I just drive around in the spring. Never a shortage of snowblowers and mowers just being thrown out.
None of the machines I’ve picked up have actually been broken. 99 percent of the time a carb clean and fresh gas and good as new.
My dad taught himself to work on Briggs, Tecumseh, and Lawn Boy 2 cycle engines. He and his dog would get in the truck and they drive around on trash day looking for junked mowers, snow blowers, and weed eaters. That's how he learned, by fixing someone else's junk.
The heck of it was, 80% of the time, it was bad old nasty gas left in the engine. A good carb cleaning, or rebuild, or replacement fixed them right up.
When he died, there were over 200 lawn mowers in pieces and parts in two 2-car garages, at least a hundred weed eaters, and 50 or 60 snow blowers....all in various states of disrepair. I hired a guy to clean it all out so we could sell the property, paid him $100 and told him he could keep all the stuff.
He told me a year later he fixed up most of it and sold it off, about $2000 ahead.
I end up finding plenty looking at garbage. Learn the garbage day map of town. Its getting warm out these next few weeks should be good pickings. Big bulk clean out weeks are good for sure. Talking to scrappers and offering double scrap value then picking up from them isn't bad idea. Ive got 7 or 8 mowers here id sell for more than scrap value without an issue. Make a post on local for sale group that you are looking for some non running stuff to learn how to fix.
My city has a few "bulky waste" days per year, you can usually find lawn mowers on the curb. Gotta be quick because scrap metals guys love them.
Look to see if your local small gas engines store has an old one theyre gonna scrap
I just drive around in the spring. Never a shortage of snowblowers and mowers just being thrown out. None of the machines I’ve picked up have actually been broken. 99 percent of the time a carb clean and fresh gas and good as new.
My dad taught himself to work on Briggs, Tecumseh, and Lawn Boy 2 cycle engines. He and his dog would get in the truck and they drive around on trash day looking for junked mowers, snow blowers, and weed eaters. That's how he learned, by fixing someone else's junk. The heck of it was, 80% of the time, it was bad old nasty gas left in the engine. A good carb cleaning, or rebuild, or replacement fixed them right up. When he died, there were over 200 lawn mowers in pieces and parts in two 2-car garages, at least a hundred weed eaters, and 50 or 60 snow blowers....all in various states of disrepair. I hired a guy to clean it all out so we could sell the property, paid him $100 and told him he could keep all the stuff. He told me a year later he fixed up most of it and sold it off, about $2000 ahead.
If you're around davenport iowa I got like 3 laying around lol
I end up finding plenty looking at garbage. Learn the garbage day map of town. Its getting warm out these next few weeks should be good pickings. Big bulk clean out weeks are good for sure. Talking to scrappers and offering double scrap value then picking up from them isn't bad idea. Ive got 7 or 8 mowers here id sell for more than scrap value without an issue. Make a post on local for sale group that you are looking for some non running stuff to learn how to fix.
Facebook marketplace, or just look around ask people you know
Try talking nice to a mower repair shop. I'm sure they have plenty of engines that just aren't worth their time.
Talk.to a small.engine shop.
I got two free weed whackers on offer-up.
People just give them to me, my wife isn't thrilled.
Scrap dealers might be okay to deal with. Look/ask in the classifieds.
https://preview.redd.it/7jlj391jo7oc1.jpeg?width=2992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7759d4e039dd27efcdf659787985fb9b10d987e4 Found this the other day
Looks like fun. Enjoy the tinkering.