OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Strathalbyn SB45

Hi everyone, and thanks for the warm welcome to the boards on the 'introductions' page.

I went to look into a couple of leads given by board members. On closer inspection I spotted some oily, felty looking gunk high in the cooling fins behind the cover. So off came the cover...to my dismay what I saw was just the tip of the iceberg. I blew out what I could with compressed air but it isn't properly clean yet.

Should I spray a bit of degreaser in there and hose it out, or would that be risking damage that I am unaware of? I can't see any exposed electrical parts as this engine appears to have a magnetic pickup for spark timing.

Anyway, the result of this is that I have not started it up again to report what I observe for grumpy's diagnosis. ...I'll keep ypu posted and take a few more pictures for Ty.

Cheers.

By the way, for Deejay's interest (I presume he drops in here from time to time) the numbers on the cover are as follows. They have been painted over and it may be that the 3 is actually an 8:

80102 0230-01 7508150

Beammeup, please re-post the pics of your SB45 in this thread, so it will make sense on its own. While you are doing that, please post the long string of numbers stamped on the cooling air cowl of your Briggs and Stratton engine. That will tell us quite a lot about the engine, and enable us to point you toward an owner manual and illustrated parts list, as well as telling you the engine's date of manufacture. The date will tell us whether you have breaker points (behind the flywheel) or electronic ignition.

You can put some degreaser on the cylinder head and hose it off if you want, so long as you have the muffler and air cleaner fitted at the time, so water can't enter the engine, and you do not blast water at the engine, especially the ignition coil. I suspect that "felt" was dried-up old grass clippings, and they do need to be removed, to allow cooling air flow.

Hi grumpy, Beammeup has posted the string of cowling numbers in the previous post to your last.....

Hi again Beammeup, we seem to have posted simultaneously a few minutes ago - thanks Deejay, for pointing it out.

The nearest operators' manual that B&S have (yours is rather a late 80102)is here:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/lrvvA-wU7eL7hAxB91ObQ.pdf

The nearest illustrated parts list is here:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/Z6jmvGVJ1DajI.pdf

(Deejay, as you can see, the spark plug shorting kill switch was normal for the 80102, and the 60102. That series of first-generation engines used a different governor design and had no provision for a kill switch contact on its base.)

Some other details: your engine was made on 15 August 1975. Since that is prior to 1983, it has breaker points, not breakerless ignition. The breaker points are in a little round tin box behind the flywheel. Your engine is 8 cubic inches displacement (130 cc), is the first design generation for that engine series, has a horizontal crankshaft and a Vacu-Jet carburetor, has plain main bearings, and has a rewind starter.

Thank you SO MUCH Grumpy!
The info you have provided is invaluable.

Looks like I have my work cut out for a while checking that everything is as it should be.

It's a pity about the paint job which looks a bit more bodgy in real life than it does in the pictures. My main concern at the moment though is to get it functioning as well as possible so I produce a schmick lawn! ...maybe a proper restoration further down the track

When it comes to grinding the blades, can you point me in the right direction in SA?

Cheers

Beammeup, our resident Scott Bonnar guru, Deejay, always says the best way to find a good reel and bedknife technician is to contact the greenskeeper and your local bowls club. The bowls clubs naturally use reel mowers, and set an even higher standard than golf putting greens, so they know whereof they speak when it comes to getting the right maintenance. Remember, the reel and bedknife need to be sharpened as a set, not individually, and you should try hard to get the technician to teach you to adjust the bedknife so you can get a top-notch result. The reel must never touch the bedknife, but a sheet of newspaper fed in between knife and reel must be cut perfectly like a good pair of scissors.

I suggest you use the mower a bit, making very sure you have no foreign objects on your lawn (the tiniest stone will ruin a sharpening job), and that you know how to adjust the knife, before you have it sharpened. You simply waste your money if you get it sharpened before you have some skill in adjusting and using it, because you'll ruin the sharpening job in short order. You only get a certain number of resharpens before you've used up your reel, and a new one will cost around $400. Why not start by trying the newspaper trick, to see what your mower can do in its present state?

Because your mower is old and seems never to have been sharpened, it is possible that there has been some deterioration of the reel's bearings. If they have to be replaced it should be done as part of the sharpening job.

Hi to Beammeup, I just spent the last 20 minutes typing a detailed post and grumpy's beat me to it!!
Yeah, the greenskeeper is the way to go, they are a friendly bunch and will help you find a reliable engineer.

To see how a spin grind is done...Click HERE
Instructions on how to remove your cylinder reel and soleplate...Click HERE
Please don't attempt to remove the bottom blade (knife-blade) from the sole plate, your engineer will do that if it need replacing and has the tools and expertise to do it.
Remember to take both the reel and soleplate (complete) to the engineer.

Great advice guys. I will seek out the greenkeeper here this weekend.
Cheers

hello beammeup give the following cotact a go they do reel good prices i think a cyl grind for a 45/17 is $45 they also sell premium steel bottom blades its cheaper to send from ripoff nsw to sa for a sharpen Power Mower Service Pty. Ltd.
Lawn Mowers--Retail & Repairs - Eastwood, SA
21 Glen Osmond Rd, Eastwood SA 5063, Australia
Phone number(08) 8272 4988

Hi deviosi, thanks for that. I'm going to hold back for a while as I get more used to the way blade adjustment works, as someone suggested above. By the way, the local greens keeper suggested the same place you have pointed to.

Now about my mower: It starts fine, but runs too fast. Attempts to wind in the screw slow it dramatically and stop it altogether in just a bit less than a quarter turn. It hesitates when trying to alter the speed with the speed control lever on the handlebar. By the way, it won't start with the choke on; it has to be almost all the way in to start. The speed is fairly constant when started though not absolutely (and idling is too fast). I don't know what all this points to.
Cheers.

The screw you are adjusting sounds like the mixture screw, and it appears to be doing just what it should. The only adjustment you make with the mixture screw, is getting the mixture right. I've explained how to do that previously: you get the engine running fast, and you turn the screw very slowly clockwise until the engine just begins to slow down very slightly. That is the lean limit - note where the screw slot points. Now turn the screw anticlockwise very slowly, until you notice that the engine just begins to slow down again. That is the rich limit. Set the screw halfway between the rich limit and the lean limit. The two limits should be only about 1/4 turn apart.

Setting the engine speed is done with the speed control lever on the handlebar. As I said before, I suspect that yours isn't working, because your cable clamp at the lower end of the speed control cable's outer casing may not be tightened. Does the cable outer move at the carburetor end when you move the speed control lever on the handlebar?

Grumpy, you're a genius!
I followed what you said closely and have got the motor running sweetly to my satisfaction. Thanks for your invaluable advice. The cable was indeed not as tight as it should have been and the mixture screw not quite correctly set. All is OK now. Thanks.

The mower chassis itself should be fairly straightforward to "tune up" from here. Are there any traps for new players in this area that I should be aware of?
Cheers

Beammeup (note I haven't slipped and called you Scotty yet, but it will happen) there are just a few things regarding the chassis to look at right away - other more subtle ones will call for the assistance of a serious SB guy such as Deejay or deviosi. Please start a new thread in Questions on Lawmmower Frames/Question on Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers to get it rolling. When you do I can outline the basics, but you'll quickly find a need for the experts.

I'll close this thread.