OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Idle Chatter Who here buys and sells mowers / trimmers?

Hey guys,

Just wondering, how many of you guys buy old mowers, do them up and sell (for profit)?

What tips / tricks can you share?

Are there any do's / don't s when repairing ?

What's the usual profit you make or the average sale price of (certain) mowers?

Are there particular mowers/engines you look for? or ones you know to pass on ?

Grasshopper. Mr Miyagi would like to welcome you to the forum. Dont believe a word of what they say about me. the hormone treatment is is working

Hey mate,

Quite a few members here sell on. I do it really just for fun but a bit of beer money.

Best tip I can give is get yourself a good carby cleaning kit and air compressor and get used to changing pull cords and cleaning carbys. They are the main problems I come across.

I actually just revived a victa with briggs classic 4 stroke (I'll be selling for $120) that I was given as payment for servicing a Sanli for a bloke down the road, Well I say revived but really all I did was empty the foul smelling off petrol from the tank and replaced it with fresh petrol.

Whipper snippers are generally not worth the trouble if you are looking for profit - too time consuming and not worth much anyway.

If you are looking to start doing it seek out a parts mob to get cheap parts from. The bloke I found gets great prices and passes on great savings.

AND if you're going to start doing this make sure you do the repairs properly - dodgy jobs are dangerous jobs AND it gives the rest of us a bad name. (Not saying you would do a bad job). There are a few dodgy brothers in Adelaide who just make up bitsa's and sell them on for max profit without properly testing them or making them safe.

There are some bargains and great profits to be had if you look hard enough. When I come across cheap/free machines anything newer than 1990's gets fixed and resold. Anything older I fix up and keep for myself - not worth enough to sell and well I just like them...

Pete

Hi Widget!

I figure the best way to make money is to find a mower/trimmer/blower/chainsaw that someone has left on the verge or at the tip because they couldn't start it. If the previous owner is not mechanically minded, they may have given up without much of a fight or failed to seek repair from a professional outfit.

If you are lucky, maybe all the engine needs is a new spark plug, perhaps just a new flywheel key because it has been sheared and the timing is out, maybe a new pull rope is all that is needed because the old one is broken or jammed. Other problems might be that the carb needs adjustment, the diaphragm needs replacing and/or the primer bulb is broken (trimmer/chainsaw/blower). In these cases the repairs will be relatively minor/easy and cheap. However, there is always a chance you might need a specialised tool for removing components and you will have to spend more money. Another cost is having to replace the oil (a given), unless it's a 2-stroke.

It won't be worth it at all if the engine has thrown a rod and the crankcase is fractured or has a hole in it. But you might be able to use the remaining good parts to fix a similar engine already in your possession. If you have to change the coil, piston, rings or hone the bore to fit an oversized piston and rings, then your starting to talk about spending a lot of money, especially since you will have remove covers and this will often result in torn gaskets which can't be reused. So new gaskets are probably a given in these situations.

Unfortunately, if there are chassis and clutch problems with the power equipment, they won't be as easy to diagnose or repair until the engine is operational. Such components are costly to repair, and find/replace.

I would go for anything that is running a Honda, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler or Subaru. Stick with brands like Husqvarna, Honda, Stihl, Echo, Kawasaki(actually just about anything Japanese or commercial grade/quality). These hold their value, are very much sought after and revered. Stay clear of the cheap home brands, like Ryobi, Homelite, Ozito or anything generally manufactured in China (at this moment in time). I don't think you would even break even, if you tried restoring/repairing one of these.

Generally speaking, a complete overhaul or restoration from the ground up, to include paint, decals and original components, will be extraordinarily expensive (but it will depend on the condition of the mower etc.). Unless of course, you can do most of the work yourself or you are lucky to know someone in the game, that can point you in the right direction.

I have a deal with the tip shop to put aside anything with a motor for me. I can generally fill my trailer with mowers and trimmers for $20 or less. Even if I cannot get a particular machine going again for minimal outlay it will probably come in handy for bits. My yard is a sea of Rover chassis at the moment. I have two good runners heading of to a local auction next week that cost me around $10 each to get going well so hopefully someone falls in love with them and puts some cash in my pocket.

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback

I'm mainly considering do it as a hobby, learning and making a few dollars on the side. I have a few tools at the moment which have come in handy, not a lot of "specialty" tools, such as the B&S Valve Spring removal tool (quite costly that little thing is).
At the moment, I'm certainly considering investing in a Blow Torch for those hard to remove nuts/bots/blade boss.. unfortunately, though Oxy/Ace seem to be recommended.. they're quite expensive for me at this stage.. especially as a hobby.

