You don't say which Briggs it has (or age). Assuming date was before mid 1980's it would have breaker point ignition and they were built without chain guards over the reel chain and main chain. CPSC regs required the chain guards and also mandated a different clutch rod (now a lever rather than push rod).

I'd suggest you pull the carb and head and then check valve clearances. Older Briggs will lose intake clearance and make for harder starting. Remove the keepers, buff any carbon off the valves, and grind the end of the stems to get .006 intake and .008 exhaust. Use a new head gasket when you reassemble engine.

Next, if you have older engine with points, you'll probably need to either replace points and condenser, or at least dress the points and reset the point gap to .020. Points are under the flywheel. If your engine has a recoil start (rope pull which retracts automatically), the recoil clutch holds the flywheel and is threaded onto the crankshaft, right-handed. If you have a manual rope start (i.e. piece of rope with knot in one end; you put knot in notch in pulley and wrap rope around) you must remember that nut holding pulley and flywheel is left-hand thread.

It might be easier to convert to electronic ignition by purchasing new coil 398593 at about $35. You simply replace coil and don't need to get behind the flywheel.

If you have a later engine (after 1983 or 1984) you already have electronic, but may still want to look at valve clearances.

Model# 80202
Type: 0520-01
Code: 750924

It's red and says "Briggs and Stratton, 40cycle, Easy-Spin Starting" on the label.
It has the re-coil pull start, and the solid shaft going to the clutch instead of a lever.

I'm including a link to YouTube of the mower running.
ggoyeneche, I do feel fortunate to have found this thing. I looked them up, and I can't believe what they cost today. It works and cuts just great. Much better than my fairly new Murray rotary mower, and my electric rotary.

This is a somewhat later Trimmer vintage, in that it has the "good" factory height adjuster and the handles with two cross braces. Early Trimmers came without height adjusters, and many dealers fitted aftermarket one. Height was adjusted by loosening bolt, swinging front wheels in or out, and then tightening bolt. First factory height adjusters had a notched rod, rather than the quadrant lever and gardeners despised them. The rod which holds the front wheels also has two or three holes which can then be used to give you a gross height adjustment, and then fine tune using the adjuster.

The two brace handle is important becuase it allows use of Briggs engines with Pulsa-Jet carbs and tanks (like yours) The single brace (and the roller lever) would interfere with the Pulsa-Jet tank. Was especially a problem with 25" mowers when gardeners wanted to fit 5hp Briggs 130000 engines.

Yours is also late enough to have been fitted with a shield over the reel chain. You can see the witness marks in the picture. Don't know whether the part is still available. Trimmer had to add it to meet CPSC directives, but you're OK without. Since Trimmer has changed hands several times (Trimmer-Fresno, Cal-Trimmer, Eastman) thisngs are in disarray and parts are problematic.

Too bad because it was and is a great mower.

Lastly, you'll notice end of reel is drilled and tapped. That was to screw in bell crank to turn the reel for backlapping after you removed the chains. Apparently crank is NLA but you can probably use bolt and locknut, and then turn with wrench.

I came accross a 20" "Homeowners" model (with belt drive) under similar circumstances. However, mine is apparently in worse shame, having been re-painted by a previous owner to conceal rust :-(

I am trying to get the reel off to get it sharpened, and am uncertain of the procedure... it seems that reel sprocket doesn't simply come off once the little hex screws have been removed. Do I need to use a gear puller or something?

Thanks in advance,
CB

Once sprocket is off, remove the screws for the two bearing housings. Pull off the sprocket side bearing housing, and you should be able to drop the other side of reel at an angle, and then pull the reel out through the side plate.

I'm gonna try backlapping it first to see if I can get it sharpened up. The disassembly process has revealed a lot of rust, and I'm questioning whether this particular unit is worth throwing $125 at for a sharpening.

Thanks for the valuable info.

You can't prevent it, but you can compensate by stopping momentarily and pushing some of the grass to the right with your hand, and then continuing to mow. Not high tech, but throughout Southern California and thru the South you'll see professional gardeners using Trimmer, Tru-Cuts, Promasters, and McLanes doing the same thing.

As for cutting height, there should be two or three holes in the side frames. Look at the first picture above. He has the front axle bar in the lower hole, which results in a higher cut. I assume your is in the upper hole which will cut lower.

Remove the nut on one side, pull out the axle rod, and reinsert in the lower hole. This will raise you about an overage of 3/4", You'll then use the ratchet height adjuster to set you final cut.

The 25" mower came with the Model 8, round tank to about 1949, and rectangular tank in front 'til end of production in 1957. 2.25" x 2" 7.95 CID rated 2.5 to 3hp.

Both 20" and 25" went to the 3hp aluminum in 1957. First was the 8BS and then the 80000. At that time, and through the 1970's, the Kohler K91 4hp was a popular upgrade with professional gardeners. As the Kohler became more and more expensive, 25"s were fitted with Briggs 130000 5hp engines or with the Honda G200 flat head, also 5hp.

Sometime in the 1960's, Trimmer came out with the 20" Homeowner to better compete with lower priced McLanes and King-O-Lawns. Originally fitted with Briggs 60000 2hp with suction carb, and belt drive off the engine. Later upgraded to 80000 3hp with pulsa-jet carb at the same time the 20" Original was changed over from float carb to pulsa-jet. See the pictures above.

I picked this one up over the weekend. Really looking forward to my first cut, now that I have leveled the lawn.

Promaster is also a good machine, but not quite equal to Trimmer (roller drive) or Tru-Cut (wheel drive/differential).

Also, didn't see rager's 25" with the Honda. I'm guessing 1990's vintage, since it has the original reel with the cast iron spiders. I prefer this reel over the later, all stamped reel. Very nice.

Your machine is the "Homeowner" model, which has belt drive to the jackshaft, rather than all chain drive, and has a few other features downgraded to save money. Was made to better compete with the McLane, which was substantially cheaper.

Still a very competent machine and nothing to be ashamed of. Will give many (twenty or more) years of service if properly maintained. Just not as heavy and as suitable for commercial use as the all chain drive "Original" models.