Old, Abandoned and Full of Water. Murray Push Mower. Will it Ever Mow Again?

[@dennisjackson3531]

Great work Elijah , I have almost the same mower that doesn't run . You have given me some motivation to get busy .God bless you

[@Shorty4808]

Thanks for the video Elijah! Watching someone troubleshooting a small engine always interests me, and many others. Its refreshing to see a young man challenging himself by solving a physical problem instead of laying on the couch and staring at his smart phone! Keep up the good work!

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I mean I do both 😂 if watching mustie1 or taryl fixes all is pretty much the only reason I sit on the couch and watch tv lol.

[@Shorty4808]

@@ElijahMiniBikes Ha ha! In that case i agree with you. Taryl is both entertaining AND educational!

[@rondamon8004]

Briggs & Stratton are best engines, worth fixing it...old lawnmowers are my fav...Nice Vid..!!!!

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Personally, I love the Honda’s. But Briggs are awesome engines as well. Thanks for watching!

[@IanRaddant]

No hate sometimes they arent the riding mowers they havr parts that break really easy and u have to take all the intwrnald out to fix it

[@DIYWilly]

Great video Elijah! All the trouble shooting keeps it really interesting. Thanks for sharing

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Thanks for watching. It’s a great mower. Such a shame to see it left in he woods like that. It would’ve been eventually thrown away to a dump to be crushed. I did use it again later that evening and mowed the front lawn with it. Did a good job at it. Needs a few things like I said at the end of the video. I’ll do a part 2 to this mower.

[@DIYWilly]

@@ElijahMiniBikes How would you sharpen the blade? Or does it need it?

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@DIYWilly needs it. Just remove the blade with a impact and sharpen the cutting edge with a few passes with a flap disk on a angle grinder. Then, correctly put it on back on the mower and crank it down tight. That’s it. Sharpen blade.

[@DIYWilly]

@@ElijahMiniBikes A future video suggestion

[@lawrencecarroll2031]

See if maybe a cap full of Sea Foam won't smooth out that surging. God video on bring an oldie back to life!

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

The surging went away after I used the mower a few times after this video. The mower was also low on fuel and that can cause a surging. Thanks for watching.

[@ahmedm6041]

Thank you for sharing your skills! Great job!

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Hey thanks for just watching the video! That’s awesome. I’m seeing more people come around again with mowing season back in action.

[@fatbuddycat]

Awesome adventure! Those were good mowers in their day.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

It’s a great mower. Used it to mow the front lawn of the place. Did great. Didn’t stall and rarely surged either. Keeping it for awhile. Will do a clean up video on it. That’ll be satisfying to watch.

[@jesterr7133]

This was a good find. Congrats on getting it going. With Murray being a cheaper brand, it is rare to find one of those mowers that has lasted this long. They sold a ton of them, but most people that bought them didn't maintain or repair them when they broke down, so you don't find many really old ones anymore. Most people did exactly what this owner did. They ran them until they broke and just bought a new one. The good thing is that all the parts for the engine have not changed over the last 25 years or so, so parts for the engine are plentiful and readily available. Pretty much every Briggs push mower engine for the last 30 years or so uses that carb, so it is not hard to keep them going. You can get a Chinese knockoff carb for that engine for less than $10.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I just worked on a 2015 push mower and your exactly right. Flathead and same everything else as this one here.

[@kevinsands6769]

Just a tip to help you, but the best way that I have found to clean the seat is to use the cut off tip of a q tip. Put it in a drill chuck. Put just a dab of car polish. Not compound, but polish. Whirl that q tip down on that seat for a minute or so. It will shine it good.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I still have the mower to this day. It leaks a little because of the seat and the sealing isn't all that great. Runs good though. i have to put a shutoff valve before the carburetor when ever i turn the engine off or it will flood the engine with gas.

[@weathermannax416]

I got a Murray Mower from my parents they bought brand new from K-mart 35 years ago and it still runs fine. The mower has always been stored indoors out of the weather. Starter mechanism has seen better days. The engine has almost 500 hours on it (we always had a self-powered hour meter hooked up to it). The power plant is a 3.5 HP Briggs & Stratton Quantum flat head engine. It is a 22-inch cut side discharge mower.

