OMC built Lawn Boy Mowers

[Mumbles]

You must mean one of these. It’s an Iron Horse.

[crosbyman]

Snowblowers are devices to blow your driveway snow onto the curb so the city can pick t up and then raise your taxes due to the high cost of snow removal

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[John Schubert]

The 1871 snowblower was actually built by the Gilson Bros Company in Plymouth, WI, later purchased by OMC/Lawn-Boy. It used surplus "D" engines with a goose neck adaptor for the float carb as the engine mounted side ways for the drive end of the crank to be horizontal. I was project manager for the project as well as Lawn-Boy Service Mgr.They were very difficult to start with a primer & if you don’t have the feel when a 2 stroke is going to start, they didn’t. I went out to many retailers who had returned product, but I could start them, most of the time. Sales dropped dramatically & the inventory was sold to a surplus guy, who couldn’t sell them. Major law suit was filed. The huge stack of warranty claims in the court room spelled DOOM. The interesting thing about the Gilson design was the chute that channeled the discharged snow & the spiral auger both patented by Gilson. That became property of Lawn-Boy & then again by Toro after they purchased Lawn-Boy & both features were adapted to their single stage models.

[The Boat House]

Very interesting John. Thanks for responding.
Using the electric starter this one starts right up
at half choke and a couple shots with the primer.
It starts a full choke but floods out if you don’t
back if off quickly. While searching I came across
these. The one on top is in running condition but
if we start getting that much snow I’m moving.
Obviously OSHA would have a problem with these.

My neighbor plows me out.
The Toro gets what he can’t and what drifts back in.

I’m lucky out here. DOT will come back and move
most of what they push in the drive.
Not that many people so they have the time.
The Toro can handle the rest.

[fleetwin]

Hey, that thing is too nice to mess up with grass and dog crap!

[fleetwin]

OK, so John is saying that lawnboy had the original design for the paddle blower, then Toro bought/stole it. Toro opted for the Tecumseh two stroke engines though.

[slim60]

When I was seven my dad let me mow the lawn for a quarter. That and four cents would buy a model plane. Then he bought a four stoke mower and the Lawn Boy went into service at the cottage with the ’55 Fleetwin. A few years later my sister ran it on straight gas and burned it up. I brought it home and tore it down to find a melted piston.

[The Boat House]

quote fleetwin:

OK, so John is saying that lawnboy had the original design for the paddle blower, then Toro bought/stole it. Toro opted for the Tecumseh two stroke engines though.

How did you get there?

You’ve been watching too much Fox News.

Here is what John wrote-

"Gilson design" was the chute that channeled the discharged snow & the spiral auger both patented by Gilson. "That became property of Lawn-Boy & then again by Toro"
"after they purchased Lawn-Boy" & both features were adapted to their single stage models.

No stealing.

[fleetwin]

thanks for the reading lesson

[billy-j]

The BLACK Lawn boy of death! But that tall grass does not look like it’s afraid of it. Bill,

[Author]

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