That's a great mower. My favorite. Powerful, light weight, rear-wheel self-propel. I've found adding the mulch plate to be useful at times. It's available from places like sepw.com for about $25 (ouch!), and you can forget about messing with the mulch fan.

If ever your 10323 becomes aggravating to start, suspect the CD ignition pack.

Don't try to cut back on the oil-to-gas ratio...the DuraForce carburetor is very lean and thus the oil supplied to the engine is too. I have a friend whose Duraforce is now being rebuilt because of his use of less oil than Lawnboy specified.

Mike

Is the mulch plate the plate that goes over the side grass "exhaust?" I thought that his came with it? When you say forget about messing with the mulch fan, do you mean that it does not work or that it works and keep it? Thanks. rich

A 10323 should come with a mulching plate as well as a side discharge plate. The mulching fan also should be included on this model as std. equipment.

I've got one I purchased new in 1999, and I'll agree that it is a very good mower. Only complaint was it's speed was too slow for me. This can be rectified by changing two gears in the gear case (need gears 104-1004 & 104-1005 from a 10550), which I'm in the middle of doing on mine.

As far as mulching, a Lawn-Boy does a good job without the fan too. On my old '77 vintage 7024, I bought a mulch plate and blade and mulched without a fan for 8-10 years. Never tried fitting it with one until recently as I figured it would interfere with the below deck muffler. Well, it does actually fit and is equipped with one now.

Doug

rersoap; mulch plate and mulch fan will come installed, with a 'blank' plate in the bag for side discharge. Nothing goes over the side discharge chute - the mulch plate is the curved filler plate on the deck at the right front with 'Easy Mulch' or 'Power Mulch' on it in big black letters. You unscrew a plastic wing nut bolt and slide the cover to remove. Underneath it has a plate that blocks the discharge chute, causing the clippings to be re-cut. The mulch fan mounts under the blade and helps to blow the clippings back up into the blade path. It's a very good system. The discharge, or 'blank' plate doesn't have the blocking plate for the discharge chute, so the clippings are expelled. For bagging, the bagging chute replaces the mulch or blank plate and carries the clippings to the rear bag. Changing modes takes a little longer than some of the new rear-discharge mowers, but all modes work very well. I like to mulch my grass but bag about every third time. There's no question a bagged cut looks noticably better, but you need the mulched clippings to make the lawn work better and reduce the fertilizer requirement.
One thing you may notice is the engine may not settle into the expected 2-cycle hum under a load (kind of sputters and lopes), and the mower may not propel fast enough. This is because the governor may be set a little too low from the factory. Ask about it if you notice this and we'll guide you through adjusting it (very easy).
Set up your gas can now for the new Lawn-Boy. Get a two-gallon can and put in one 8 oz can of Lawn-Boy oil. Take it to the gas station and put in about 1/2 gallon of regular, then shake the can to mix up the oil. Then finish putting in the two gallons. Secure the caps on the can and shake again, and you're set for a couple months of mowing. If you also have a 4-cycle mower, you'll need to mark the two cans so the Lawn-Boy will never get straight gas. It will ruin it in one minute. If anyone else in the house will ever use the mower, beat them until they know how important it is to not make that mistake. If a neighbor borrows it, give them your gas can and forbid them upon pain of death to use any gas but that. If they run out, they have to stop until you furnish more mix. Are you getting the picture? Before starting the mower, open the air filter box and verify that the foam filter is there. Touch it to see if it's oily. If it's dry, take it out and put some car engine oil on it and squeeze out the excess. You can get special filter oil. The air filter is the life of a 2-cycle, so get used to cleaning and oiling the filter maybe twice during the season and again upon winter storage. One more thing; the throttle is easy to push into the choke position. Always check if you start to notice more smoke than usual. The Duraforce runs so lean that you usually don't see much smoke after starting, but smoke is normal with a 2-cycle since the oil is in the gas. Almost forgot; because of the offset right front wheel, there will be three wheel tracks, so after you make your turnaround you put your right rear wheel in the previous rear wheel track, overlapping the offset wheel track, since the grass between the tracks of the right-side wheels doesn't get cut until you overlap. Don't forget to be happy you never have to check or change oil or worry about cutting a slope. It gets fresh, new oil on every stroke, and with no splash lubrication it doesn't matter what angle the engine is on.

resoap,

Welcome to the world of Lawn Boy owners! I've got a 10323 also and I'm glad for it. Ditto what Sax said about the gas can, take a permanent marker and write "LAWNBOY FUEL" all over it so it can not be missed, then set it on the Kitchen table or some other highly visible spot (before you fill it of course) for a couple of days so everyone in the family knows that this is the correct jug for the new lawn boy. Use Lawn Boy oil with 87 octane unleaded, and keep the blade sharp and the build up cleaned out from under the deck and your good to go.

rersoap--

Ditto on the welcome---we're always glad to welcome another member of the "family." :)

I'd like to emphasize the importance of saxman's advice regarding what to do if a neighbor wants to borrow your 10323. As he said, give the neighbor your can of 2-cycle fuel/oil mix and make DOUBLE sure he/she understands that ONLY this can should be used to fuel the Lawn-Boy because the L-B requires a mix of gas and oil. This is extrememly important since a lot of Lawn-Boys have been ruined over the years because some well-meaning neighbor/friend/relative put straight gas in them. I'm sure you don't want that to happen to yours.

