OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Idle Chatter old utilty

again with the questions ! i had a look around and i know i've seen some like this , but same as always . when you want something ya cant find it ! so i'll ask any one know what this is ? took some starting but sounds good . a 125 ? bolted at the bottom of barrel , long reach plug same as my corvette but different grade might both be wrong champion n8 'vette and n21 in this ?


a bit of new rope and turned the pawls (thanks for tips mr davis) and the starter worked , a little harder too do than newer ones but same deal , and off it went ! getting behind now too many to do . and thanks again for all the help .. Dave

It is a Model 540 Utility,1967-68.I have one the same.

Yours however is in much better condition than mine. I have to restore mine. Hopefully soon.

thanks blumby , and the 'ring on mine is s'posed to be welded ? it has a flap at the rear too between the wheels bolted to the handle mounts ? so its a cousin to the corvette ? i think that one is 67 too . thanks mate
but i'm sure to be wrong

The ring is not suppose to be welded.They usually have 2 bolts and 2 little metal plates.One either side (toward the back of the ring)to hold them onto the base.Then at the front there should be (On the ring)folded up pieces to help hold them on.The rings are a fairly tight fit,this normally is enough to hold them on tight.Yes it would have been available at the same time that Corvette was. There were others available at the same time but without my green book with me at the moment I can't remember them all.

looks like it has both welds and remnants of bolts ! if it was welded after , they sure did some great looking work though even whats left of the paint doesnt look burnt . hard to tell with the age of the thing . but man it looks like it was a factory job but on a second look after wire brushing hmmmmmmm your right , looks ok though and works well too ! smoke cleared after 5 mins mowing , looking in the ports is amazing ! all shiny n new almost no scratches anywhere , just a lot of cleaning to get crud out of tank n carb and purring now


and one of the 'flap' at the back . cheers

[Censored] they certainly messed up the toe ring.That would be very difficult to put back to original? It is do-able though. The only plus side is who ever welded it knew what they were doing.Very clean welding.That would make me see red,I would have to put it back to it original condition.Does that one have the full round toe ring?

Did you get this one off eBay.Auction number 170876821051? If so good work that's not a bad price for that well worth it. Just need to fix the toe ring.Well I would anyway.

got it this week from ebay yup , if i could weld well enough i would but it dont look too bad . i didnt think they were welded and thanks for the info . i looks like it cracked just in front of the wheel right rear and so was 'fixed' everything else seems good though , wheels from that godfreys one are in great nick and apart from the 'ring its allgood . it would be a 125 ? bolts at bottom of barrel . cheers Dave

Hi Dave, I think it all depends what you have planned for this machine.....
If you are going to use it as a workhorse for weekly mowing IMO I would leave as is.....If it is going to be fully restored and displayed, I would have had the angle-grinder out already and have removed the toe ring.
it is fairly rare, and worth preserving.

are the rings around still ? its almost too good to use as a daily ! does a great cut though ! almost got my whole yard done but it found some carby crud i missed . i didnt know it was a rare one i just liked the look of it . the numbers on it are 3674769 with a 2 stamped into the top half just above . thanks deejay

Yes it is a 125cc.The engine is basically the same as a Sheerline engine.Just with changing engine numbers,but it was the same design.Just for curiosity what is the engine number?I would except to see a 67 or 68 as the second or third numbers. Not sure what your asking with the wheels but the wheels should be like the wheels that are on my 540.

the wheels on it look origional just bald as , same as on the corvette but seem different to yours ? the other set are of a store brand and in great nick same as both you see on these two . are the toerings still available ? if so where from i havnt seen them anywhere yet . thanks blumby

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,but they are not the original wheels.Here is some pages from the green book.



Also rings come on eBay from time to time but will set one back at least $100 to $150 per ring.I guess that's another reason why I would fix it,but as you said there would have to be some welding done to repair the ring.

Hi Vccomm, The wheels for the utility were an older style to the ones on yours, a lot of the basic models retained the early wheel design right up to the mid 70's.

The wheels on Jeffreys utility are what you would be looking for to restore that one, I might have a good set here I can set aside for you, I'll have a dig through the wheel buckets soon.

Aside from the wheels and the welding, she seems to be fairly close to original, and should come up fairly well after restore.

You could tidy up the welds to hide them, and use some carefully placed bolt heads to help disguise the welding.

thanks for that . i'll see if i can get it off in one piece and bugga ! have a few sets of wheels the same too haha aaah well the search begins huh . so they sort of clip onto the front and bolted at sides ? sorry to ask but never seen one up close before , tabs bolt to the sides and hold it in place i'm guessing

yesssss good idea , its welded pretty well to the base and will realy take a lot of care to remove . if you could put some aside that would be great thankyou . i'll get into it this arvo for a while

a little better ? might explain why it is welded , found engraved into the front of the base P+G under a few coats of paint , parks and gardens maybe ?

might be why it looked like it was done from new too me . but looking better than it did

If you were going to fix the toe ring.I would put a cutting disc on an angel grinder and through the welds,then put a grinding disc on and smooth them out.You will be surprised how well that will work.

yes i did think of that but i ran out of thin cutting disc's and a few of them are still too hard to get at , a little more work and they look better but i know not right . and yes the toering is all the way around just covered by a plate at the rear , but i think i found a problem i dont think the crank is meant to look like this ? blade disc must have been loose for a while . or is it meant to look this way as i dont remember seeing it on others
. cheers i wouldnt be lucky enough that 160 and 125 cranks are the same would i ?

OH sugar that's buggered.[Censored] I certainly wouldn't use that one.Have you got another? If you need one let me know I have a crank here off a similar model.Would have to pack it for you and just freight it.

thats sort of what i said when i saw it !! and a few other choice ones too hahaha , that would be great yes thanks for that

OK I'll go and make sure it's in my road so I don't for get it.

yeh i gotta do that too . then still pick up what i put it under and leave ! must be an old guy thing haha let me know when and i'll fix it up thanks man . then off to the shop here for a kit i guess . pity though it ran so sweet too i didnt want to pull it down and the badly fitted seal might also explian the reving so hard , difficult to get right . thanks again

Yes well you don't want to leave it like that you might end up with a cutting disc in your foot.That wouldn't be nice.

NOOOOOOO wasnt leaving like that ! just a tad annoyed when i found it . its packed away again untill a crank arrives for it so more time to fix the base now

Sound like a plan.Will have a crack at pulling it apart tomorrow after work.It's still has a crankcase wrapped around it.

thanks mate but no rush . still have to finish the base and fix the ring , so 160 wont fit ? silly question huh but worth asking . relax a little you been a busy lad lately ! i have a few more to play with till gotta get the edger to run yet . cheers

Yes a 160cc would fit that base,but it wouldn't be original.

just the crank in the 125 case ? wishfull think i bet

Hi Dave,
Just a heads-up, it was right under our noses mate, in Popular Topics in the left-hand navigation panel, second from the bottom.....Click HERE