Another Survivor

[D_Mac 9,264]

.So I seen an ad on CL for what the PO thought was a 1950s Moto-Mower. No photo of it., just said it came with a snowblower. Ad said it also ran but when I called to speak with him he told me it won't start and probably needed a carb cleaning. So after our conversation I told him I wasn't interested. He was asking 300 dollars. Then he asked what I would pay. I told him I didn't want to insult him and we would be to far apart. So then he says he just wants it gone make an offer. So I drove the 45 mins to get it. I'm pretty happy about it. The owner couldn't have been nicer. While I was there he asked if I wanted some 5 lug rims. Not sure of the sizes but one really wide set and one set narrow. After it was loaded he asked if I wanted a six pack of hard cider. He works for the place that makes it

 Of course I said " sureeeee " . Well he gave me a case. Drinking one now and let me tell ya, strong stuff. So I get the tractor home and off the truck. It is a cool looking little tractor. 8 hp kohler, 4 speed. Has a new battery I start cranking it over nothing. Squirt of SF. Nothing. Check for spark and I notice the plug wire is pretty shady. The coil is mounted on the backside of the grill.  So when you open and close the hood the wire bends and stretches. So I push both ends on tight, turn the key......... fired right up. Weeeeeee. It has levers for throttle and choke. Pushing down on the lever for full throttle, pushing it up for idle. So I sit on it, seat is really close to steering wheel. Not a fan of the seat on it, but I get on and put it into what I think is first gear, throttle down to idle and let go of the clutch. Well it lifted the front wheels off the ground and I was off and running ! Going to have to figure out how to straighten the front wheels.one is a little out of wack. Anyways I know it's missing some sheet metal but it's a cool machine. Looking on the internet I find really little about them. From what I seen it's a 1964 - 65. Headlights work. Has a really cool key. Never seen one like it. Steering wheel cap is like brand new. Sometime in it's life it was repainted poorly. Let me know what you guys think. Anyone have one ? Any chances of me finding the missing sheet metal?

 

 

Edited May 4 by D_Mac

[D_Mac 9,264]

Running trying to date the engine by serial number from the tag but I must have wrong information on dating . Curious to know if it is possibly original engine. It's also on rubber mounts.

Edited May 4 by D_Mac

[oliver2-44 10,454]

There is a Facebook moto mower group. A guy on there David Brown was making the battery box cover. The guard over the belts on the right side is very hard to find. 

[D_Mac 9,264]

Messed around with the Moto yesterday. Got the blower attached but not completely.  Didn't want to crawl around in the wet grass as it was raining all day. Looks pretty menacing. Safty wasn't even an after thought back then. It ran good all day then I couldn't keep it running. Maybe sucked up some crud in the gas. New carb or a cleaning in its future. Also going to need tubes for the front tires. One goes flat overnight. 

[peter lena 9,139]

@ D- MAC .  nice pick up on that  , would take advantage of its  simplicity  / durability , would  functional detail in  as you go , improve any movement point , being a lubrication addict  , along with enhancing   anything , engine sounds very good , like a seperate gallon of heavily treated fuel , drop carb bowl , bet that blower would really respond  to any help , especially look at  idler pulley drive area , those pulleys  typically  drag on  movement  , slow it down . my own opinion  keep it as is , make it solid / reliable , maybe a snow slider gasket, under the blower , chute base mount , silicone spray  , very smooth / easy . get those drive line lubricants changed , glad for you , pete 

[D_Mac 9,264]

Yeah going to focus on the tractor first before the blower. Just got it Saturday so it's all new to me. Might take it to a friend's house to get it indoors for a good look over. 

[D_Mac 9,264]

Starting to think that maybe it is the coil. Got home from work today and it fired right up and was running good. Checked to make sure gas cap was vented and it was so I just let in run in the driveway. After about 15 mins the same thing. Started sputtering out, couldn't keep it running. Couple hours later fired right up fine again. Was raining out so I just shut it off and went inside. Maybe not a carb issue after all. 

[953 nut 58,513]

38 minutes ago, D_Mac said:

Starting to think that maybe it is the coil. Got home from work today and it fired right up and was running good. Checked to make sure gas cap was vented and it was so I just let in run in the driveway. After about 15 mins the same thing. Started sputtering out, couldn't keep it running. Couple hours later fired right up fine again. Was raining out so I just shut it off and went inside. Maybe not a carb issue after all. 

 

        Could be the condenser. Remove the condenser wire from the coil and see if it will run longer. 

If you want to test the coil here is some information @Save Old Iron posted years ago.

