thanks for showing the trimlawn. i distinctly remember the throttle working, it would idle right down. our reo also had tow bar that would drag a reel mower on each side and i would walk in the middle of them never at full throttle because it was to fast. i would mow over an acre every week in under 2hrs.
That thing sounds like a hot rod! Awesome! My dad's house was built in 1956 I believe, and when he moved in (1979), there was an old gas-powered reel mower in the garage. He used it a couple of times, but ended up buying a Craftsman mower around 1983, which he still has and uses to this day. He told me once that when he put that reel mower away in the garage, he took the spark plug out and poured a tablespoon or so of oil in the cylinder. I never saw him use it in my day, I was too young to remember. It's still there, and probably hasn't run since 1981 or maybe even before. He had some other mower in the interim that he likely garbage picked and fixed up, I remember there was a wire you'd touch to the terminal of the spark plug to ground it out and stop it. I was really young at the time, but I vaguely remember he gave it to his father around then which he used for his tiny backyard. He lived in a "row house" in Brooklyn, there was no front lawn, and the back was a postage stamp. The only 2 ways into the backyard were through a slider in the den, and there was a door in the basement that went out there as well; there was no access to the backyard from the garage. There were steps, however, that went from the den down to the ground level outside, I'd surmise it was probably stowed away under the steps. If I think of it, I'll ask my dad next time I talk to him.
Nice story, I'd like to hear what became of it. My luck, as soon as I finished uploading this and went to finish the back lawn with it, it decided to stall out and only wants to fun on near full choke, it may have sucked something into the carburetor. It has been working since I got it in early march and repaired it, soon as I video it, it doesn't want to work. Then my Electrolux 1205 auto cord rewind is giving trouble today. Everything at once...
Yeah I know how that all goes! Sometimes the carb has a drain on the bowl, sometimes just draining it will take care of it. Otherwise, small engine carbs are pretty simple devices.
I got around to fixing it today, I pulled the main jet needle valve and dropped the bowl and subsequently sprayed carb cleaner into it. I reassembled it and after a very hard first start it decided to run, and run well. Acted almost like a bubble/vapor lock in the fuel line.
Isn't the internet something . My grandparents bought one of these new . And I got it going when I was a kid . Same exact model it's a wonder I didn't cut my fingers off. It used to race up too.
A family friend who lives out in the country has a homestead dump that was used from the 20s to the late 50s. They said I could take anything out if there I wanted. It has a few old televisions that are too big to take although I thought about it (1951 Motorola and a 1950 RCA). But theres a bunch of these mowers in there. Think there worth dragging out just to take apart and learn how they work?
It has an air-vane governor, the way that the throttle lever is outfitted isn't OEM, but without service information, that is being charged for, I cannot figure out how it is supposed to connect. A guess of mine is to try a spring between the cable and the actual throttle butterfly, but I haven't gotten around to experimenting. It is quite tricky to operate without the governor.
richard3700hz It is just a spring, a linkage rod, and a flapper vane (and I guess a pin for the flapper's hinge). I can probably dig up a picture of one I saw.
richard3700hz Upon further inspection of the video, the mower still appears to have the linkage and flapper vane. You are only missing a wiggly spring which is supposed to go between the throttle wire and the hole in the throttle butterfly. Tension on the spring makes the engine rev higher, while the air vane tries to push the throttle shut.
richard3700hz The wiggly springs that older Briggs and Stratton engines use would probably be perfect. Shorten for proper tension. And like I said, it just goes between the cable and where you currently have the cable plugged into the carburetor. You may need to loosen the nut on the little thing holding the cable, to reposition it to give room for the spring.
Thanks for sharing this video. We had a Reo Trimalawn when I was a boy. My father bought it new. I used it many times as did my father and my brother. It was a great machine in its day. Ours must have had a governor on it, we did not have the surging problem you describe
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thanks for showing the trimlawn. i distinctly remember the throttle working, it would idle right down. our reo also had tow bar that would drag a reel mower on each side and i would walk in the middle of them never at full throttle because it was to fast. i would mow over an acre every week in under 2hrs.
