OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Tecumseh / Kirby Engines Kirby Lauson 4 Stroke PLV30

Hello,

My Pace mower has a Kirby Lauson PLV30 4 stroke motor. I would greatly appreciate information on this type of motor and whether it is compatible with other similar motors.

I believe the motor is from 1962/63. It has a "sure start" spring start mechanism that is broken, and a governor that is not working. Is there a manual that someone could recommend?

Kind regards

Benjamin

It may or may not be much the same as a Kirby Lauson VK30, which was a common vertical crankshaft engine of the 1960s to early 1970s. Unfortunately the Kirby Lausons do not precisely follow the American Lausons. It appears Kirby did a bit of a mix and match at times with the bits he bought from Lauson for local assembly in Sydney. However I think there are just about always Lauson equivalent parts to suit the Kirby Lausons, you just can't always find them by looking for the same engine in the Tecumseh manuals.

There is an old Gregorys manual for the Kirby Lausons. I don't know that it would help you much with differences between models, but it covers general overhaul information. It is the only manual I've seen that is specifically on Kirby Lauson engines. However one of our collectors can probably help you more than I can.

Thanks Grumpy

I'm not sure if this will help but here are some things I found for you.

Now you said it has a PLV30 on it but my Victa green book refers to it as having VK30.Which in the illustration below is the model 16R.So are you sure that's what it has on it? If so it may well be,not the original engine.

It seems there was a PLV30 Kirby Lauson fitted to the 8P variant of the Pace in 1962-3. It is listed in the 1964 Pace spare parts manual, part of which is reproduced here:
http://www.vintagemowers.net/mower_pace.php

The engine looks very similar to a VK30 to me, but I'm not a Kirby Lauson guy. Perhaps the next step, if you want to acquire all the details, is to track down a copy of that spare parts manual.

That is fantastic info. Thanks so much.

Benjamin