 

There are three main types of coils that find their way into the points-based tractors,

 

1. THE CORRECT COIL = this coil has a “internal resistor" within the coil body that restricts the amount of current that flows thru the points and coil combo. The internal primary resistance of this type coil can be measured with a multimeter at about 3 - 4 ohms. If 12 volts powers a 4-ohm resistance, 3 amps flows and that equates to about 36 watts of power - warm but not hot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. INCORRECT COIL - REQUIRES EXTERNAL RESISTOR - this look alike is visually identical to the correct coil but its internal wiring can overheat if an "external resistor" is not used in series with the coil. The primary resistance of this coil will be in the 1 - 2-ohm range. The external resistor accounts for another 2 ohms. Properly configured, this combo is the equivalent of the 4 ohm internal resistor coil discussed above.

 

If this coil is used alone, the electrical system will see the lower resistance and double the current flowing thru the coil and points. The result is over-heating the coil and premature eroding away the point's contacts.

 

12 volts powering a 1.5 ohm circuit equals 8 amps of current flowing and generating nearly 100 watts of heat and energy. We are now seeing the coil get hot.

 

 

 

3. ELECTRONIC IGNITION COILS - these are the high energy bad boys of the ignition world and demand gigantic gulps of current to operate as intended. They will fry points within minutes. The primary resistance of this style coil is usually well under 1 ohm and current draw can be near 20 amps. These coils are fine if you drive them with electronic ignition modules. They will fry GT wiring very quicky. 20 amps of current flowing thru this circuit generates over 200 watts of power. Wires melt, points vaporize.

 

Measure your primary ignition coil resistance. Anything less than 3 ohms and you have either a shorted coil or an incorrect coil on the tractor. A correct coil should be labeled "12 volts" . If you see "external resistor required" on the coil or the coil looks like it came out of a spaceship, you have the wrong coil.

 

 

[D_Mac 9,264]

I will look into sometime this week. I have another coil here somewhere. Of course I don't know if it's good or not. May even have a condenser here too. I need to move it somewhere else on the tractor. It's mounted to the grill so when you open and close the hood it and it's wires move. Stupid design. Hope I can find a stationary place for it. You can see in this photo where it is mounted.

Edited May 6 by D_Mac

[D_Mac 9,264]

After work today I repositioned the coil and condenser. I don't know how it ended up on the grill but I think it is where it should be now. Waiting on the new plug wire I ordered. Once I get the new wire I will see what's wrong. Right now just the vibration of the engine on the rubber mount shakes the wire off the spark plug. Since the paint job is sooooo bad I just might paint it back to it's original color of orange. 

Edited May 6 by D_Mac

[953 nut 58,513]

On 5/6/2025 at 7:02 PM, D_Mac said:

I just might paint it back to it's original color of orange. 

Orange with a little less yellow would be better,                   You know,     RED

[D_Mac 9,264]

Funny story. So I ran across this on Ebay. Moto Mower Service Manual. Purchased it and was really excited about having an original shop service manual for my new to me Moto Mower. It came in the mail yesterday and I was surprised at how thick and heavy the box was. Opened up the box and there on the cover the Moto Mower Log. Book was big and thick like an old phone book, remember them? The smell of a 60s shop manual coming out the box. Mmmmmmm sweet. I start thumbing through the pages....... what the heck? Look what was inside. Not a service manual for 60s Moto Mower but a service manual for 60s Mercruiser marine engines ! Ughhhhh. Sent a message to the seller asking if they ever read what was inside the manual. Clearly the didn't. Refunded my money and told me to keep it. Just goes to show ya...... never judge a book by its cover !

Edited May 10 by D_Mac

[D_Mac 9,264]

Plug wire came today. Seems to run better. Hate these rubber mounts.

[buckeyes 219]

Sounds fantastic! Love the patina on those old machines! Beautiful!

[D_Mac 9,264]

Today I changed the back rims and tires on the Ole Moto. NOS 6x12s. @squonk remember these? I will paint the fronts to match. Waiting on tubes for them. I'll paint them when I take tires off. Not sure I lime the look of these skinny tires but they are on there now.

[squonk 42,934]

Skinny tires take up less room. Might cause you to hang on to it for an extra day! 

[D_Mac 9,264]

 

3 hours ago, squonk said:

Skinny tires take up less room. Might cause you to hang on to it for an extra day! 

This one might be a keeper. Maybe. I got one ready to drop off at your place. Let's talk. I had a half a can of red spray paint and some tan so I decided to paint the rear fenders. Original color is supposed to be orange but sometime in the last 60 years someone painted the hood red, rear fenders and center column were silver.. Engine is a mixture of all 3 colors. Looks better like this until I decide what to do with it. Not going to try and paint the snowblower.

Edited May 10 by D_Mac