CNew

I was actually able to spend the better part of yesterday just working on this- it’s rare for me to be able to spend that much of a Saturday on something fun. Which project ya got all over the bench?

Finished product, now just need to get a short video of it running...

Bare Aluminum or the British racing green would both look awesome!

Got the engine completely cleaned and rebuilt. Unfortunately I didn’t have new induction case seals for this particular model. The seals weren’t in terrible condition but would have been better to swap them out. I did have a new exhaust gasket kit which it definitely needed. I primed the carb a few minutes ago and it fired right up on the second or third pull. Sounded strong even though the seals weren’t the best. Hopefully I can get one more similar short run out of it when the trimmer is all back together. I need to try to get a video of it running to send to the guy I bought it from.

That’s a great looking mower, never seen one like that. Interesting design concept with the wood roller/wheels. It looks awesome with the O&R on it! Can’t wait to see the final product when you’re all done.

Took apart more of the induction unit and there was an odd, really thin spacer in the bearing stack. Doesn’t look like it would have been original to the engine.

I like that you’ve incorporated the little O&Rs in your display - that’s a nice touch! I don’t know how many times I’ve been tempted to buy a 23 or 60 but I’m afraid if I do that I’ll get hooked on those too.

Interesting, I didn’t see any sort of seal associated with this bearing but I’ll check again. I’m hoping whoever was in this engine last didn’t forget some parts or lose some of the roller bearings. I need to count the ones in your photo and compare.

The one I have is like this, I had never come across this style bearing before. Not sure yet why everything was so loose. I’ll have a better look as I start to put it back together.

Thanks David! I’ve actually been looking to get a couple glass syringes, great use for them. I’ll go that route this time to try to clean the gas tank.

iPhone camera is all I have anymore... I’ll have to try editing sometime.

Looks like Timken is now National. Found a couple NOS Timken seals on eBay and it also looks like the same part number is available at the local O’Reillys (as National seals).

Thanks JustO&R - nice find! Is this a different seal than the one you had to modify the retainer ring? I’ll be on the hunt for one, that seal needs to be replaced on my engine. Someone before me installed it backwards and it’s pretty worn out.

David, These are great, thank you for sharing the service bulletins. Now I at least know what to look for, albeit likely impossible to find. It’s interesting that they went to a non-replaceable seal on something that is a wear item and relatively easy to fix with standard seals. I wonder how much of a difference it would make putting a conventional seal in there. Nice photo by the way, you can see your seal much better. I couldn’t get the lighting right on mine. I have the blue seal like the one you show. Thsnks!

It didn’t appear to be anodized. You were right about the exhaust collector set up. Has the red gasket and the one spacer. The induction case also had the o-ring seal. The front end of the induction case has a different type of seal than I’ve seen before. It appears to have a rigid metal core - and it doesn’t look like it can be removed without destroying it. It needs to be replaced but I don’t think I’ve seen any like this before. I’m thinking the gas tank probably doesn’t have anything special inside it so I’ll gently probe with a piece of wire and see if it will start to clear up. There is an original in-line fuel filter that is external to the tank and goes between the tank and the carb so I’m hoping there isn’t any full line or other filter inside the tank tube. Unfortunately the piston is pretty scored up. The cylinder walls don’t look too bad but something got in there and really gouged the piston. This newer engine also has a different type of bearing on the main shaft inside the induction case.

Yeah, I think so. There’s 40+ years of oxidation and nasty fuel residue and junk but with a little work it’s cleaning up pretty well. Of course the nipple of the gas tank is clogged. Any guesses as to how this might be set up inside the tube? Any chance there is some sort of rubber two-way valve like on some of the later carb inlets?

Decided to clean up a couple sections just to see how this might look later...

Thanks David, good to know!

Yes, I can’t remember what O&R engine it came off of but I think I can make it work for this mower-Trimmer.

Success, got the spindle free from the shaft. With the crankshaft being so loose there was about 1/16” of play between the front face mounting plate and the back edge of the spindle. I notched a large washer and slid it into the gap. Then when I smacked the opposite end of the spindle it finally broke free.

Hopefully he’s still drafting up the Chip-A-Saw decal as well

All the important pieces look to be there. I won’t know until I can get the engine apart but it seems it might be missing a couple pieces on the exhaust collector. I don’t see the usual spacers or gaskets that sandwich the top and bottom of the collector. This spindle shaft is really being cantankerous- it just wont let go!

Starting the tear down of the Landscaper 600. Went ok for the most part but the main spindle won’t come free from the crankshaft. It has a single threaded screw that attaches it to the end of the crankshaft like most engines. It is really seized up on there. I tried all the usual tapping tricks but still no luck. I also noticed that the entire spindle and crankshaft are super wobbly and loose. I’m hoping it’s not broken inside the engine. The bearings are most definitely shot, hopefully the shaft is not cracked. Not sure what to try next to get this spindle off. Definitely going to take some serious cleaning...

Cool, thanks for adding the photo, this conversion to an O&R was meant to be

Thanks! Yeah, the O&R looks right at home on there- this was a fun little project. Hoping my son will cherish these things some day.