Its not listed anymore because its sitting in the trunk of my car.
I had emailed the seller over the weekend and didn't get a reply till this morning, not long after my last post. (The person listing the ad was not the actual seller, who turned out to be an older guy who didn't own a computer).
I got a call back this morning and after talking to the seller I decided that I'd take the ride. I took my car due to the distance, which turned out to be just short of 2 hours each way. The seller was set up at a fleamarket there behind a place called Cowtown Farmer's Market in NJ.
After talking to the guy he basically told me his bother had owned it since new but passed away in his late 70's about 9 years ago. He got the motor but not the boat.
He had planned to find a boat for it and use it but never did and it sat. He told me that he's been trying to turn some of his things into cash to get some repairs done around his house that he can no longer do. He told me he needed to buy a good self propelled mower to cut his lawn with because pushing one is no longer an option. He said he can buy a cheap self propelled mower for $250, and thus the price of the Honda motor.
I happened to have a fairly nice Craftsman self propelled mower with a Honda engine on it that I trash picked and gotten running a few months ago that wasn't selling here on CL or FB.
To make this shorter, I took him the mower and made a trade.
The mower was probably a $600 mower new, it was about 8 years old but in good shape and started on the first pull with a new blade, fresh oil, and a new spark plug.
I got there and looked the motor over before speaking up, so I had time to assess the thing a bit. Its in fair condition but most issues are minor, and best of all he had a ton of parts that went with it
Like most of these, the carb had a broken accelerator pump cam and missing plunger.
Its got a bunged up air box from were someone cross threaded the screws, and a few missing bolts here and there. The cover is rough, but not cracked, but someone brush painted it and the rubber gasket is hard as stone. It also has the wrong tilt pin in it.
The prop is okay but has some dings.
I didn't realize what all was in the spare parts pile till I got home. but everything is there except for a new tilt pin. A new carb, a new air box, an impeller, new choke and throttle cables, a new four blade prop, and all the gaskets, plus a new fuel pump and diaphram.
He even had four cans of OEM Honda paint and a decal set for the hood.
The fuel coupler on the motor has been changed to one from an OMC, which is no big deal, I've done that to a few myself.
Before buying it I asked if he had ever had it running, ad grabbed a can of carb cleaner and gave it a shot into the air box, and it popped right off for a split second.
The compression felt low when pulling the rope so I went to my car and grabbed my compression tester and got 177/176 psi compression. After seeing that I made the trade, but likely would have either way figuring I could part it out for a lot more the the value o fthe lawnmower.
The motor is a 2006 model, short shaft, manual start tiller with an alternator.
There is no starter but the recoil has the spot for it and the flywheel has a ring gear but its got a block off cover underneath, so I'd assume that one could be added fairly easily but its got no external harness connections. At this point I've got about $40 in gas and $5 in tolls plus the better part of a day in going to get it and one less lawn mower on the floor in my garage that had been listed for $120 on CL and FB for four months without a reply.
Here's some pics.
Not pictured is also a box of 10 NGK BP5ES spark plugs in Honda packaging. Inside that box was a receipt from a dealer in DE for all the parts $788 from Sept 2013.
He said he swapped over the fuel fitting on the motor because he could never find a fitting to match the tank, but I think the tank is much older than the motor.
My biggest concern was that the lower unit would be stuck but it came right down, I pulled the lower off to make it easier to carry to my car about 900 ft away in the all grass parking area there. The question now is whether to get it running and use it or just part it out online My thought is that if he couldn't find a buyer at $250, then there's likely zero chance of finding one after its all fixed up for significantly more.
After taking the motor to the car, I went back to thank the guy and ended up also getting a stack of used 5.70x8 trailer wheels for free that the guy didn't want to take home.
I then walked around a bit and found a few more deals that were pretty cheap as well.
Among which were a box of post war Lionel trains and about 30 slot cars for $5, all mostly parts but well worth $5. Not something I normally buy but they do well online in the fall.
I also bought a vintage tackle box from the 70's For $10, an Old Pal PF7500 possum belly model loaded with lures from the 60s and 70's. But what caught my eye was all the stickers on it from all over the place, some as far away as TX and FL along with a good many from PA and NJ.
Parting it out is likely the fastest profit.