Graverly "L" walk-behind mower

Got the mower running, got a starter from Steve Haley in Tenn. 615-584-7554, very good man to deal with. he has just about anything you need. I'm still trying to figure out just what machine I got , it has a slanted plug, a forward-reverse, a high-low, and a smaller lever on the same side, but lower down next to the right side wheel. Asked Steve and he said it was another high-low range, still working on it to get it to move. This may turn out to be a L8. I'm going to try to send some picture.

I think you are correct; an L8....a great machine and a lot more advanced than the old L models.
Have you joined the Gravely Club of America yet?
You can find out more than you may have ever wanted to know about Gravelys there.
Gravelys have a tremendous following and they are nearly
indestructible so there are thousands of machines out there still working.
Did you know that Studebaker Motors owned Gravely for a time?
Your machine looks to be in beautiful shape.....I am sure it will give you a lot of satisfaction.

Yes you have an "L-8" machine. You should have a serial number plate
on the top of the gas tank. It will say l or l8. Ok let us start at
the top. The slanted plug would be 1963 or 1965, somewhere in there.
Would be a 7.6hp or 7.7hp. My Gravely is a straight L and has the plug
straight up. All of them had forward and reverse. All of them had a
high low. Now if you truly are lucky that little leaver and the rod
going down to a trangular little pivoting gizmo, that should be a
"Swiftomatic" 1/2 speed differential. I would take some gasoline and
soak the hardened grease all around there for a couple of days. DON'T
force things. You should see a plunger maybe 1/2 inch diameter that
goes into the side of the machine. That needs to slide in and out.
Should move about one inch. . Take one of those tiny SS mini scrub
brushes you get at the car shows. Maybe better for you use an old
tooth brush. Get everything nice and clean. If I were you prop the
machine up off the ground with some boards underneath so you can turn
the right wheel. This way you can jiggle things as you gently free up
that swiftomatic. Not that hard to pull the whole thing out of the
machine and see if the shift fork is broken but I think you just need
to play with it. Now you want to go to Gravely Tractor Club of America
web site. When you find the home page on the top of 5he box hit
manuals. You will be blown away because everything Gravely ever
printed is there. Look up the swiftomatic service install buliten .
They were originally an option. Hope the link works. Get back to us
please.
gravely