1978 Flymo DXL Lawnmower Project

Spring is here, the grass is growing, so it's time to get the lawnmower out! I dug the old 1978 Flymo out to get the grass cut on Friday morning, but couldnt get her started so decided it was time for a project. Here's a bit of back-story: My Granda bought this lawnmower for £2.50 and later gave it to me. It had a 3.5hp briggs with the vertical pull start. A few years past, and the engine got sent to the scrap yard as it had a serious big end knock and the recoil was destoryed. It did run though, and in hindsight I shouldnt have thrown it away. A wee while after that, I decided to get it back up and running again so I went to my local lawnmower repair shop and bought a 2002 3.75hp briggs. It was basically the block, nothing else. Eventually, I got it all sorted out but it burned oil so I returned it to storage. It had been cutting the grass until the winter of last year, so when I got it out last Friday, I expected it to go. It wasnt until that afternoon that it was running and cutting the grass. Like I said, the smoke was awful. Here's some pictures:
As you can see, it's a real mix-mash of different engines I had laying around. There's no recoil, you just wrap some rope around the starter cup and pull. The shroud and exhaust are from an 85 3.5hp briggs and the carb is from the original engine out of the mower. The plan is to get a different engine for it, hopefully a period correct one as they are much better ( or atleast a new carb setup) and fab up a grass box out of 1/2" angle. This is what she should look like,
Let me know what you think!

Looks cooler than any push mower I've ever seen around here. Interesting deck. Aluminum right?

Yeah it's quite cool. The deck is aluminum

Cool little project you got. I got one almost similar but it's a snapper, even with an aluminum deck. That deck will last forever. I don't know how many steel decks I went through before I got my snapper. Just need to keep throwing engines on it and it's like new, LOL. Which reminds me, I need a new motor for mine too. Mine has a bent crank and a tick. I just have to build one up, I got like 3 of those motors in my basement, LOL.

Thanks. Those decks are great. this is the second engine that I've got in this lawnmower. I'm thinking of doing a paint job on her when I get another engine or rebuild the one I have. Got any pics of the Snapper?

I got a Flymow.
Havnt had it running yet, Id kinda like to restore it.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f84/18/34/73/21/pictur10.jpg

Neat. That engine is the exact same as the original one that was in my DXL.

Didn't flymo make some of those hover style push mowers too?

Yeah Flymo did make those hover mowers. TheBeal's is one of them. I got a new heart for this thing yesterday, a 1985 Briggs 3.5hp engine for 40 quid. You boys would probably think that that is very expensive but it came from the local lawnmower repair centre and comes with a new plug, oil and starter rope and was labled 'good'. It has a modern primer carb but I think I might build up an automatic choke one for it (I have 2 laying around). Will get some pics tommorow. The problem I have is the blade adapter. The engine came with a really long shaft so I cut it down to 35mm which was the size of the previous engines shaft. I then tried fitting the adapter but it was really stiff and needed hammering on. Once it was on, I discovered that there was no threads in the shaft, only a hole. But now, I cant get the adapter back off again. I think it was some rust on the shaft that is making it stick. I've tried my jaw puller but it doesnt work either. Any suggestions? BTW I did spray some Carb cleaner down the throat and pulled the cord just to see if I could get anything and I did get a cough but she nearly pulled my arm off without the blade on.

MatthewD wrote:

Thanks. Those decks are great. this is the second engine that I've got in this lawnmower. I'm thinking of doing a paint job on her when I get another engine or rebuild the one I have. Got any pics of the Snapper?

I don't have any pics but did do a video on it, on my channel.



I do a mod on the blades of my push mower and riding mower. After the mod on the blades, they literally vacuum the grass. been running this setup for 2 seasons now with no problems.

Nice! Do you know what age she is?

Sorry, don't know the year it was made but I get a late 70's or early 80's vibe from it. Original motor I think. My sister gave it to me because she couldn't pull the string to start it. LOL. She bought an electric start.

Rightso finally got this thing going, heli coiled the crank and got the blade on. The engine runs okay-ish but needs a really strong pull to get started and when it runs it never stays steady and it won't idle. It has a modern primer carb on it but I'm gonna try to build up an automatic choke one for it. And prancstaman, just watched your video about the blade modification and I think I'm going to try that out. BTW if that engine on your snapper is the original one then look on the exhaust side of the shroud and you will see 3 sets of numbers, the first 2 digits of the last set of numbers is the year it was made.

Ok, thanks, I'll look. I put another engine on it already. A 5 hp that I built up from 2 different motors. I still got the original one too.