Lawn Mower....

someone was throwing out a lawn mower... grabbed it of course... it doesn't work / missing the bag / rusted POS, so i can't sell it for more then scrap... but the question is... to i toss it as steel for .10/lb or take it apart...? anything really worthwhile in there?

I completly take apart non running lawnmowers... the engine case is cast aluminum....

The last mower I tore down had a cast alum block, transmission and deck. I can get the deck and trans clean, but see no way to effectively get the liner out of the block, so that will go as dirty at my yard.

The mower will have a magneto that holds a fair amount of copper.

Originally Posted by injunjoe

The mower will have a magneto that holds a fair amount of copper.

I never thought about the magneto ! Good one.

Is it worth the extra time to really strip down these mowers? To me, it isn't that much difference between the "dirty" price and "Clean", and with the time consideration, I don't know? Just asking for opinions ?

Well, I would get the aluminum and copper at least. I would think it's enough weight to make it worthwhile. Haven't done one yet, so who knows.

I could see taking the engine off the steel frame, BUT how far does one go with stripping the engine down, I guess that would be my question.
Dirty AL here is about 25 cents per lb, compared to 55 cents per lb for clean, and that means NO steel attachments.

Is this the same for riding lawn mowers? I just picked one up yesterday, for some fun this weekend. Has a rod through the engine block.

Originally Posted by Saroro

Well, I would get the aluminum and copper at least. I would think it's enough weight to make it worthwhile. Haven't done one yet, so who knows.

Not sure how to get into the motor without a grinder. Is there a way to do this? Or should I hold onto it until I can buy one? There seems to be a lot of aluminum on this old machine that I would like to extract.

I also have a large heavy iron motor of some sort (washing machine?), and I can see glimpses of yummy copper in there. Are there really no ways to get inside these things without busting the metal open?

Look up if there is anything you could sell separate, antiquated parts are always a commodity.

I refuse to scrap the Ford lt75 I picked up in a package deal with a Kawasaki bayou 185 and pressure washer.

I've scrapped a lot of lawnmowers. After the first few I learned that it is not worth my time to pull them apart unless the deck is aluminum. If it is, 4 mounting bolts and a bolt holding the blade onto the flywheel should seperate engine from deck. Engine=dirty alum at my yard. However, depending on your amount of patience and speed with which you gain inventory, it may be worth it to at least try tearing them down a few times.

If you get a few that look decent I would suggest learning how to repair them. It took me all of a few days of part time reading and an hour hands-on to become a pro small engine mechanic.

Popping the hood of a car or looking at an engine in general can be intimidating if you don't know what you're looking at. It used to intimidate me to the point where I didn't want to learn, but when I learned how to work on small engines I realized how simple of a system it is. If you get a chance, learn it! Its a great stepping stone to bigger and better things.

That's a good point about learning how to look at small engines and do repairs. My SIL gave me her broken lawnmower to scrap, and I noticed that there were two problems - the belt was off the pulley, and a plastic tube was broken.

I'm pretty sure that the reason the mower stopped working was because the belt simply slipped off. That would have been an easy fix. But then my SIL and her husband actually threw the mower around, and I think that is how the plastic tube broke.

I think the moral of this story is that they would have had an easy fix if they hadn't tossed the machine around in their frustration. In any case, I'm scrapping that sucker.

I've picked up many lawnmowers and repaired them. In fact every lawn mower I've ever used in my own yard was once in someone else's trash. If they don't run, 90% of the time its because they've sat for a while and the gas is gummed up in the carburetor. I would suggest learning to take these simple carbs apart and cleaning them out. After you know what you're doing it only takes about 20 minutes. If the mower is missing parts or stuff like the controls are broken, I scrap it. Mower parts are just too expensive.