Fix Up : Great Grandpa’s IH 3323 Push Mower

[IHhogfarmer]

This is a model 3323 International Push Mower built by Lawnboy. This model in particular was built in 1973 and 1974. It has a 3.5 HP engine built by Outboard Marine CORP. It’s a 2 cycle engine and this model has electric start. The IH version of these Lawnboys are hard to find and to find one with electric start is even harder.

Great Grandpa bought this mower new from the IH Dealer in Akron, CO between ‘73-‘75  and he wanted one with the electric start. It was used on the farm through 1979 when it was parked in the hog shed for the next 36 years. I brought it home in 2015. Really up until the summer of 2021 I didn’t make a whole lot of progress working on it because….. parts are hard to find and I knew hardly anything about these mowers so these pictures are from past years just taking it apart and learning about it. 
 

July 18th, 2015 This was the day after I brought it home. Because it sat inside all those years the engine was free and it still had compression. 

 

These were taken about a year later. 

 

The rope start is up front with IH600E on it which is the engine model. The black piece to the right is the starter for the electric start. There is no on off switch on this model because the electric start key is what does that. 

 

The carb is rather simple. You can see the set screw up towards the front and the linkage going up into the engine is the governor. 

 

Here is looking into the electric start so you can see the ignition and all wires

[IHhogfarmer]

Here are some pictures of the carburetor, most work was done to it in the summer of 2021. All ports were cleaned and it was in good overall shape. No gunk anywhere. 

 

 

[IHhogfarmer]

More photos.

These here are called Reed valves. They face into the crankcase and draw air into the carb. Over time they bend a little and have to be flipped to the other side to seal against the carb casting. 

Here is before and after. They are now sealed a lot better. 

 

Here is looking into the crankcase with the carb off.

[bitty]

Really neat. Pretty sure we had one back in the day, I'll ask my uncle 

[IHhogfarmer]

Nothing really happened for the next year because I needed parts for the rope start and it didn’t have enough tension because the spring inside it came out on me once. The way it works is there is a spring between two plates and that what recoils the rope. Early this June I went out to the scrap yard looking for a couple pickup parts and found this Lawnboy 8237 on the side of one pile. It was just what I needed so I got it for $15!

On mine I had gotten the rope start fixed once. Well it came apart on me again earlier this year and fortunately I was able to fix it myself. One side of the rope start plate has a shaft to tighten it to the engine so that shaft I put on a Vice and spun the spring around and around and out of luck was able to get the cover on it. It was tough. 

I took about every interchangeable part plus a couple others off the 8237 and kept them. This unit is self propelled that is what the long rod is on the side of the handle and what the top handle is in the picture. 

 

[IHhogfarmer]

Now that I had the rope start with proper tension I figured my chances of getting it to start increased because I could now properly start it. However it still did not start but I did have a pop. I found last summer it did have spark and I replaced the plug. The next step with the help of a couple guys that knew these mowers better than me I had to pull the muffler off to clean the carbon out. All the while taking parts of the other machine such as the carburetor here.
 

Since the muffler is under the deck it required me to remove a plate on the shaft which was stuck pretty good. The plate is what the blade adapter and then the blade bolt to. I took it to the neighbors and he helped me get it off. It is tapered on the shaft, no key tho. This was a big step and as it turned out what I need to work on to get it running. 

 

The IH screwdriver the neighbor gave me!

 

The muffler comes apart in two half's. There are then three ports for the exhaust. 

[IHhogfarmer]

Next came pulling the engine off and the half of the muffler bolted to the deck. Then cleaning the muffler and exhaust ports. To clean the muffler I used Brake Clean and my parts washer. For the ports the carbon was hard so I used “dentist” tools I guess you could call them, and a wire brush.

 

You can see the three ports here and 2 of three are clogged. 

 

I needed something to hold the engine up while I cleaned the ports. This is my workbench for mowers so I drilled a hole in the wood stake that’s screwed down. Worked good. 

 

[IHhogfarmer]

At this point I’m working on the mower during off days of helping with wheat harvest. Ports and muffler are a cleaned up. Looked pretty good. 

 

 

Here the half of the muffler is bolted back on the deck. 

 

 

All buttoned up. 

