TORO POWER HANDLE anyone? whatcha know?

[U&A]

So My father in-law and I got lucky today. Found this gem in a family barn and it hasn't been touched in who knows how long. its a free find for us and we don't have any other attachments for it as of yet. Hasn't been started and i am going to do a lot of inspection, Cleaning and needed maintenance before turning her over. The spark plug doesn't look that old. maybe 15 years. It has compression but haven't checked how much yet. I know it has to be from the mid 50's from what im finding on a quick search. I have not had time to do anything with this yet. good news it the piston is free and the gas tank looks pretty clean.

so my question is...(you probably know whats coming)

Is there any other place besides Ebay to find parts if I need them? ( obviously all of this is subjectively needed)
air filter
carb parts
bearings
clutch
pistons/rings
yada yada pretty much everything.

do a lot of you guys use the gasket material you cut yourself or high temp silicone sealant to replace the leaking OEM ones or is there a place to get kits?

any info anyone could pass along to help with the rebirth of this thing would be GREAT?

Thank you for the help/suggestions. We are so excited and feel blessed to have this thing and am looking forward to keeping it running and feeding our family as long as possible.

 

[U&A]

found this so far but the stuff they have is hardware store stuff. not helpful.

https://www.partstree.com/parts/tor...-handle-sn-8000001-8999999-1968/power-handle/

 

[U&A]

So I did find a place that can get me some parts if needed. I gave it a good initial cleaning last night and got a new plug and air filter for it. changing all the fluids next and then going to try to start it.

still,
do any of you guys know much about these things? ever used one? are they as good as the troy built tillers form its time?

EDIT: Toro got back to me and they said this one was manufactured in 1970. I didn't know they made them that long. I though they started them in 1956.

 

[LegDeLimber]

I can't tell you anything about the Toro parts of it, But watch the muffler
for any sign of it getting too hot.
i.e. looking like you put a propane torch to it.
Tecumsehs ten to burn exhaust valves and the muffler showing signs of the heat from the flame leaking past a valve, is a good indacator.
Next thing is more difficult to start when engine is warm, than when cold.
you'll notice lower compression when pulling the rope while warm
IF a valve is going.
If one is leaking, You need to catch it quick so as to not have a valve seat get too badly eroded.

As for silicone? Ehhhh, I'm in the group that don't like it.
Seems to just let oil keep oozing.
But read the manufacturers package information or check thier web site
for what the sealer is intended to be exposed to.
A lot of the silicones are labeled as not ideal for wet contact with oil.

I would strongly suggest checking/snugging the bolts of the crankcase and the cylinder head.
You can head off a fair bit of troubles just by keeping after those fasteners.
Don't forget the carburetor and manifold bolts either!

the cankcase breather should be kept clean. If clogged, it tends to cause the crankcase to hunt other places to vent.
you'll see increased oil burning and leaks as a result.
tends to pump fumes and oil into the ingniton area and foul the points.
This will cause them to burn more quickly and cause starting and running grief, plus the replacement cost and finding them for a no longer produced engine.

Tecumseh used an internal, flyweight type, governor gear in those engines.
The gear is plastic and prone to breakage. The weights break the pivot points.
When this happens, you'll notice the engine wanting to over rev and be harder to keep from bogging under load.
Bogging can also be carb/fuel troubles, but the over revving is a governor symptom.
Stop using it if you have this happen.
You'll at rick of breaking the connecting rod when over revving it.
The rod end very often pops through the side of the motor then.
ESPECIALLY if the oil is low and dirty.
Yep, catastrophic loss of your heirloom.

On the tiller foot. Always check that lube before running it.
And keep the debris off of the tine shafts
baling twine, things you tie up the bean and tomatoes, wires or even grass and vines will get under the seals and damage them.
Damaged seals leak out your lube and then your gears get trashed.
Watch for "excessive" muddy looking dirt buildup on the shafts (at the housing) This indicates oil leaking.
Same with oil and dirt at any other shafts, just watch for what is increasing fast or dribbling wet.

Wasn't meaning to sound like a doomsayer here, Just trying to think of all the little stuff that kills our machines.
And I'd hope to see your nifty old Toro keep going!
Not scrapped over a missed trouble that could be fixed.

Oh and be sure to replace that fuel line!!!
Running behind the air shroud makes it really get hot andprone to cracking.
Old age does it also.
easist way is a tight fitting piece of wood or metal rod/tubing
slipped into the ends of the old hose and the new one.
First cut off about 3/4~1" of the old hose to get an unstretched fit on the bolt of dowel , Then slip slip you connector into both hoses and while gently pushing the new one, lightly work the old one out.
Dont try to just pull the old hose, you'll pull it loose from the new one.
Rats.
Then you get to take all of the parts off to get in there and put the new fuel line in.