[@Vultain]

Great find! I would love to find one of those! I mowed with that mower for years at my grandfather's! 1 acre of land once to twice a week. Amazing mower! Honestly a true joy to use and I wish I owned one to be able to remember him by. I don't have nostalgia for most things but I would love one of those old 22" Murrays. I definitely recommend picking up Amsoil Small Engine 10W30 for it. Would definitely improve things. Maybe get some Stabil Small Engine Pro to help rehydrate the seals and pistons. A good 100 hours or a couple of seasons mixing it in would help if they aren't too far gone on the gaskets. Lastly all those old wheels had bearings. It would be worth cleaning them up with break fluid, steel wool, and then zerking them with lithium grease.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Already been through and covered most of those. Just had the recoil rope break. I’m on a break with it right now and doing some MiniBike work for a few MiniBike events coming up.

[@Vultain]

@@ElijahMiniBikes Sounds good, and yeah, it sounds like a project. If I find one I probably will aim for a full rebuild and sandblast the deck and go to town. But it's a bucket list nostalgia thing for me. Good luck on the mini bike and thanks for the update. That said cool project and at least you did it all the right way. Right now I'm in the more gotta dump a lawn mower. Exmark 21" I bought brand new in 2010ish? Kawasaki fJ180V, a Toro with an old Briggs Flathead 6.75, and a new Toro GCV160 only 3.5 hours in (picked up brand new from Craigslist made in 2019). Probably going to dump the Briggs Flathead as much as I would love to keep it.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@Vultain I’m fixing a cracked oil drain plug hole on a predator 212 engine. May need to be welded up not to sure yet.

[@131dyana]

Thank you for sharing.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Hey! Thanks for watching. Appreciate the stay haha!

[@garyalensr]

Im sure you know, but gas caps are vented and you have a bag over it? It wasn't being vented. I also fix small engines. I just picked up a Poulan pro 22 inch bagger mulcher front wheel self propelled with a 6hp quantum engine. The guy got rid of it because he said he couldn't get it started. It wasn't primming, the issue was the fliter base was warped and not making enough contact with the carb and gasket. Its a common problem with these engines. If you squirt carb or starter fluid in the primmer it stars on the first pull and runs fantastic!! I have the parts on order. Sorry for the long comment. Great video, glad you were able to get it running again. These are decent mowers!!! Way better than the junk today. Subbed your channel and cant wait to see what else you have in store for us

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I know it’s not vented. I just didn’t want anything to get into the fuel tank while I mowed for the bit at the end of the video. It has a gas cap now on it. Thanks for the sub and watching the videos!

[@humanoidsteam8223]

Wow, that engine's the same that i have on mine lawnmower, but mine is a john deere body. Beast

[@sonnyc3826]

as long as it runs even if it revs like that or surges that is an indication that a jet is partially blocked but seeing that carb its understandable it sold..that s aporblem with those old mowers parts are hard ot come by i have a mower similar its very old and it surges for a bit but still cuts and cuts great really short grass. people see it as an inconvenience but its cuts nice and short..still a success as it rworks

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I tried to go into this as cheap or not requiring any other parts as possible. I know people don’t have the money or the time to wait for a ordered part to come in on their mower. Yes, I know I don’t have a gas cap or a shoot for the mower but in a pinch it works and it mows. I just used it again yesterday to do my front lawn with and it just magically stopped surging like it did in the video. Mows great. A little heavy to push but after all it’s an old mower made with quality, heavy duty parts. I’m gonna keep it for a bit. I like the looks of it. Maybe it’s the patina talking to me or something 😆.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@ElectronicMusicUnderground the front wheel bearings are rust welded to the axles. I just left them alone. They spin good enough for a push mower.

