Huffy Lawn Tractor

[Lanse]

Bought on the spot, a 1978 Huffy 38" decked that will run, for $35, no kiddin'. Woulda asked first, but i aint missin that chance!!!!

Does anyone have any experience with huffys????

Also, the choke wont work, but you can hold it there. If you let it up, will it run?? And, can I pull start this thing??? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I don't know anything about Huffy's, but $35 for anything that will run is a heck of a deal. Good luck with it.

Have you used it yet? Give us some more details...

HP?
What kind of shape is it in?
What work do you want to do on it?

 

[chrisjbell]

Huffys are lower end lawn tractors. You should be able to get a decent mowing machine out of it. I don't know what kind of engines they used, but it'll be one of the major manufacturers (B&S, Tecumseh, etc.) so you should be able to get parts. It probably does not have a pull starter, although it shouldn't be difficult to retrofit one. The type of engine used in those machines usually came with either an electric starter or pull starter, usually one or the other. Depends on the manufacturer.

The choke is just to get the engine going, so if you have to hold it out that shouldn't be a problem - you don't want it on for long. Just hold it closed ("on") until the engine will run without it. If the engine won't run without it, you have carberator issues (which would not be surprising). A carb rebuild is probably going to be needed, which isn't hard to do. Not too expensive to have it done, but a rebuild kit by itself will probably be less than 20 bucks.

I have an old Simplicity garden tractor, circa 1974. I have fun tinkering with it and use it as a "thrash mower" in places where I don't want to take my JD lawn tractor.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Here's my success story along the same lines....

I bought 2 MTD's a while back (similarly low end lawn mowers). I paid $75 for both to the guy who runs the city land fill a few cities away from me.

I took the starter out of one and got the other running. I still use it more than any of the other mowers I've bought and sold.

I later traded the not-running mower to another guy for at least $50 worth of parts I needed for other projects. The best thing about this arrangement is that I'm not afraid to be bold in my efforts to repair/modify the cheap mower. Worst case scenario I'm only out $25, and I have10 times that much already in the use I've gotten out of it.

 

[Fordlords]

Huffy (Yes, the bicycle company) made a line of small lawn tractors from the late 60's to the late 70's. These were also sold under the JC Penney name, and possibly others. Just about all of them had 5-10 HP Briggs engines, the bigger 7-10 HP engines had electric starters. They were about the least expensive tractors made at that time, amazing that any still exist in working condition. Then again, there are still a few Yugos out there running, just goes to show a little TLC can go a long way



-Fordlords-

 

[chrisjbell]

Those old B&S engines can run forever. Simple and sturdy.

 

[mechanicle prima dona]

i had a 1970 huffy lawn tractor that my mother and grandmother helped me
by for $350.00 from a department store called mammoth mart which was based in the northeast section of the country. the tractor was red with a white seat
and had a 5 hp b and s and a the simple f-n-r peerless-techumseh transmission
on it. it was chain drive. i owned that for 27 yrs and mowed more lawns in 27 yrs than most new tractors could do today. it was a low end tractor, money wise but that tractor would not die. it ran circles around my fathers little
7 hp montgomery ward tractor. an early version of the yugo. after the 2nd
motor gave out was going to place a 10 hp in it and rebuild the 26 inch deck.
i had it parked out on the side of the shed along with another tractor. i came home from work one day and they were gone:: someone had stolen both of them i filed a police report. i never could figure out who would want a huffy tractor or the other one. for parts maybe? i wish i could find
another one. ill keep looking.