 

[U&A]

Thanks for all the advice. So far iv cleanded the exteriour very well befor doing anything. Changed all the fluids (3 places) gear box off of drive belt had signs of water in the oil, replaced spark plug and air filter, oiled all piviting and spinning pionts, removed and cleaned out the gas tank, tightened evert nut and bolt, cleaned a lubed the throttle and clutch cable as the were basically frozen, lubricated the cylinder befor start up.

I could get it to run anywere from 2 seconds to 5 seconds. And then it would die real quick. I decided to disasemble the carburetor to do a cleaning and it was DISGUSTING in there. Hoping that will fix it. I am getting a new fuel line this week. Im concerned about the flot in the carb as it had a slihgt amount of fuel inside it. We will see if it causes flooding ( it floted good in my ultra sonic cleaner). The valves and piston head are pritty carboned up but im going to leave it alone for now to see if i can get it to try to stay running first.

I really appriciate all the advice, it helps a lot. I will post my progress.

 

[LegDeLimber]

To state the obvious. If the float has anything inside, then of course it's leaking and going to be trouble.

Are you proficient at soldering? Or have a friend who is?
From the age of things, I'm assuming that the float is brass and brass can be soldered.
That's IF the metal is reasonably solid.

If the float fills (slowly or otherwise) you'll have troubles with flooding of course.
A slow leak will cause needing to repeatedly adjust the carburetor over time.
Meanwhile you're soot fouling spark plugs and wondering why it
runs like the air filter is dirty again.

IF the float will get you by for getting the rest of the engine checked out and running, Then nothing wrong with using it, While you search for another one or figure out the repair.

Trying to use any sort of epoxy or sealers can make the float too heavy
and difficult to set the height.
And you may find it wont fit in the carb without rubbing & hanging.
Even an "occasional" hangup, can really drive ya to pull your hair out from trying to figure out why the engine is so erratic running.

good luck with things and keep us updated occasionally .

 

[U&A]

I can solder. Im a welder by trade. Will post progress. I wnot buy another flot for this 46-year-old carburetor. It seems that I can find a replacement carburetor completely assembled for this motor for around 30 bucks. If I have any other problems I'll just do that but right now I'm just playing around with it.

 

[U&A]

http://www.amazon.com/Carburetor-H35-45696X-H35-45696Y-H35-45704X-H35-45707X/dp/B00LQU0XG4

 

[LegDeLimber]

I'd get the new carb and put the old on a shelf somewhere.
When the new one arrives, gently take it apart and look for any manufacturing debris, misaligned bowl gasket, badly burred parts or
buggered threads in adjustment needle holes, any junk in the passage from fuel line fitting to the needle & seat, etc.

Don't blow the needle seat out with a blast from the air hose.
Sucker's kinda hard to track down afterwards!
Check the float height setting while you're there.

It's a lot easier to clean a speck of debris out, before you've put it on the engine and got gasoline in things and are sitting in the garden.

 

[U&A]

so a better late than never update. I had the tiller running about a month ago and all it needed was air fuel adjustment but broke the pull cord THE SAME DAY I got it running right (my luck) . So all I had to do is adjust the air/fuel mixture (fine tuning) and fix the pull cord. Then all of the sudden the father in-law got a bug up his a$$ and could't wait for me to fix it (even though he agreed that it was ok for me to take my time fixing it this summer). He took it in to a "dealer". they fixed the pull cord and "adjusted the carb" . Now the thing will only run good for about 3 min and then as soon as you dig the tines into the dirt to start tilling it dies INSTANTLY. At this point if the father in-law cant wait for me to fix anything its all on him. Im done wasting my time trying to fix it if he is going to pull it out from under me and take it to a "dealer" to finish it.

he wont even take it back to have them fix it right like they said they did. hes just using it as is......for 3-5 min spans.

 

[LegDeLimber]

oh boy. sounds frustrating for sure.


If you remove the recoil.
That starter cup, that's on the flywheel, probably has a small notch in the outer rim.
IF so. That makes it a bit easier to just wrap a couple feet of rope
around it.
Now use that good old fashioned style rope start method on it.

If No notch, You'll need a few more inches of rope wrapped , in order to get a solid grip on the cup, to spin that engine.

Oh and this starting method will help bring out your best skills at tuning that carb!