Vintage Family Heirloom Lawn Boy Mower

Family heirlooms are great to have. Especially when they come from a close family member. In my case, I inherited my dad's vintage 1980 R7070 Lawn Boy 2-stroke walk behind mower. It predates the Ralph Nader safety equipment. It does not have the cutoff bar that makes the engine shut off when you to walk away from it. Basically, it consists of a deck, engine, wheels, and handle. I've been told that this model is a classic mower that will never die. This mower has had the wheels replaced numerous times, and the coil pack a couple of times. Usually, that is the only thing that wears out on them.

Anyone with a sharp eye might notice an extra piece at the base of the handle, near the back right wheel. Yes, that is a vice grip. Sadly, I had a slight failure of the handle bracket due to age and use while mowing the lawn yesterday. Without this extra equipment, I wouldn't have been able to finish mowing the lawn.

Fortunately, Ebay came to the rescue with a used replacement in good condition as this part is no longer in production or available through the normal mower part outlets. $20 later and I should have the replacement later in the week.

I think $20 is better than buying a new mower any day.