Yet Another Toro!

Indy452 said:

I would have paid $5 for that beauty all day.. Three speed Toro..oh yeah. Carb cleaned up pretty nice. BBC works okay I presume? It should..they are pretty stout.

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I'll find out how t he BBC works when/if I get it started. Controls all look good though. Carb needs to be cleaned up more. Gotta pull the the screw out and clean it I'm sure, and the choke and throttle valves are still sticky (although they at least move now, they were both seized).

Just a shame about the hole in the deck. :/

The earlier GTS was a Suzuki. This is a briggs "Europa" I think they call it.
Probably a better engine than standard briggs but parts are hard to find and more expensive and I had one that leaked badly at crankcase sump gasket.
I'll stick with the suzuki (parts still high though) or regular old l head briggs.

TobyU said:

The earlier GTS was a Suzuki. This is a briggs "Europa" I think they call it.
Probably a better engine than standard briggs but parts are hard to find and more expensive and I had one that leaked badly at crankcase sump gasket.
I'll stick with the suzuki (parts still high though) or regular old l head briggs.

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Interesting. I have noticed that it's carburetor is very similar to the standard Briggs quantum engine's. Only real difference is a breather tube and the deeper bowl, bowl nut adapter, and washer. I finished cleaning the carburetor this evening, tomorrow I''ll see if it starts.

Turns out it's nearly identical to an older Quantum carburetor. Only differences I can tell are the vent tube, the mounting flange being recessed towards t eh center on the Quantum vs flat on this engine, and that deeper bowl with that washer and bowl nut adapter. You could probably use a regular bowl and bowl nut and it might work. Bowl gaskets are the same, which is good since I needed one (even though Toro lists it as it's own number), as is t he throttle valve shaft, which I used from the Quantum because there was play in the bracket the spring connects to.









This is by far the worst carburetor I've ever tried to salvage. It reeked of old fuel, there was varnish everywhere, the valves were seized, and it was over just in bad way. However, I don't have another one, and as it turns out it, amazingly, didn't have much corrosion on it. So two cans of carb cleaner and a lot of wire brushing later, here we are:

























And what do you know, after a little shot of carb spray it fired right up! Runs really smooth and quietly. Reminds me of an OHV Honda engine. I like it! Everything seems to work properly. Didn't mow much grass, since it needs an air filter and I didn't want to suck in dirt, yeah, but I'm pleased. Will idle really slowly which is neat, and started back up after shutdown. Assuming it cold starts on it's own this has been a surprising success. Now it just needs a new deck, or a patch...

Many of these carburetors are interchangeable among different engines. If they'll bolt up and fit there's a good likelihood they'll work. There are times when to get them precise you would have to drill out the jet slightly and you would kind of be screwed if you needed to make the jet smaller. Either Nikki or walbro will work from 15 horsepower up to 21.

Big hole on the side of the deck, @*%^#+=*#*$(^%#} grrrrrrr. Found a wonderful solution to most all of my repair problems like this one. (For ease of work, remove the deck from everything). First cut yourself a rather thin aluminum patch and make sure you round off the corners (like, almost make it a long oval). Bend it to match the contour of the deck. Scour the inside of the patch, the deck inside and outside around the hole on the deck until you get bright shiny aluminum metal, on the outside, do an area larger than your patch. A couple more of small clamps, vice grips may work, confirm clamping ability prior to the following. You have to have your ducks in a row and ready to clamp PRIOR to the following). O.K. Now, mix yourself up a copious amount of J.B. WELD, (ooooooohhh, I love this stuff), put a good coat of it on the patch and clamp it over the hole. Use enough of the remaining J.B. Weld (deck propped up on it’s side) and fill the backside of the patch until it goes just past the edges of the hole all around

I've elected to fix this Toro with another Toro. I was trying to think of what to use for a patch, when I realized I still had a Toro deck I hadn't gotten rid of yet. This one is beat to ****, but there's enough good metal on it to make a batch with.

First step was to make a the hole square.





Then cut out a piece of the donor deck in roughly the same area.





Just gotta trim it to size. Almost there.



I'm tapering the top and sides so that the piece can be pressed in and not fall out. Should make clamping it easier when I JB Weld it. If the weather holds out might be able to at least finish the piece.

Gotta say, those Dremel tools are pretty impressive. Used it to make all of the cuts.

dave_r said:

If the jb weld doesn't hold it in place, you could drill a hole in each corner (right in the corner, so part of the hole is in the patch, and part is in the main housing), then put a bolt in each hole, with a washer on each side.

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Good idea, I'll keep it in mind if the the JB Weld solution fails.

mopar65pa said:

Nice job on the carb!

Man I am so glad I have an aluminum spool gun for my mig welder. Fixing that deck would be a walk in the park for me. But hey JDweld is a great solution. :thThumbsU

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I'd love to learn how to weld and get a welder someday. I've only used one once. It's pretty fun.

Have to say though, I really enjoy this mower. The engine runs as quiet as a Honda OHV engine, and seems to work better than the Suzuki 2 cycle I have. I think the transmission and controls are in better shape, as the move more freely. I've also noticed the BBC belt doesn't seem to slip, so I don';t have the blade slow down on me like the other Toro. Need to do some work on the Suzuki, because I do enjoy using it as well. Definitely a keeper.

Heh heh, I need another walk behind mower like a hole in the head. To have a well worn rescue mower 25 yrs old STILL be a GTS is impressive. If it takes a 3rd pull, its because I forgot to turn the gas on. Oh and it idles like total crap or an SBC with a full race cam
I have 2 parts Toro 3 spds to fix about any problem. And, back in '09 , I also picked up a freebie LB , 4stroke Tecumseh ? all that needed was to re-fasten the engine to the deck. IIRC it had some sort of sheet metal screw that loosened up. Not a glory years LB but an easy fix. Hasn't seen the light of day in a decade. Ran great when stored . I have about a 200yr supply of F series LBs . I cruise Craigslist free stuff for Metro Boston. There were 3 good mowers this morning. 90% of lawnmower problems can be fixed by simply taking the carbs apart and cleaning them. The coils get rusty and need cleaning. Cables get stuck. Just take it apart, clean and re-assemble. Its a community service you are performing, rescuing stray mowers and selling them. Its a win/win thing

Finally had time to trim the plate I cutout from that junk Toro deck. Glad I didn't toss it yet.











Not bad I think. At some point will sand and repaint it, should look pretty good then!