 

Had to do a little work for the electric start. One wire needed repaired. 

[IHhogfarmer]

I knew that I could have mower done and ready for a start exactly seven years since I got it (my mind just makes connections that way). So Sunday July 17th, 2022 I tried my luck and it ran on its own power!! There should have been a video of my after starting it. I could hardly believe it. It was loud which is what I expected seeing videos of them running but the throttle wasn’t totally right. Then it was a number of days before I ran it again. 

I wanted to mow with it but I didn’t have a bag or a mulching plate. On July 29th I had the idea of using a plastic trash bag and tie it to the chute. It actually worked well until the bag got to heavy and fell through from the hook. The mower blew the bag up like a blimp.

 

[IHhogfarmer]

August 1st I went to a local parts store that has lawn and garden stuff too see if they had at least a Lawnboy bag or mulch plate. In a back room they had several NOS Lawnboy parts. No mulch plate but I found this brand new bag still in the package that was just what I needed. I bought it and used it that next night but the mower quit after one pass in the yard because the throttle and governor needed attention. 

 

[IHhogfarmer]

After county fair I took the flywheel off to see what the throttle assembly was like. With the help of a guy i found a video of fixing it so I got enough confidence to look into mine. This works by an “arm” or “plate” resting on the governor rod you see coming up through the motor casting. On the shaft there is a collar with weights and by centrifugal force when the engine starts the weights fly out and allow the governor to adjust to the right position on the light or normal position by mowing that plate up and down by the throttle know on the back of the engine. 

 

The shaft is tapered with a key. When the flywheel is on the shaft it pushed down on the whole throttle assembly. 

You can see the governor is in a 12 o’clock position which means the arm needs to be bent down because overtime it wears.  You do this by using pliers so it rests in a 11 o’clock position. 

You can now see the plate rests right the linkage but presses down so the governor is in a 11 o’clock position. When its running the governor goes to an 8 o’clock position

[IHhogfarmer]

At this point its like a week or less out from me leaving home for college so I had to get it done. I put the flywheel back on then took the bottom half of the muffler off to examine tightness of bolts since I had it running. Everything buttoned up and it started after a few pulls and ran great. This was August 15th and I mowed with it again August 17th and left the next day for college. It means the world to me I got this running and I wish great grandpa Wes could be here to see it! 

 

Here is the International 3323 along with my 1992 GMC 1500 Sierra, single cab, long bed which I love!

[IHhogfarmer]

And finally it isn’t complete without some literature. Here is a manual printed in December 1973 and a brochure printed in January 1974. Both came from eBay.

Apparently July 17th is a special date for this mower. First picture I ever took of it was July 17th, 2013 still at the farm, I brought it home July 17th, 2015, and ran it for the first time July 17th, 2022. 

I know this thread is a lot of content but I hope you guys enjoy looking through it and hopefully it will help someone with their International push mower because there isn’t a lot of info out there for them.

 

[Alan Dinan]

https://terrehaute.craigslist.org/grd/d/brazil-lawn-boy-cycle-mowers/7520804291.html

I don’t know what models cross with the IH badged mowers, but just ran across this ad on cl. If you are looking for more parts machines/complete.

[iowaboy1965]

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/905314850443639/

[IHhogfarmer]

On 9/5/2022 at 2:09 PM, Alan Dinan said:

https://terrehaute.craigslist.org/grd/d/brazil-lawn-boy-cycle-mowers/7520804291.html

I don’t know what models cross with the IH badged mowers, but just ran across this ad on cl. If you are looking for more parts machines/complete.

What I need now is a mulching plate like those ones had. Thanks. 
 

 

7 hours ago, iowaboy1965 said:

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/905314850443639/

Thanks, I saw that exact post on FB too. I had commented on that in the group that was posted in. They would be fun to fix up but I’m a little far away. 

[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]

And finally a couple videos. 

 

[Rainman]

I think that's LB D400 model engine.

I have a LB handbook you can have, I don't have LBs anymore.

[IHhogfarmer]

5 hours ago, Rainman said:

I think that's LB D400 model engine.

I have a LB handbook you can have, I don't have LBs anymore.

Well mine is a IH600E, not sure what would all be different.