After 43 years Great Grandpas IH Push Mower Runs Again

[IHhogfarmer]

 

Long post but very meaningful to me!

Seven years ago I brought home this Lawnboy built International push mower that my Great Grandpa bought new. It’s a model 3323 built in 1973 and 1974, he would have bought it around then from the IH dealer about 30 miles from me. These IH version mowers are hard to find and this one has electric start because great grandpa was tired of pulling a rope as my great uncle tells me. The ones with electric start are very hard to come by. This mower was used on the farm through the 1979 mowing season as my great grandparents moved to town in early 1980 and the mower was parked in the hog shed. That’s when great uncle moved onto the farm. I brought it home during wheat harvest of 2015 and tried to work on it off and on up until last summer when I really started making progress on it. 

This June I found a Lawnboy parts mower at the scrap yard, I took off about every interchangeable part and kept it for my mower. Since it always sat inside the engine was good and it still had compression then I found it had spark. Having gone through the carb which was good, I then took the muffler off this summer and cleaned that and the exhaust ports. The muffler is under the deck. I put it all back together and it ran on its own power for the first time on July 17th, 2022, seven years to the day since I brought it home. I later had to work on the throttle so I took the flywheel off and adjusted the plate that rests on the governor. I was also very fortune to get some original literature on eBay and a NOS Lawnboy grass bag that I found locally at a parts store, it was in a back room with serval other NOS Lawnboy parts. 

This was a huge accomplishment to me in honor of my great grandpa who passed in ’86 and my goal was to get it running good before I went to college which I was able to do. I have always wanted something mechanical that one of my great grandfathers bought new and have it running and this is the only thing I have that was one of theirs.

On the project side of the forum I’ll post some pics and comments going through the fix up. 
 

Here is the first picture I have of it when it was in the hog shed. It was also taken on July 17th. Notice a lot of the plastic top was still in tack.

 

This was a few years ago with my other IH mower. It’s a 3331 I believe. 

Here is the parts machine, it was an 8237.

 

I went up to the neighbors and he helped me get the muffler off mine. He had an IH screwdriver that he gave to me.

 

Here is a pic of my IH fleet.

 

 

I was really happy to get this grass bag!

 

Here is a manual I found printed in December of 1973 and a brochure printed in January 1974. 

[IHhogfarmer]

Here are a couple videos and hopefully they work. This is a 2 stroke engine so it’s kind of a loud machine but it’s fun to run. It has two throttle settings “light” and “normal.” It mows good.

 

[Rawleigh99]

I overhauled a 3057 that has been my dad's this Spring.  It runs good, but it needs a gas cap.  Parts are hard to find.  I had to cut down and balance a blade for it.  I don't have many pictures.  Just one of the carb and the tag.  Good mower.  I use it weekly now.

 

 

[Jacka]

Really awesome, Your great grandfather is certainly proud. 

[IHhogfarmer]

24 minutes ago, Rawleigh99 said:

I overhauled a 3057 that has been my dad's this Spring.  It runs good, but it needs a gas cap.  Parts are hard to find.  I had to cut down and balance a blade for it.  I don't have many pictures.  Just one of the carb and the tag.  Good mower.  I use it weekly now.

I kept the gas cap off mine. Where I got the bag there were a couple NOS plastic tops too.

[Binderoid]

You still able to get a ni-cad battery?

[IHhogfarmer]

59 minutes ago, Binderoid said:

You still able to get a ni-cad battery?

The original battery is still with it but I don’t really have a picture of it. I doubt I can get one still.

[vtfireman85]

Mighty cool. Looks like quite a collection you have going. Keep your eyes peeled and you will probably find a cowling too. 

[iowaboy1965]

Cool story! Even cooler that you got it running again and we're able to find parts and manuals for it. 

When my grandparents moved to town they had a lawn boy electric start self propelled model at one point. Not sure what ever happened to it. They bought it new.

[IHhogfarmer]

1 hour ago, vtfireman85 said:

Mighty cool. Looks like quite a collection you have going. Keep your eyes peeled and you will probably find a cowling too. 

Those tops of course aren’t made anymore. So it’s mighty hard to find one. I will say that the one I have is the worst one I’ve ever seen. Every other I’ve seen is pretty much complete. 

[Captian Kirk]

It might be a long shot, but you might be able to 3d print a top for it.

[Diesel Doctor]

16 hours ago, IHhogfarmer said:

The original battery is still with it but I don’t really have a picture of it. I doubt I can get one still.

You may be surprised.

