I bought the 10685 last season b/c I had to have a Lawnboy and couldn't find a new 2 cycle close to home. I've since found a few, but still use my 10685 quite often. For mulching its great, side discharge is about as good as any I guess (never really heard of anyone proclaiming the discharge quality of their mower), and it bags well too, but... In my opinion the bag is a bit small. If you stay on top of your grass cutting, and don't let it get too high, then you should be OK. I was accustomed to a snapper hi-vac with a much larger bag and could go so much further before needing to empty the bag, however the LB does a nicer job of bagging than the snapper did. The tec6.5 has tremendous power also. There are many here that knock the newer lawnboys, and I can understand that with the cult following the 2 cycle LB's have... They are purists and thats cool. I wouldn't trade my 10323's or 10550 for anything, but I also don't mind having the 10685 around at all. **Personal experience story - following hurricane Katrina, we were cut off from returning to our homes for weeks. I had been way behind on cutting my grass (almost 3 weeks since last cut when the storm hit) and it was at least 3-4 weeks until I got home after the storm. The house had been flooded due to the local govt. deciding to not run the drainage pumps and we had an extreme amount of work to do. After a full day of removing furniture, drywall, etc. I felt the need to actually see an improvement in the house so I went out to the shed (raised 18" off the ground so didn't flood) and pulled out the 10685. The lawn was hideous to say the least, but I needed to get this done. I setup for side-discharge, jacked the wheels all the way up (4") and just walked through the lawn. The mower slowed/bogged down maybe 3 times throughout the whole cut. You can only imagine the windrows that were left behind... I made a 2nd pass with the wheels set a bit lower (3.5") and concentrated on running over all the piles of grass, and then made a 3rd run mulching with the wheels set just at my normal cut height (3") and finished up for the day. While my finished product was not a 'beautiful' manicured lawn, it was 100x's better than it was before. It at least made me feel like something was getting done and I actually got comments on how nice the mower cut over the next few days from neighbors. It's funny how something like a lawnmower can change a situation and attitude so drastically. Good luck with your purchase. -mike s.

I have the same mower and I'm having a similar problem. Mine just won't start. I took apart the carb and cleaned it real good. Starting fluid will make it want to run but it just wont. How can I find a rebuild kit? The bowl gasket was shot the last time but I got it back together and I know if I take it apart again I will need a new one, but figured why not buy a rebuild kit anyway. Thank you for your help. Rob

Remove the fuel tank (recoil bolts) and flush the tank and lines. Pull the carb and give it a clean. Crab spray is helpful. You could try just dropping the bowl, clean out that area and run the line so you know the fresh fuel is through the system before servicing the complete system.

It seems to me you have two big-picture possibilities here: either the clutch assembly is somehow frozen or the engine itself is locked up. I would think your best diagnostic move at this point is to remove the blade and clutch assembly to see if the engine is then free. If it is, then you know it's the clutch assembly; if not then you know the engine is seized. If the latter, you'll most likely have a seized bearing and you'll need to decide whether to dive in and try to fix it vs replacing the engine vs replacing the mower. If the former, you have the same choices regarding the clutch. The recoil starter assembly is not going to be your problem or solution if you can't turn the engine by the blade!