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How would I go about doing it on a 100CC push mower engine ?

I can buy a throttle kit (cable and lever) for under $20 from eBay, but how hard it is to fit to a fixed throttle engine ?

It is just the matter of taking off a pin or something that holds the throttle wide open and fitting the cable end ?

jmurray01 said:

How would I go about doing it on a 100CC push mower engine ?

I can buy a throttle kit (cable and lever) for under $20 from eBay, but how hard it is to fit to a fixed throttle engine ?

It is just the matter of taking off a pin or something that holds the throttle wide open and fitting the cable end ?

Click to expand...

If only it were that simple...my second push mower was a 1982 Craftsman, and it was the first I ever owned with no real throttle adjustment, only Hi-Low-Off on the carb itself. Although I have never really looked at the interior of a modern mower carb, I doubt there are any methods to adjust the venturi even if you tried to fit a throttle cable. They seem to be mostly designed to run at two settings, High and Off. That type of design makes it much easier for the company who sells the engine to:

A. Meet emissions regulations
B. Prevent owners from tampering with the carb
C. Build them cheap

Damn... :thumbdown:

Hi
Why do you want to fit a throttle? there might be an alternative.

webuyanymower.com said:

Hi
Why do you want to fit a throttle? there might be an alternative.

Click to expand...

I want to fit throttle so I can warm it up at low RPMs to avoid engine wear.

A lot of the newer emissions engines have carbs with a main jet only and no idle circuit in the carb. Since there is no way for the engine to get fuel at low rpm's it may stall or surge if you try to reduce the throttle.

I have a little Huskee pusher that has the fixed throttle. I don't like running an engine a full throttle when I shut it off, so I've tried to see if there is some way to make it idle. I've done everything I could think of to the linkage, but the best I could get was maybe a 500 rpm difference. I just put everything back the way it was and will use it like this until it blows up.

Most people don't need a throttle all my neighbors start their riding mowers and as soon as it starts they throw it wide open and engage the blades and start mowing.
Just like some new cars no longer have a oil pressure gauge cause most people won't ever look at it if it has one.
This is what I call dumbing down of America.

Most drivers today can barely tell what the gas gage is and what it displays. The morons who design dashboards think it more important to have a big bright electronic navigation screen and 50 gazillion watt speaker systems and all sorts of gewgaws and gimcracks that are redundant to operation of a vehicle. Mirrors dim themselves, heating systems regulate themselves, most drivers can barely tell what button controls what function without reading a 500 page owners manual. Had an '85 Ford where heat/ac controls were two slide levers and a fan switch. Then my next car, '92 Olds 98, had 20 tiny buttons and an electronic display panel for the same function controlled by 3 items on the Ford. Did the system on the Olds work better, no. And to change settings required you to look away from the road and try to figure out what button did what. Stupid designers dont know what a decent dashboard should look like so no wonder they put on idiot lights and that is why drivers get so used to not being able to read a gage.

JDgreen said:

Most drivers today can barely tell what the gas gage is and what it displays. The morons who design dashboards think it more important to have a big bright electronic navigation screen and 50 gazillion watt speaker systems and all sorts of gewgaws and gimcracks that are redundant to operation of a vehicle. Mirrors dim themselves, heating systems regulate themselves, most drivers can barely tell what button controls what function without reading a 500 page owners manual. Had an '85 Ford where heat/ac controls were two slide levers and a fan switch. Then my next car, '92 Olds 98, had 20 tiny buttons and an electronic display panel for the same function controlled by 3 items on the Ford. Did the system on the Olds work better, no. And to change settings required you to look away from the road and try to figure out what button did what. Stupid designers dont know what a decent dashboard should look like so no wonder they put on idiot lights and that is why drivers get so used to not being able to read a gage.

Click to expand...

JD a lot of people can not even read a road map and they need a GPS to tell them where to turn.
The younger generation learned how to run a computer so the gadgets are normal to them but take away their calculator and they are screwed.

I saw just a few weeks ago that they were going to stop teaching writing because you can use a computer and type you message.

I guess everyone will need to carry a laptop with a printer.:laughing:

Around here the teens buy an old used Honda and spend MORE on stereo system than what the car is worth so they can drive around disturbing the piece with all the booming. :confused2:

Black Bart said:

JD a lot of people can not even read a road map and they need a GPS to tell them where to turn.
The younger generation learned how to run a computer so the gadgets are normal to them but take away their calculator and they are screwed.

I saw just a few weeks ago that they were going to stop teaching writing because you can use a computer and type you message.

I guess everyone will need to carry a laptop with a printer.:laughing:

Around here the teens buy an old used Honda and spend MORE on stereo system than what the car is worth so they can drive around disturbing the piece with all the booming. :confused2:

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There is plenty of that around here. Are they deaf of something ? When I'm listening to the radio in the car, I barely have it above a whisper, but that is how I like it. I can hear it, but I'm not being deafened by it!

JDgreen said:

Most drivers today can barely tell what the gas gage is and what it displays. The morons who design dashboards think it more important to have a big bright electronic navigation screen and 50 gazillion watt speaker systems and all sorts of gewgaws and gimcracks that are redundant to operation of a vehicle. Mirrors dim themselves, heating systems regulate themselves, most drivers can barely tell what button controls what function without reading a 500 page owners manual. Had an '85 Ford where heat/ac controls were two slide levers and a fan switch. Then my next car, '92 Olds 98, had 20 tiny buttons and an electronic display panel for the same function controlled by 3 items on the Ford. Did the system on the Olds work better, no. And to change settings required you to look away from the road and try to figure out what button did what. Stupid designers dont know what a decent dashboard should look like so no wonder they put on idiot lights and that is why drivers get so used to not being able to read a gage.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean! I was walking past a brand new Ford Fiesta the other day, and it must have had about 30 buttons on the centre console!