[@donsurlylyte]

surging can also mean too much fuel- if he wasnt careful with that drill it may have opened it up too much

[@sonnyc3826]

@@donsurlylyte surging can be many thigns form what im reading but most time its a clogged carberator fuel jet soemwher ein tehre..ive had mowers that ive repeatedly cleaned the carb and it'll still surge at tiems..at times i replace the carb then its fine i hear it can be a bad spark plug and other things a bad carberator gasket even but if it cuts i dont mind using it but for resale value people shy away form such a thing even if it balances out later while in use

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@donsurlylyte naw, it’s lean. Hold the choke partly closed it runs better and stops surging.

[@radarlove462]

Bike type tires on the rear of that mower, really cool.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

A lot of mowers of the now don’t have that anymore. Just plastic ugly solid wheels.

[@Jahee-Official]

Necro posting here. Didn't know this "hold hand over carb" trick. I would just spray brake cleaner, and see if it would make the engine die or speed up. Also, I tend to get those B&S engines for free or almost free. Last one I picked up, is near identical, and did cost me 5 euros. (had an upright/side pull-start on the engine itself, which are some parts I didn't have yet)

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

It acts like a choke when you firmly press your hand over the intake of the carburetor when the engine is MANUALLY revved at high rpm’s. It forces more fuel to get sucked up through the jet and venturi tubes (possibly dislodging any debris or water inside the bowl). It’s a trick I learned with four wheelers but it also works on other engines and carburetors. I lot of the engines I have are free or cheap engines. Most of the time missing parts, seized or just plainly forgotten about.

[@jesterr7133]

Just replace the fuel lines anytime you work on something like this. All fuel lines have an inner lining that can collapse and block the line off, even if it looks fine from the outside. It isn't worth the headache when you can get a new line for less than $3. I worked on a 2 year old mowers a couple of months ago that had collapsed fuel lines, so it's pretty common on one this old.

[@weschaffin]

Well done young man!!

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Thanks!

[@Anim-inger]

We have like a very similar one runs like new but there is a crack and needs to be welded. It has a handle to pull in and the pull start is in the middle I love that old mower.

[@jesterr7133]

I'm sure about the gas cap on that particular engine, but most Briggs gas caps are vented. If that is the case, it will have run issues without a gas cap, since the air/fuel mix will not be correct.

[@driftracing08]

I just found a craftsman for 25 dollars and it has rwd and electric start and he sold it because it needs to be clean and it was in those rich areas with the big yards and that his yard was to big for it and its not rusted or nothing on it broken or bent

[@jaimeramirez-zt9dd]

That's a nice ford truck

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

That’s my baby!

[@carlmorgan8452]

Still mowing with mine. Always starts first pull. 😊

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

i still have this one and mow around my camper with it. starts on the third pull most times. the seal on the needle for the float doesnt seal so it will leak fuel eventually. it has a shut off valve in the fuel line to prevent flooding the engine when the engine is turned off.

[@LawnMowersThingsThatMakeNoise]

Hiiii I'm your 301st subscriber 🙂 please do more video's like this !!! 🙂

[@driftracing08]

It could of been that the piston rings why it was hard to start and burning oil until the compression came back and I will full synthetic oil like I use in all my lawnmowers

[@artpatronforever]

They don't make them like that anymore. OEM wheel bearings were shielded which allows grit and water to cause extra wear and wheels too soon will get wobbly. A fix is to knock out the OEM bearings and replace with sealed bearings. 2 bearings each wheel so 8 are needed and come in a 10 Pack Flanged Ball Bearings 1/2" x 1-1/8" x 1/2" inch for less than twenty dollars. I have one of the old Murray high wheel mowers thirty years old. It gets rough use mostly for cutting brush and weeds. The deck around the engine rusted through so I bolted a quarter inch thick aluminum plate and cut a hole with a sabre saw, drilled 3 mounting holes to remount the engine. I keep using the mower since it can't be replaced and nothing else comes close to doing the same job. The mower starts first pull every time like it always has. Starts on full choke, quickly back off to a medium throttle as it catches and warms up. The only issues I noticed are the wheel bearings should be sealed bearings and the deck will eventually rust through around the engine. Adding a fuel line shutoff so the engine can run the carburetor dry would be a good accessory. I wired back the engine brake "safety" lever and duct taped the bale for the engine brake so it won't rattle, because that system is a nuisance, as a dead man switch that stops the mower every time a person lets go of the handle to stop and toss aside any debris or wipe away a sweaty brow. I added a wire to a kill switch as a user friendly engine stop for a less safety rule conscious lawn mower user experience.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Nice! Man, I started finding more and more of these mowers when I posted this video. I found 4 on FB market place for reasonable prices like $50 running and mowing. Exactly like it. Same wheels and engine size.