I collect a lot of items, but have gotten the mower bug from a friend. Glad to see you saved this one and have it doing what it was built for!
Great mower and I used it throughout HS in the 50's on our two acres. Could be hard to start. but would mow anything.
That thing sounds like a hot rod! Awesome! My dad's house was built in 1956 I believe, and when he moved in (1979), there was an old gas-powered reel mower in the garage. He used it a couple of times, but ended up buying a Craftsman mower around 1983, which he still has and uses to this day.
He told me once that when he put that reel mower away in the garage, he took the spark plug out and poured a tablespoon or so of oil in the cylinder. I never saw him use it in my day, I was too young to remember. It's still there, and probably hasn't run since 1981 or maybe even before. He had some other mower in the interim that he likely garbage picked and fixed up, I remember there was a wire you'd touch to the terminal of the spark plug to ground it out and stop it. I was really young at the time, but I vaguely remember he gave it to his father around then which he used for his tiny backyard. He lived in a "row house" in Brooklyn, there was no front lawn, and the back was a postage stamp. The only 2 ways into the backyard were through a slider in the den, and there was a door in the basement that went out there as well; there was no access to the backyard from the garage. There were steps, however, that went from the den down to the ground level outside, I'd surmise it was probably stowed away under the steps. If I think of it, I'll ask my dad next time I talk to him.
Nice story, I'd like to hear what became of it. My luck, as soon as I finished uploading this and went to finish the back lawn with it, it decided to stall out and only wants to fun on near full choke, it may have sucked something into the carburetor. It has been working since I got it in early march and repaired it, soon as I video it, it doesn't want to work. Then my Electrolux 1205 auto cord rewind is giving trouble today. Everything at once...
Yeah I know how that all goes! Sometimes the carb has a drain on the bowl, sometimes just draining it will take care of it. Otherwise, small engine carbs are pretty simple devices.
I got around to fixing it today, I pulled the main jet needle valve and dropped the bowl and subsequently sprayed carb cleaner into it. I reassembled it and after a very hard first start it decided to run, and run well. Acted almost like a bubble/vapor lock in the fuel line.
Well at least it's running well again!
Isn't the internet something . My grandparents bought one of these new . And I got it going when I was a kid . Same exact model it's a wonder I didn't cut my fingers off. It used to race up too.
Very cool mower you have there, makes our 2008 Troy-Bilt look so mundane. Ill bet it does cut the lawn nicely as well.
A family friend who lives out in the country has a homestead dump that was used from the 20s to the late 50s. They said I could take anything out if there I wanted. It has a few old televisions that are too big to take although I thought about it (1951 Motorola and a 1950 RCA). But theres a bunch of these mowers in there. Think there worth dragging out just to take apart and learn how they work?
I’d say yes. Even if just too sell to a collector or restorer
Different versions of this had a very simple air-vane governor. Using a mower with no governor must be pretty interesting.
It has an air-vane governor, the way that the throttle lever is outfitted isn't OEM, but without service information, that is being charged for, I cannot figure out how it is supposed to connect. A guess of mine is to try a spring between the cable and the actual throttle butterfly, but I haven't gotten around to experimenting. It is quite tricky to operate without the governor.
richard3700hz
It is just a spring, a linkage rod, and a flapper vane (and I guess a pin for the flapper's hinge). I can probably dig up a picture of one I saw.
richard3700hz
Upon further inspection of the video, the mower still appears to have the linkage and flapper vane. You are only missing a wiggly spring which is supposed to go between the throttle wire and the hole in the throttle butterfly. Tension on the spring makes the engine rev higher, while the air vane tries to push the throttle shut.
Thanks! Now I just need to find a suitable spring!
richard3700hz
The wiggly springs that older Briggs and Stratton engines use would probably be perfect. Shorten for proper tension. And like I said, it just goes between the cable and where you currently have the cable plugged into the carburetor. You may need to loosen the nut on the little thing holding the cable, to reposition it to give room for the spring.
Thanks for sharing this video. We had a Reo Trimalawn when I was a boy. My father bought it new. I used it many times as did my father and my brother. It was a great machine in its day. Ours must have had a governor on it, we did not have the surging problem you describe