Try Batteries Plus or Ebay.

Give it a try.

Glad to see you are keeping IH alive.

[IHhogfarmer]

2 hours ago, Diesel Doctor said:

You may be surprised.

Try Batteries Plus or Ebay.

Give it a try.

Glad to see you are keeping IH alive.

I asked about it once at an Auto Parts store in town but they seemed to think that it was non existent another said to bring it in sometime and they can see. That’s about all the time I’ve spent in looking for a battery so far. Now that I’m in Texas for school it will have to be on hold for a little bit.

3 hours ago, Captian Kirk said:

It might be a long shot, but you might be able to 3d print a top for it.

I have no skill with 3D printing but from what I see on what you can do it may be possible. I don’t mind keeping this one the way it is because it’s original and it was my great grandpas. If it was just any other one I would want a new top more, but maybe someday if I find one I will get it. 

[Lars (midessa)]

I have my Grandpa’s Hahn Eclipse 200, which supposedly is identical to the Allis Chalmers Mo-bee.  The drive is complete, but worn out, blades are no longer available.

[fudwayne]

I have two 4 cycle and two-2 cycle plus a few parts mowers. good mowers in their days

[Lars (midessa)]

I’d like to find a good running push lawn mower, 2 cycle engine. Nothing like the smell of a 2 cycle engine mixed a bit rich w/ Marvel Mystery Oil 

[iowaboy1965]

12 hours ago, Lars (midessa) said:

I’d like to find a good running push lawn mower, 2 cycle engine. Nothing like the smell of a 2 cycle engine mixed a bit rich w/ Marvel Mystery Oil 

Egads the environmental horrors!!!!!! 🤯😆😆😆😆

[Diesel Doctor]

On 8/30/2022 at 7:56 AM, iowaboy1965 said:

Egads the environmental horrors!!!!!! 🤯😆😆😆😆

Yea, it is great ain't it?

[Rawleigh99]

IHHog:  What does your manual say the no load RPM ought to be?  I found a cheap clamp on tach on Amazon for $20 bucks so i can tune my two strokes now!  I don't have any manuals and just went by ear.  Thanks.

[IHhogfarmer]

On 9/13/2022 at 4:09 PM, Rawleigh99 said:

IHHog:  What does your manual say the no load RPM ought to be?  I found a cheap clamp on tach on Amazon for $20 bucks so i can tune my two strokes now!  I don't have any manuals and just went by ear.  Thanks.

I don’t remember if the manual says it or not. 

Here is a video that helped me get the governor fixed on mine. I can’t remember what the video said but I think it’s 2800-3200 rpm’s is ideal. Good luck hope this helps!

 

[Rawleigh99]

Thanks.  I am sure it will.  He says 3200 rpm.

[IHhogfarmer]

 A bit of an update from working on great-grandpas 1973/74 International 3323 push mower with electric start: 

I visited the dealer building where he bought it new. My understanding is the IH dealer was in the older building in the forefront, then in later years as a dealer they moved to the blonde brick building. I think they are both connected a doorway tho. My plan is to take the mower to the dealer building and take a pic. Now that I’m back in Texas for college it won’t get done next summer.

I found a fiberglass engine top!! It came from a guy in Indiana that I found at RPRU in June. After confirming he had one I started the mower on July 4th and mowed with it for a few minutes. Prior to this it hadn’t ran since last August. 

After I got the top and the mulch plate from Indiana I began making things look as best I could. The bagger chute and mulch plate were both green. I did not use Cub Cadet Yellow but just matched it up best I could. I cleaned the top a little and cleaned out the gas tank. Finally I cleaned the deck of the mower and used steel wool to clean up the chrome handles. So now it was looking pretty good.

After all that I started it on July 27th…… and it didn’t start. After talking with a few experts of the Lawnboy’s on FB it was decided I had a fuel issue so I went through and cleaned the carb. Finally, on August 15th (stayed busy with other things) it started. I was so thrilled to have it run as a complete and presentable looking unit. It mows great and is pretty fun to run. I mulched a little with it and filled a full bag. It ran good but I’m not convinced my fuel issue is totally taken care of when starting. I’ll have to refine it. Anyhow here are pictures and videos.

 

[IHhogfarmer]

 

[vtfireman85]

It looks great, and it looks like it mows great too! 

[KWRB]

That one on the right, your IH mower with the smaller engine of the two mounted on it. Where did you pick that up?

I saved one of those from a scrapper once and sold it at the Bloomsburg PA RPRU after I couldn't find another one like it or any info on it.