[@artpatronforever]

@@ElijahMiniBikes That particular design of mower is best for rural areas where a 5 HP high wheel design is really the only configuration that works on rough terrain with heavy weeds and brush. It will mow a lawn but has the power to do brush cutting too. That design should be a classic reintroduced, with upgraded sealed ball bearing wheels and a reinforced corrosion proof deck / engine mount. Maybe Briggs could make it like a DeLorean and stamp the 22" decks out of 12 gauge stainless steel. Call it Back To The Future or Make Murray Great Again. LOL Those old L-head Briggs engines are durable and worth trouble of repairing. I have another 5 HP Briggs on a tiller that is over 60 years old and still in service. The gravity fuel feed float carburetor on Quantum engines is less trouble than anything having a fuel pump with the maintenance that is always needed for diaphragms. Gravity fuel feed and float carburetors are a lot better system and fuel shutoffs should be on everything, so machines can be run dry. I like that Speed Start and Jump Start feature that has the Starter Drive Clutch Bendix that chucks in a cordless drill and provides an easy starting for small engines that don't have electric start. That seems to be another great idea never got the traction it should have gotten. JumpStart is on my brush cutter / trimmer and it does work.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@artpatronforever I was quite surprised mowing those tall weeds with a surging engine it didn’t bog it down really. My 3.5 I use for mowing a RC landing strip would’ve taken twice as long to mow the same amount of segment as this 5 hp Murray did in one take. The mower still needs some work and unfortunately I haven’t gotten around to it since the video was published. The pull rope broke and that really just killed any progression made for the mower. Not to worry, surely will make another video of it soon. Just like the snapper or the John Deere’s I got going as well.

[@philliphall5198]

Truth is people would not even try to fix them years ago because a new one was 100.00 bucks Since prices have more than doubled every one is trying to be a mechanic now

[@sonnyc3826]

i collect metal and came across alot fo mowers and i used to sell tehm to amechanics son for 5 bucks becasue its more than id get at the scrapyard. but his dad dided and he moved away . he told me most of the time its the carberator that acts up he said 99 percent of the time so i figured one day id give it a shot..sinc ei come across this stuff alot and its a new hobby turns out majority of the time it i got them working..im nto a mechanic but i jus tlearned them as a hobby and it worked out for myself..its also a satisfying feeling bringing soemthing back to life that peopel gave up on..and a pretty handy skill as small engines can apply to many things, riding mower, lawnmowers, weed eaters although they are a pain in the ass but toehr thigns also.

[@sonnyc3826]

it also saves alot of money as a small engine mechanic charges you about 90 dollars an hr . i went into a shop not long ago and soem old man was picking up his lawnmower and the pricetag for repairs was over 200 dollars...you can almost buy a new mower for that price..most mowers nowadays are over 500 bucks but 200 dollar sisnt cheap

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

A lot of simple push mowers on Facebook market place are sold for around $50. But I also see “wont start” or “ran last year” on those as well. It’s usually really simple like a clogged jet or a Sparkplug. With these newer mowers. A lot of times the carburetors are not even serviceable. So that really just leaves me with buying a new carburetor for those mowers.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@sonnyc3826 I’ve been working on minibikes and dirt bike engines for awhile now. When I was a child I’ve been poking and prying at lawn mower engines and lawn mowers in general. They fascinate me somehow lol. But I have seen people trying to sell them for scrap. How much does it pay? Here, you have to pay someone to take it off your lawn and also have it get scraped from the county. Maybe about 100 if not more. Just for a riding lawn mower.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@ElectronicMusicUnderground turning trash into cash. I like that!

