SLOW, SLOW self propelled mower

Hello to all, last month I decided to buy a new push mower from Menards, they were selling a Yard Pro with a Kohler engine for $250. There were no markings on the mower itself, or the carton, or in the literature, about who manufactured it. However, the bottle of oil packaged inside had "Husqvarna Outdoor Products" labeled. DUH. That explained the big "HOP" stenciled on the carton. Anyhow, I really like the mower, it starts easily, cuts well, handles well, and I love the handle assembly, which is the ideal height for me.

One problem, though...it is agonizingly slow, compared to the many other self propelled mowers I have owned. I ran it over a measured distance, and the speed is 2.5 mph...even with my aging 60 year old knees and feet, I can manage 4 mph easily. My house yard is about a half acre, and has so many trees and obstructions I don't use my Deere 4210 on it, and I enjoy the exercise of using the pusher. Would anyone know how to speed this thing up another mph or two?

Can you post the modle number of the mower?

indypower said:

Can you post the modle number of the mower?

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Model number is 961420085, the engine is a Kohler Courage XT-7. On my older Yard Machines mowers with a Tecumseh, I could fiddle with the carb and governor linkage to get more speed, but this one is my first Kohler engined mower

I would take it back and have them adjust the drive disc.

indypower said:

I would take it back and have them adjust the drive disc.

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Sorry, I am not aware of a push type mower having a drive disc....and anyhow, big box home centers like Lowes and Menards do not perform warranty work on the mowers they sell, you end up taking the machines to an independent dealership.

However, I managed to eke out another mph, on the side of the engine with the fuel tank, there is a bracket with a spring that connects with the throttle linkage and governor, bending the horizontal bracket up about 3/16" put more tension on the spring and made the engine rpm increase. Bending it further would have increased rpm more but probably shorten engine life. So now I have a speed of about 3.75 mph instead of 2.5, and it cuts much better. Have to wonder, does the maker intentionally ship these mowers with the rpm set low to increase engine life, or was the tab on mine bent down somehow or the wrong spring installed?

Anyhow, THANKS.

The engine spped is set to keep the blade tip speed below 19000 fpm they claim if you exceed that it can cause the blade to stress crack and break.