I've purchased my parts, mainly diaphragms/gasket from "pushmowerrepairs" on ebay.. probably the cheapest place in Aus I've found.

Has anyone used Liquid gasket for repairs? or even purchased a roll of paper gasket to make a new one ?

So far i haven't had much luck with repairs. I got a few projects happening at the moment,

1. VICTA Mustang 2stroke (https://www.outdoorking.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=62668&#Post62668)
I picked that up for $20 on ebay, thought it was better condition than it is. Looks like the cylinder may need a re-bore or at least a re-hone. Not sure if I'll fix or just sell for parts.

2. Victa B&S .. was working, then I pulled engine/blade off to clean up, then it wouldn't pull start.. so I'm stripping it down to see what might be the issue... ($10 for mower and snipper)

3. couple whipper snippers.. i put on hold as I had other things going on..

I did find a mower on the side of the road.. looks like they tried to fix it with a sledge hammer . Most of the good stuff damaged, but managed to salvage a few minor bits (base/wheels, piston, valves/springs, that metal thing that the piston clamps onto.. cant remember the name)

I contacted my local tip, but my council doesn't allow for selling to the public. Only closest place I know of at the moment is illawarra tip, which is 2hrs south of me .

I have to say, the older mowers, such as the Victa 18's are quite nice to look at.. the antique style mowers have an interesting look to them. Those sort of mowers I would consider fixing from ground up, with full re-paint and such. Do people purchase these?

What do the average (used) mower sell for? I went to bunnings and new started from about $200 > $1000+, so I'd like to think anywhere from $50+ ?

Thanks again for the feedback if anyone has more to add, feel free

Any success stories or failures that you've learnt from?

Hey mate,

Gasket Goo is NEVER recommended. The correct gasket is always the first choice but some older mowers are incredibly hard/impossible to find correct gaskets for. In this scenario the correct size gasket paper if cut correctly suits perfectly well.

As you get more experienced the repairs become easier and faster. You also get better at picking the fixable ones - wait until you find one where the previous owner has tried to fix the issues - you'll find governor linkages hooked up to throttle butterflys, throttle linkages hooked up to governor linkages, fuel lines connected to pcv tubes, no gaskets in carbies and of course gasket goo all through carbies.

All part of the fun.

Pete

hi
forget the oxy , expensive to use and prenatally dangerous if used on mowers even with empty fuel tanks , best thing for rusty stubborn nuts bolts ect is a impact wrench , either air powered , battery or 240 volt , places to try for one are super cheap auto ect.
makes things so easy
cheers damo

^^^^^

Completely agree with Dodegy.

Impact wrench is the go.

Get yourself a small air compressor, impact wrench and blow gun/duster whatever they're called. I started out without an air compressor and it just makes everything harder and take such a long time.

I picked up my GMC air compressor from eBay a while ago with 2 air hoses and a car tyre attachment for $100. It's all in good condition and that was quite expensive (But I wanted it then and there rather than waiting for a cheap one to come up). Not a great machine but it does everything I need ... My Impact wrench I bought from Supercheap shortly after. Mid range wrench and I think that was around $30-$50 from memory.

If you think of it this way - every mower you sell buys you another tool to make the next one cheaper and easier until you have everything you NEED (Not want) and then ...

First you get the mowers
Then you get the tools
Then you get the money
Then you get the BEER!



Pete

awesome,t hanks guys :), will definitely look into a cheap air compressor and impact tool. So fvar have really just used a standard drill with socket attachment. For most bolts, its been fine, but yeh, will certainly need more for those harder bits.

Do you guys paint you engines ? i've made myself a little Electrolysis unit from an old computer psu.. seems to help, but wondering what do you guys do to prep for painting? not so much the base, but primarily those harder bits (the engine itself has a lot of hard to reach bits).

Free mower's are the best (Duh)I have put up a notice at my sister's workplace which all surrounding suburb's are filled with people that would rather buy a new mower than fix the one they have.Which I understand!I get a freebie and they can have a new mower,win win.So far my best mowers have come from this source.Some are junker's(parts) and I do have to travel to pick them up but overall I am ok about that.Also you may go for age's without a call.As we all know by selling used mower's does not mean you can put Bugatti's service centre on speed dial .Just my 5cents worth.also in my opinion the valve spring compressor is well worth the money you will own it for ever.