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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

looking for some information on a flymo

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hi looking for some information on this flymo as i cannot work out a model number,a recent replacement of old and damaged containers used as sheds by my company yeilded a lot of old eqipment brought up from a previos contract that has been shoved out of the way in garden tool limbo and i have been going though it to determine what is useable but cannot attempt repairs without knowing what i am trying to fix

thanks

wristpin Tue, 04/01/2022

One of the issues with an old Flymo is that as presented it may not look as it did when it left the factory as it was easy to keep a machine in service by swapping damaged hoods and engines etc. Basically yours is an L38. Clues on yours are the “ bow legged” handle bars and screwed on handle bar brackets  - rather than ones moulded into the hood. A view from behind under the fuel tank showing the air filter would help - always assuming that no one substituted a  boxy  Turbocleaner for an original scoop type. 

The engine may still have its ID tag attached under one of the reed plate bolts between the back of the crank case and the carburettor . The engine is of Tecumseh origin but may be made under licence by Aspera or Tecnamotor.  

The good news is that there are plenty of parts around and plenty of “cut and shut” opportunities.

A good start will be to separate the engine from the deck , remove the exhaust muffler and have a look through the ports at the condition of the piston and bore. Nice loose rings and no scores in the bore , it has the makings. 

darenthgrounds Tue, 04/01/2022

there is a steel tag on the engine with a code on it i have had no luck finding any information via google i will post here at some point this week would be nice to get this running 

wristpin Fri, 14/01/2022

That’s the engine sorted, an AV520 with a Turbocleaner air cleaner. By the looks , it’s all fairly standard but it has a modification in the starter department. Originally it had a side mounted, pull up recoil starter - the clue being the angled guard plate clamped between the engine and the deck visible on the right of your image viewed from the rear. Another clue is the vacant bracket on the right of the engine cowling .   You should find teeth all round the lower circumference of the engine flywheel - they are where the side mounted starter would engage. The top starter on yours is a simple mod by just adding a cup under the flywheel retaining nut and a recoil unit using fixings in existing threaded holes in the cowling which, with the side starter, would have held a vented plastic blanking plate.

I drew a blank trying to match the hood fixings with old paper parts lists but with the AV520 info I’ll have another look.

robin coleman Sat, 15/01/2022

This machine brings back memorys of cutting the grave yard grass at our local churchyard,

robin coleman Sat, 15/01/2022

This machine brings back memorys of cutting the grave yard grass at our local churchyard,

wristpin Sat, 15/01/2022

OK, everything points to the F38 sold between1973 and 1977.Clues are the handlebars and brackets, the starter protection plate , the engine mounting plate and and the turbo engine air cleaner. Fairly sure that it would originally had a side mounted pull up recoil starter - hence the bracket on the engine cowling. For a machine of that age its in remarkably good cosmetic condition; just hope that it was not abandoned due to internal engine issues.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/90i54vliqdix6gx/Flymo%20F38%201973%20to%20197…;

darenthgrounds Thu, 20/01/2022

cleanup and lubrication,right fuel and it fired up after a dozen pulls,engine seems to be running fine after all the time in storage

just need to get new air filter and new blade(the original blade looks like a half eaten chocolate bar,its quite badly damaged,foam air filter is very grotty and disintegrating) are there other models of blade that will fit this machine? something easier to locate rather than looking for an original blade,air filter is a simple foam so i can probably mod a foam style filter from something else

wristpin Thu, 20/01/2022

The 15” blade was common to many generations of petrol Flymos and is still available.  The air filter sponge and pad are also still available. The resistance of the correct foam is matched to the correct carburettor jet ,so for trouble free running use the genuine item. 

 

darenthgrounds Thu, 03/02/2022

anyone any links to somewhere the air filters can be found?,located a "new" blade but having trouble finding the filters 

wristpin Thu, 03/02/2022

Air filter sponge and felt pad both still available from a Flymo service dealer.

Edit. Should add that the part numbers are on the Dropbox file that I posted earlier.

John.Sutherland Wed, 09/02/2022

Its always worth looking on Ebay for manuals or using Google to source a PDF copy.  Over the years I have been fortunate to find originals to accompany most of my mowers, so its worth keeping a reguar eye out.

One ebay you can save your search, if one becomes available you will be alerted which is a god send.  

Not everyone uses a straight forward discription title for their sales, you may need to play with words in your search for example -  1970's Flymo Manual, Flymo pull startmanual, Vintage flymo manual if you lack the model type.