tarafied1
Well-Known Member
I bought a John Deere riding mower (STX38) for $150 yesterday.
I didn't "need" it because I have a relatively newer Murray, read "el-cheapo" you know the brand WalMart used to sell... but it gets the job done.
However my wife loves to shop online and she found it. It has a rear bagger which we agreed would be nice with all the leaves we have to rake and bag.
So anyway, I don't know much about riding mowers. However, I have had at least 5 Murray riding mowers, all bought used (well, two were free) cuz I refuse to pay more for a mower than the cars I drive. In fact this is the most I have paid for a mower! The seller was anxious to sell but at least she was honest, she said it had carb issues and a tire that goes down and a weak battery. All true.
My Murray has new rear tires (cuz the originals were so dry rotted they came apart) and they are the same size! Some of you may remember my attempt to mount them using starter fluid... if not, it's funny now.
It also has a year old battery so I figured I could swap those but the engine is a Kohler in the Deere and a Briggs in the Murray so I couldn't "borrow" the carb from the Murray. So I needed to check out the carb situation.
The thing started and ran but seemed to rev like it was wide open no matter if the throttle is in turtle or rabbit position. The only way to slow it down is to choke it nearly to death.
So I pulled the carb off and find one of the throttle blade screws is missing and the other is loose. The throttle blade is flopping around in there and the lever on the shaft is still attached but loose as well and has no effect (spins freely). I'm guessing someone was messing with the carb at some point, had the screws out and they loosened up and it probably sucked the missing one into the engine. Its brass so probably not much damage but the throttle blade being loose probably jammed up in the bore and caused the throttle to become stuck wide open and repeated attempts to slow it down damaged the lever/shaft.
But engine doesn't smoke and it doesn't knock and the mower looks great for a 1989 mower. I figure I still got a good deal... worst case is I have to put the Briggs engine in it.
I didn't "need" it because I have a relatively newer Murray, read "el-cheapo" you know the brand WalMart used to sell... but it gets the job done.
However my wife loves to shop online and she found it. It has a rear bagger which we agreed would be nice with all the leaves we have to rake and bag.
So anyway, I don't know much about riding mowers. However, I have had at least 5 Murray riding mowers, all bought used (well, two were free) cuz I refuse to pay more for a mower than the cars I drive. In fact this is the most I have paid for a mower! The seller was anxious to sell but at least she was honest, she said it had carb issues and a tire that goes down and a weak battery. All true.
My Murray has new rear tires (cuz the originals were so dry rotted they came apart) and they are the same size! Some of you may remember my attempt to mount them using starter fluid... if not, it's funny now.
It also has a year old battery so I figured I could swap those but the engine is a Kohler in the Deere and a Briggs in the Murray so I couldn't "borrow" the carb from the Murray. So I needed to check out the carb situation.
The thing started and ran but seemed to rev like it was wide open no matter if the throttle is in turtle or rabbit position. The only way to slow it down is to choke it nearly to death.
So I pulled the carb off and find one of the throttle blade screws is missing and the other is loose. The throttle blade is flopping around in there and the lever on the shaft is still attached but loose as well and has no effect (spins freely). I'm guessing someone was messing with the carb at some point, had the screws out and they loosened up and it probably sucked the missing one into the engine. Its brass so probably not much damage but the throttle blade being loose probably jammed up in the bore and caused the throttle to become stuck wide open and repeated attempts to slow it down damaged the lever/shaft.
But engine doesn't smoke and it doesn't knock and the mower looks great for a 1989 mower. I figure I still got a good deal... worst case is I have to put the Briggs engine in it.
Last edited:
