Repowering 21" Toro Prolines

[lorenzo piedra]

I have two 1989 (non-blade brake and zone start) 3 speed commercial 21"s.

One went terminal last year and the other one has the death rattle and carb issues.

Right now I am using a commercial lawn boy PUSH for the few small areas I have to cut (mostly small "dog" yards for lap dogs) and I ain't liking it a bit.

Does anyone have an opinion on the B&S intek 6.5 ohv 4 cycle model with oil filter?

[hardboiled]

Why not rebuild the 2-cycles, or is the case gone?

[lorenzo piedra]

Why would I attempt to rebuild when I and buy these engines new for $165 delivered to my door?

http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sell/SSProfiles/30057770/Images/BriggsToRo6HP124672-0035.gif

[GrassMaster]

My past experiences rebuilding small engines...

On the 4 cycles I never got half the amount of time after rebuild that I did when it was new. Yes they were rebuilt right!

On 2 cycles I have re ringed them & did OK.

Best thing I found is take care of the 21" mowers or whatever kind of equipment & when I've got the good out of them, sell them as used then buy another new one. It's OK to have virtually no break downs & working making money instead of being at the shop talking to the Dealers employees!

Using worn equipment & having to start doing repairs cost way to much...

I have guys come into my shop almost weekly having continual repairs done on mowers, they not only lose the $45 an hour labor rate plus repair parts, they also have time involved in down time which cost them their labor that could have been applied to doing work instead of driving back & forth to shops plus not completing jobs...

Commercial Honda $1,000, run it for a year, take care of it & you should easily sell it for $500. It cost you $10 a week to make $35 plus an hour, virtually no down time...

Commercial Honda $1,000, run it for 2 years & your pushing it, take care of it & you should easily sell it for $300 plus. It cost you $6.85 a week to make $35 plus an hour, a little more down time...

Short Cuts to Failure...
Down time, running wore out equipment, unprofitable windshield time traveling back & forth, seeing your dealer getting your wore out equipment repaired more than you see your Wife & Children... Is not Priceless, It's how you take short cuts to go out of business...

A Little Off Topic & 1 of my favorite rants...
What kills me is & I see this almost daily!
Barney comes up in 4 door F350 Dually pulling 5X10 micro midget trailer... His crews are working he either needs 2 cycle oil or trimmer line. It's a major purchasing decision for him he almost grid locks (Brain Cramps) attempting to think what to do next...

So I have to tell him that the 2 cycle oil for 1 gallon of gas is $1.69 plus tax or a 1/2 pound of trimmer line is $6.99 plus tax. So he buys 1 of the 2 & then either Whips out his cooperate charge card or he brings in that stupid looking Big check book that takes up the whole counter...

Knowing there ain't a $100 in the account! He will be back tomorrow either buying a spark plug or air filter... he can't figure out that he will probably be in business tomorrow & if he bought in quantity that he would save money so he doesn't have to argue about sea cruise with wife & put it on Charge Card! LOLAHA

This is the guy that's going to run his equipment until they quit making parts for it & I will learn all about his wife, goofy looking Dog & what a jerk his Mother in Law is like I never had one?

He is the same guy that will say he had his mower for 7 years & cut 1,000's of lawns with it & no problems or breakdowns...

LOL, this same guy thinks he invented work & tells me how hard he works for his money, like nobody else has? Give me a Break!

This same guy will drive straight to the Ford dealership & pay over $40,000 for a truck & not think twice about it... but he will get mad at me because I will not knock off $20 each on 2 commercial Honda's, so he drives to dealer in Albany a 100 miles away & get that $20 each off. He's already spent over 10 or 20 hours going to different dealers asking them the same questions & worried half to death about warranty...

He should be worrying about the time he spent looking for the deal of the century, he could have took that same time he wasted & paid for the mower? Go figure that one out?

Then when he brings it to me with a grin on his face to fix it, I just add that $20 back in on each repair until the Fat Lady Sings!

This same guy will take that dually with micro trailer & jack knife it about 5 times trying to back out of parking lot, if after about 5 tries he butches up like a real man & then jumps out so he can unload trailer, LOL put it where he wants it, then hooks it up & drives back to job site so he can slap plug in mower & go do another $25 lawn?

If I never sold a piece of equipment again, it wouldn't bother me. There's no money in it unless you are selling a pile of it, to me it still ain't worth it. The money is in the repairs & parts!

Plenty of Tall Tales of the Unexpected can be seen & heard from behind the parts counter. It's like Cartoons on Steriods for Adults except Better!