Re: OMC built Lawn Boy Mowers

[John Schubert]

The 1871 snowblower was actually built by the Gilson Bros Company in Plymouth, WI, later purchased by OMC/Lawn-Boy. It used surplus "D" engines with a goose neck adaptor for the float carb as the engine mounted side ways for the drive end of the crank to be horizontal. I was project manager for the project as well as Lawn-Boy Service Mgr.They were very difficult to start with a primer & if you don’t have the feel when a 2 stroke is going to start, they didn’t. I went out to many retailers who had returned product, but I could start them, most of the time. Sales dropped dramatically & the inventory was sold to a surplus guy, who couldn’t sell them. Major law suit was filed. The huge stack of warranty claims in the court room spelled DOOM. The interesting thing about the Gilson design was the chute that channeled the discharged snow & the spiral auger both patented by Gilson. That became property of Lawn-Boy & then again by Toro after they purchased Lawn-Boy & both features were adapted to their single stage models.