

That modular carb is responsible for at least 9 of the grey hairs on my head.

 

[k91]

Nice find Kurt looks like it is in excellent shape :fing32:

 

[DLK]

Looks in better shape than my 5247! Nice deal.

 

[Gravely Frank McM]

I have one of these too ( well, 5245 ) that was a freebie several years ago.

I had to dig into it a few weeks ago to clean and re-lube a gunk recoil starter, and decided to give an over-all clean and tune-up.

I found that underneath the shroud and mag plate, it was "sandy" ( or "silty") , which when combined with 2-cycle mix becomes "gunky", which I attributed to being run in an area with really sandy/silty soil.

Mine has the modular carb too, but aside from having some crud and varnish inside, it cleaned-up fine, and seems to work okay...

Only real defects are a broken tab on the fuel shut-off and peeling decals.

Here's a quick pic of mine, with one of its older cousins...

 

[Yard Nazi]

That's a nice find for $20.00. I have a 5274 and a 7265, both from the same year as yours. The mowers that I have with the modular carbs have not given me any trouble. The decals on yours appear to be in fairly good shape and mostly complete. Put a new white PVC hand grip on that handle and it will feel like a new mower!! Bill

 

[Hammerdown]

You done good... Not one of my favorite designs but still every bit a classic LB.

That modular carb is responsible for at least 9 of the grey hairs on my head.

Hello PeoriaMurph
I agree, I hate these Modular Carburetor's all other's that I have had before finding this one were "TROUBLE". Oddly, this one was not a problem child. It was covered with about a 1/8" of Pre-Mix oil and crud I surely did not expect to have it clean up and work fine but it does.:dunno: The float's are a Real Headache in these Modular Carburetor's they either have a bad seat which is a Push in style in the float or they Take on gas from a cracked seam in them. I have found a cure to the cracked float issues though... It is a product sold at Advance Auto called Seal-All. It cost's about Five Buck's and comes in a squeeze tube with Plenty of product to use in other Project's. It was the Only Product that I could find that is Oil & gas resistent


I stumbled onto it when I was repairing a Huge Crack in a Murray Rider Mower that has it's entire Gas Tank seam split wide open with a Gap of about 3/16" In width. I had my doubt's as to whether or not this stuff would really seal up the Gapping Cracked gas Tank seam but I laid a fat bead if it on the crack and let it dry 24 Hour's then added gas and it was Fine with No leaks. I let it sit three days mowed my yard with it then sold the Murray rider on Craig's list. I told the Buyer if it developed a gas leak that I would get him another gas tank gave him my name and number at the time of the sale and Have Not heard back from him. I will Include a link at the end of this message that show's and tell's about this Miracle gas Tank repair or anything else plastic and it dries crystal clear.



I later had a Lawn-Boy 8234AE Mower that I Picked up for my son in law to use that had the Modular carburetor in it that had it's carburetor float seam cracked. It would take on The Pre-Mix Gas through a small crack in the float seam then would run extra rich until it died. I Pulled the float out of the Carburetor and removed the Tiny rubber float seat then shook all of the Old Gas out of the float that I could, then I used some Gum-Out Carburetor cleaner with the straw to Put some of the Carb. cleaner fluid down into the float. I did this Gum-Out fluid bath three times shaking it all out good to remove the Pre-Mix as I figured the Seal-All would not work well with The Oil mixed in the pre-mix. I finished up by Lightly sanding the seam of the float with some 3-M 320 Grit sand Paper to rough it up a bit then used my air compressor air gun to make sure that I had all of the gas out of the inside of the float and laid a small even bead of the Seal-All on the seam and let it dry 24 Hours. I Placed the tiny rubber needle seat back in it put the Carburetor back together and it ran like a charm and never bothered again.


Yesterday I had my wife use the new to us 5244 to trim our lawn as well as the Neighbor's. It ran perfect but it kept going from the fast Mowing Position of the Throttle lever position down to the slow speed position. I surmise that the small Grommet has slipped out of the Plastic flywheel shroud in the rear where it goes as there seem's to be no Tension on the throttle lever. I am going to pull the top shroud off of the engine today to see what's going on with it and if the Original Rubber Grommet is gone I will get another one that is close in look's to it from the Hardware store to replace it. I will also apply some Never-Seize to it's wheel spindle's to make it Push easier as they are not wore out or sloppy but I want to keep them that way. This is one Nice running D-series engine I hope it continue's to be, as I sure do Not have any faith in these Modular Carburetor's or their Early electronic Ignition coil's. :hide: Regards, Hammerdown

http://eclecticproducts.com/sealall.htm

 

[Yard Nazi]

Hi! The grommet does not provide the tension for the speed control. There is a screw and a small plate under shroud base. It appears to be part number 607538, item #18 on the engine parts drawing. The screw and the plate keep tension on the control knob and rod as the rod has a bit of offset. The control should stay in either position so check by looking under the shroud and follow the control rod back and see if the plate and screw is there. If it is it may just be loose. If it is missing you will need to replace it and the screw. Bill

 

[JohnDeere318Guy]

Nice find Hammerdown! Those 19inchers are great little trim mowers.

 

[The craftsman kid]

Pretty good deal for $20

 

[Hammerdown]

Hi! The grommet does not provide the tension for the speed control. There is a screw and a small plate under shroud base. It appears to be part number 607538, item #18 on the engine parts drawing. The screw and the plate keep tension on the control knob and rod as the rod has a bit of offset. The control should stay in either position so check by looking under the shroud and follow the control rod back and see if the plate and screw is there. If it is it may just be loose. If it is missing you will need to replace it and the screw. Bill

Hello Bill
Thank's for the advice. I did not have to remove the plastic upper engine Gas tank shroud to correct the problem. By Luck, I found a rubber piece that fit the outer engine gas Tank shroud recess prefectly. It had a small hole in it a little under size of the Speed control shaft so I Placed it and tested it. It Keep's the Governor speed on slow or fast now as it provides enough resistence to keep the throttle locked in either Position. perhaps' later this winter when I tear down my Commercial Model 22241 to replace it's Crankshaft seal's and paint it all back up I will also Tear down the Model 5244 so that I can check the Governor rod tension strap and Place new Crankshaft seal's in it as well. I needed the mower to be running right now as we are using it making sure that we want to keep it around it still has to prove it's durability to me, I just do not trust these Modular Carburetor's. I did remove all Four wheel's and slathered their axle bolt's with Never-Seize. You would not believe how easy it Push's now and most Guy's do not bother with this, but with the Felt washer's in place and a well greased axle shaft it makes the mower roll like it is on ball bearings. I took every one of the axle bolt's and Polished them up good first on my bench grinder wire wheel before Placing the Never-Seize on them. They are still Like brand new with very little slop to them. I surmise that this mower was run all that much do to these Part's not being badly wore. Regards, Hamnmerdown

 

[Yard Nazi]

Hi! Glad that rubber piece helped with the tension on the speed control rod. Wouldn't hurt just to look under there to see if the tension plate is loose or missing so you will know if you have to either tighten it up or get one. Glad to hear it's running good so far. Bill