Crankshaft bolts/nuts on various models

turbofiat124

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First of all, can someone tell me why B&S is no longer installing recoil starters on lawnmowers? At least on 17.5 HP and up models. This is very handy when you discover that the battery has bit the dust after the winter and you really need to mow your yard that particular day before going back to work the following day or you're like me and you're too cheap (or frustrated) to buy a new battery every other year.

When did Briggs and Stratton went from using nuts to bolts on the crankshaft/flywheel?

Reason I ask is I have this nutty idea to made a rope starter for one of my lawnmowers. Most likely my MTD 17.5 B&S engine. I also have a 21 hp B&S Husqvarna. I'd like to do both.

I have a 14hp B&S circa 2000 that threw a rod through the block. It looks like the rod bearing nuts were not properly torqued or had Locktite from the factory and vibrated loose which sent the rod through the block. The engine was less than 5 years old.

This engine is on a shelf in my storage building and I'm going to have to move some stuff to get to it and pull the cooling shroud off to find out.

The plan is to:

1) Drill a hole through the side of a socket and the crankshaft bolt for a roll pin or cotter pin.
2) Up through the socket will be a 1/2" carriage bolt threads facing upwards. Maybe a few flat washers to take up any slack in the depth of the socket.
3) Use a pulley that uses a square keystock to keep from spinning
4) Grind a slot in the end of the carriage bolt for the keystock.
5) Cut a groove at an angle for the knot on the end of a rope.

This winter I pulled my batteries off my mowers and hooked them to trickle chargers. Hoping I can get more than 1 to 2 years out of these horribly cheap lawnmower batteries everybody sells.

As long as I have the strength and ability to pull start a lawnmower engine, I'd just soon do that as to keep spending money on these junk batteries.

I think my Interstate battery made it one season. The Husky battery from Lowes (I think) made it 2 years before it bit the dust.

The battery on that same Snapper went bad after a year and I just pulled started it for 10 years until I sold it.
 

RDA.Lawns

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Just go buy a battery dam why try to reinvent the wheel. Some of these motors won't even run without the battery. When you store your mower for the winter disconnect a battery cable. I have a 3 yr old Walmart battery on 1 of my ztr and still works everyday.
 

Boobala

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Just go buy a battery dam why try to reinvent the wheel. Some of these motors won't even run without the battery. When you store your mower for the winter disconnect a battery cable. I have a 3 yr old Walmart battery on 1 of my ztr and still works everyday.

Ditto I have 2 Walmart batteries both over 2+ years and fire right up ... sure you arent leaving the key switch on ..?? or a wire shorting out somewhere
or ... you could use a battery disconnect switch...
 

RDA.Lawns

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The rectifier could be bad as well.
 

RDA.Lawns

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When the battery goes out on your truck you going to make a hand crank? This is a dumb thread!!!!
 

turbofiat124

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No I'm not leaving the key on. The battery starts going bad over a period of time. One battery got to where it wouldn't hold a charge for more than three weeks in July. I pushed it, hoping it would get me by until next spring. Then by September it got to where it wouldn't hold a charge for more than a week so I'd have to drag out a 100 foot extension cord and jump start it off my battery charger.

I checked the voltage on my Craftsman but not my Troy Bilt with the engine was running. It never tested above 13 volts. So I don't think the charging system is overcharging the battery causing it them to crap out.

I pulled that particular battery off my trickle charger that had been hooked up since November and it wouldn't turn the engine over. Maybe it was going bad before last fall. I can't remember which battery came off which mower.

I'm always having to play musical batteries between mowers since neither has a recoil starter. I have to swap batteries because usually one of them is bad. Having a recoil starter would be easier than swapping batteries between mowers. I only use my Troy Bilt as a backup so I really hate to buy a new battery for it.

One other possibility. I have a bumpy yard. I've heard some batteries don't like to be "bounced around". I don't think Optima makes a a battery for lawnmowers. Maybe I could use one from a motorcycle?

But I think it all comes to down to cheaply made batteries. Instead of solid lead plates, now they use lead coated plastic plates where the lead flakes off.