[@Kookamungawerewolf]

I have one like that I bought from Walmart in the 80s Didn’t get used much and sat for over fifteen years under a shed. I got it running about four years ago,ran great and the engine stop cable broke. I am having a problem finding the cable as the model number of the mower 2254?X92C does not show up in any parts searches. The steel cable is about 38” and the outer conduit is about 42” and it has a Z bend at the engine end and a T at the operator end.

[@DKSE123]

I did one of those last year . It wasnt full of water , just old fuel . After i cleaned the carb , it fired up & ran awesome

[@donsurlylyte]

it's always the carb bro unless it isn't then it still is.

[@ussreeves]

😅😅😅😅 You’ve worked on them before.😅😅😅

[@Dilanplayzzroblox]

I have a same mower 2007 the engine is 3.5hp quantum power on a RL 420 toller petrol it has an electric starter with pull start in the middle and a rwd system i have been trying to start it by shooting gasoline in the carbs throat i think it almost wanted to fire for a second but then it backfired from the intake.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Valves are loose.

[@Dilanplayzzroblox]

​@@ElijahMiniBikesi got it running it runs like a dream! Turns out the valves were not loose its that i just put too much gasoline in the throat and it just fired back from the carb. Now im trying to get the electric starter working, it has electricity in the cables i dont remember but like 12 volts or something, my guess is that the starter is just stuck. I dont know if the starter gear that spins the flywheel should return back itself ? When i turn it up by hand it doesnt return and its really easy to turn it.

[@Dilanplayzzroblox]

​@@ElijahMiniBikes I would definetly would love to see more videos about this mower 😊

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@Dilanplayzzroblox check out some of my other videos. Just got a Briggs Flathead to run on a different carburetor system for a MiniBike project. Thanks for watching!

[@Dilanplayzzroblox]

​@@ElijahMiniBikesi just figured out on my mower that its not made in the year 2007 its made in 1990 i tought that the models first two digits are the year but i just figured out its the code ones

[@keithr8959]

Where did you get that little hand drill and the bits?

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I got it at our local hardware store. Surely can find them on amazon.

[@Anim-inger]

Update my old mower with the crack isn’t to big of a crack so I can use it now and when we first fired it and stoped it smoked and mine was sitting in my grandpas shed and he like never used it

[@peachsncream5808]

🤔 So witch is it 🤷 🤨 you picked it up from an older gentleman’s yard , he said it hasn’t run in 20 years …. Or did you find it in the woods without the gas cap .

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

All of the above.

[@jjyemg2397]

@ 26:55 it's hunting so it's still not getting fuel. Emulsion tube clear?

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I know that it’s not getting any fuel. I literally say it in the video. But, thanks for watching.

[@jjyemg2397]

@@ElijahMiniBikes I wrote the reply before you said it later on

[@snoopysrc]

Ya gained a new sub

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Nice, thanks for watching!

[@josephbonomo]

found one i cannot , believe thrown out.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I found 3 more after this video. Complete too. All flipped and sold. Thanks for watching.

[@jaimeramirez-zt9dd]

same truck in a recent twix chocolate bar commercial with chicken egg or chicken came first

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Very similar, I believe that would’ve been a late 78 with a ranger package. Mines a 79 with the lariat package.

[@Mercy.96]

bthw the plastic bag creates a Vacum in the gass canister it needs to have a hole so air can get in like normal gass caps

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

Thanks, I already knew that. It was just there to keep things from getting into the tank like grass clippings. It has a actually fuel cap now. Thanks for watching.

[@wallyallyn5473]

That's why you need to wear safety glasses so you don't get it in your eyes

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

I do appreciate the concerns. Thanks for watching.

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

How does this have a 1000 views…. LIKE HOW??

[@ElijahMiniBikes]

@@ElectronicMusicUnderground this morning I had 11 subscribers. Crazy.

[@donsurlylyte]

the algorithm has found you bro, you showed up on my main page tonight