Enjoy your new toy!

Thanks folks. I have the gas can almost ready. I have to empty the leftover gas (from this year) into my car and then I will know that exactly 2 gallons are in it. I will not be able to put the oil in first but since the can is 2.5 gallons, I should have no trouble in mixing it. My wife is going to get the mower today along with the oil. They are calling for rain today so it may be awhile before I can get out there to use it. I am looking forward to it. Anyone ever wax the bottom to help with grass not sticking? Or is that just being a little anal? Just thought that this may help with washing out the grass?
rich

"Anyone ever wax the bottom to help with grass not sticking? Or is that just being a little anal? Just thought that this may help with washing out the grass?"
Yep, you're gonna fit in here just fine! I think all of us Lawnboy owners wax our 'boys!

New as in Brand New or new as in new to you?

Cutting grass that is dry and not wet will go a long way to keep grass from collecting under the deck.

Anal about Lawn Boys, who Us? LOL! SURE WE ARE! LOL! So what it keeps us off the streets, we waxem, we armor-allem, we re-jetem, touch up their paint, and lay in a supply of spare parts so we will never be without one. Fanatics, Maybe, but happy fanatics, Oh by the way we don't lend them out, just get one of those $99 specials at wally world for the borrowers or just say NO! Welcome, to the fold.

Brand new and obviously brand new to me. That is why I was thinking about waxing the bottom to help grass from sticking. I try not to mow when it is wet outside but sometimes the cut grass is pretty wet on its own. Since it is brand new (no rust) I thought that the waxing may help.

Realistically about all you can do is try to clean it when you're through for the day. If you spray water under the deck with the engine running as soon as you finish cutting, most of it will come off. There's a picture and directions in the manual for this.

To clean the underdeck I use a garden hose and run a light flow of water pass through the hole in the upperdeck while the mower is running. That works most of the time to prevent too much build-up. I hand clean about once a month or so. Enjoy !!

The tips and conversation are great in this thread.

I bought a 10323 at Goodwill for $35 that was not running. My 86 year old buddy and I got it running because he has been fixing engines longer than most of us have been alive.

Anyway, we think a carb rebuild is neccessary. Any words of advice? Do you know the rebuild kit I need and tricks to not screwing it up?

I do not have any manuals. anyone know of electronic versions?

Scott

PS- what type of wax would you recomemnd?

Hello all. The only problem I have with my Lawnboy 10323 is it needs a CD ignition module, and I have located a Lawnboy parts dealer. I will get the Lawnboy 10323 operational as soon as possible. I can't wait to get my rejetted Duraforce back in action this season.

Good day.

i bought a lawn boy 10323 recently and i pulled the rope three or four times and it seemed like it had no compression and then all of a sudden it seized up on me anything in particular to do to it or do i need to completly rebuild it??

Can anyone give me the part numbers for a side bag or a rear bag that will work with my 10323. i have the side bag chute but need the bag. Please help

People mostly use the rear bag with these. You would need the whole kit with frame to use a side bag. Here's what the rear bag looks like. Its not as big as a side bag but its completely out of the way inside the handle.
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Here's a pic of the box a side-bag comes in. The 'frame' required is not any more really than the rear bag - they both have a steel wire that attaches to the handle. This side bag is the standard one, but there is also a larger 'leaf bag'. So, you could really use the side bag since you already have the green side chute if your yard allows you to always cut with the left side close to obstacles.

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thinking of purchasing a used 10323 l-b. obviously, I will check it out with a start and listen. look it over and under checking self propel and such. I see a few concerns about the ignition pack. I am wondering if this is a really common problem. is it an easy fix? how can you know that is the problem when not starting ( does it make a clicking noise or something)? is it expensive? thank you all for reading.

Need to do some work on my 10323 lawnboy mower. Looking for a repair,shop, or service manual for this mower. Can you help? Thanks

They have free to download manuals for that mower at:
https://support.lawnboy.com/portal/server.pt/community/product_center/217

Here is a link that might be useful: lawnboy

Thanks

I have one of these and am having carb problems for the 2nd time and of course it is MOWING SEASON and grass is knee deep.

Have read to change out carb, rebuild it. Seems like it is a $90 a year expense if I take it somewhere

Man, wish I had held onto my parents old lawnboys!

Model number 10323, Serial Number 200020235.

Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks

I had a 10201, a 10323 and a 10550 from 1994 til about 2004 and never had any carb trouble. Of course, I always use Sta-Bil and Marvel Mystery Oil in my 2-cycle mix in addition to the regular mix oil. This pic has the 10201, 10550 and my 4-cycle 'Insight' 10684.