I think the reason B&S is not putting recoil starters on mowers anymore is because people are too fat and lazy to pull a rope. B&S probably figured out if people had a choice, they would use the electric starter over the recoil. So it's a money saving thing. I'll use whatever is available. So if the engine does not have a recoil starter, I have no choice but to use the electric starter and buy a new battery every other year.

Now they are making self propelled push mowers with electric starters. How weak or lazy does a person have to be they need and electric starter on a 6 hp engine? My father is 73 years old and can pull start a push mower just fine.

If you don't consider my Subaru Baja a real "truck", then no I don't own a truck but I can flip the jack handle around and easily hand crank my Citroen 2CV 600cc 2 cylinder engine if the battery goes flat.

 

RDA.Lawns

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Are your batteries bolted or strapped down or just setting there free to move around? The 2 new mowers I bought this year have AGM batteries on them . 6 years of factory warranty on them ;)
 

ILENGINE

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The only mowers that you could use a recoil starter on would be the engines without a fuel shutoff solenoid on the carb, and manual pto engagement. The solenoid would require 12v to operate and the charging system with a regulator would not have output to run either the solenoid or pto clutch, because it requires a minimum voltage to close the trigger for output.

The main reason riders don't have a recoil backup is it cost extra money, and people are looking for the cheapest mower they can buy. And the complain if the mower goes BANG at shutoff. Which requires some way to stop fuel flow through the carb into the engine at shutdown. That could be done with the system they use on generators, it used the residual output from the windings to close the solenoid at shutdown. And we are back to costing extra money, and people are looking for price point items.
 

turbofiat124

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Are your batteries bolted or strapped down or just setting there free to move around? The 2 new mowers I bought this year have AGM batteries on them . 6 years of factory warranty on them ;)

I know that my Craftsman did not come with a top strap because I bought it new. I don't know about the Troy bilt. The Troy Bilt has two bars that act as cradles. Is there supposed to be something that goes over the battery to strap it down from bouncing up and down?
 

turbofiat124

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The only mowers that you could use a recoil starter on would be the engines without a fuel shutoff solenoid on the carb, and manual pto engagement. The solenoid would require 12v to operate and the charging system with a regulator would not have output to run either the solenoid or pto clutch, because it requires a minimum voltage to close the trigger for output.

The main reason riders don't have a recoil backup is it cost extra money, and people are looking for the cheapest mower they can buy. And the complain if the mower goes BANG at shutoff. Which requires some way to stop fuel flow through the carb into the engine at shutdown. That could be done with the system they use on generators, it used the residual output from the windings to close the solenoid at shutdown. And we are back to costing extra money, and people are looking for price point items.

I've heard that mowers with power take offs (button/pull switch) to engage the blades require a battery. Both of my mowers have manual levers to engage the blades. The Craftsman has a hydrostatic transmission, I don't know if that matters. The Troy Bilt uses one of those 7 speed forward/reverse transmissions where I have to come to a complete stop to change speeds.

The fuel shut off solenoid on the bottom of the fuel bowel requiring a battery does not make any sense to me. I was thinking the solenoid valve at the base of the fuel bowl got it's power from the magento off the engine and not the battery. Unless they have made a design change in the last 15 years.

Speaking of the valve's purpose:

Reason being, the 14 hp B&S engine that blew up on my Snapper had a solenoid valve on the fuel bowel and so did the replacement 14 hp Kohler engine I put on it. But both engines had recoil starters. I left the old battery on my Snapper but it was totally dead and used the recoil starter for about 10 years.

My father has a Snapper with a 15hp Kohler engine with a solenoid valve that has a recoil starter. All of three of these engines were produced around 2000.

I thought these solenoid valves in the fuel bowl were supposed to replace the tank or in-line manual fuel shutoff valves they used to install on lawnmowers years ago to prevent the head pressure from the fuel tank from over riding the float valve and leaking fuel or filling the crankcase up with fuel when the engine was not running.

I did not know it was an anti-backfire device.

Speaking of batteries. It's not just lawnmower batteries but car batteries. It seems Interstates are the worst. Buying batteries is a crap shoot. I've bought car batteries that didn't last two years, then others that surpassed their two year warranty and are still working after 5 years.

I've dumped the acid out and found flakes of lead that has fallen off the plastic plates.
 
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