Our 1997 Ford Fiesta has 3 buttons:

Rear Window Demist
Rear Fog Lamp
Regulated Air (to reuse the air from the cabin rather than taking it from the outside intake).

Three buttons, and the new one has 30, and I bet there are only a few extra features, but 27 extra buttons...

Also, the new car radios are confusing too.

Going back again to our 1997 Ford Fiesta, it has the original Cassette/Radio, which has an ON/OFF button, a menu button with simple settings, a volume button, a rewind/fast forward/eject button, and that is about it!

The new radios these days have TOUCH SCREENS!

Honestly, a touch screen in a car.

A couple of years ago our Fiesta was in the garage, and we got a 2005 Ford KA courtesy car... It didn't even have a temperature gauge! Just a little light that pops on when you're overheating.

Yeah, that'll be useful when you have already blown your head gasket!

Sheesh.

Whilst I applaud your thrift and care you are not going to do any harm by letting the engine run as it was designed to do. It is a governed engine and is only running at around 30% of what it is actually capable of.

If you really want to warm it up at a slower speed then the only way to do it is to find a way to close the governor. On the bottom of the governor arm (left hand side of your engine by the air filter box) is a spring if you pull the spring it engine rpm will increase if you take the tension off the spring the engine will slow down (MIND YOUR TOES). If you can make/find something to fit on the governor arm to keep it closed whilst the mower is warming up and remove it when cutting I think this is the best you will achieve.

Personally I would not bother. You are far more likely to damage the machine when cutting grass than by not warming it up.

Good luck.

webuyanymower.com said:

Whilst I applaud your thrift and care you are not going to do any harm by letting the engine run as it was designed to do. It is a governed engine and is only running at around 30% of what it is actually capable of.

If you really want to warm it up at a slower speed then the only way to do it is to find a way to close the governor. On the bottom of the governor arm (left hand side of your engine by the air filter box) is a spring if you pull the spring it engine rpm will increase if you take the tension off the spring the engine will slow down (MIND YOUR TOES). If you can make/find something to fit on the governor arm to keep it closed whilst the mower is warming up and remove it when cutting I think this is the best you will achieve.

Personally I would not bother. You are far more likely to damage the machine when cutting grass than by not warming it up.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, but I think I'll just leave it in that case. I was hoping I'd be able to fit a fully functional variable throttle, but if not, oh well...

Black Bart said:

JD a lot of people can not even read a road map and they need a GPS to tell them where to turn.
The younger generation learned how to run a computer so the gadgets are normal to them but take away their calculator and they are screwed.

I saw just a few weeks ago that they were going to stop teaching writing because you can use a computer and type you message.

I guess everyone will need to carry a laptop with a printer.:laughing:

Around here the teens buy an old used Honda and spend MORE on stereo system than what the car is worth so they can drive around disturbing the piece with all the booming. :confused2:

Click to expand...

Know what, for 31 years I drove heavy straight trucks all over Michigan to every county and sometimes out of state, there were days I might have had to find 10 new addresses to delover to, I would sit down with a state map and city maps and a phone book and plot my route ahead of time and 98% of the stops I could find them without calling or asking for directions.

And TODAY people have Google maps and GPS and touchscreen gewgaws to tell them how to get someplace...WHAT A FREAKING LAUGH, all those navigation aids and most of them still can't drive worth S----!!!

Pic is of one of my favorite work trucks, '89 Ford F700 diesel, ran this one 182,000 miles. No GPS, no touchscreen, just a compass.....:laughing::laughing:

JDgreen said:

Know what, for 31 years I drove heavy straight trucks all over Michigan to every county and sometimes out of state, there were days I might have had to find 10 new addresses to delover to, I would sit down with a state map and city maps and a phone book and plot my route ahead of time and 98% of the stops I could find them without calling or asking for directions.

And TODAY people have Google maps and GPS and touchscreen gewgaws to tell them how to get someplace...WHAT A FREAKING LAUGH, all those navigation aids and most of them still can't drive worth S----!!!

Pic is of one of my favorite work trucks, '89 Ford F700 diesel, ran this one 182,000 miles. No GPS, no touchscreen, just a compass.....:laughing::laughing:

Click to expand...

Nice truck! :biggrin:

I love those old Fords!

webuyanymower.com said:

Whilst I applaud your thrift and care you are not going to do any harm by letting the engine run as it was designed to do. It is a governed engine and is only running at around 30% of what it is actually capable of.

If you really want to warm it up at a slower speed then the only way to do it is to find a way to close the governor. On the bottom of the governor arm (left hand side of your engine by the air filter box) is a spring if you pull the spring it engine rpm will increase if you take the tension off the spring the engine will slow down (MIND YOUR TOES). If you can make/find something to fit on the governor arm to keep it closed whilst the mower is warming up and remove it when cutting I think this is the best you will achieve.

Personally I would not bother. You are far more likely to damage the machine when cutting grass than by not warming it up.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

If you believe that running a cold engine with cold oil against the Governor is ok then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I will sell you REALLY CHEAP.:laughing:

I've tried a bit of un-engineering on these things, but it ultimately didn't seem worth the squeeze. Premium synthetic oil goes in, and I keep my fingers crossed.:ashamed::frown:.

jmurray01 said:

Nice truck! :biggrin:

I love those old Fords!

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Replacement for that one was a '96 F800 diesel, same 20 foot box. Only got 88,000 on that one before I retired...my department didn't have anyone else with a CDL to operate the truck after I left....

JDgreen said:

Replacement for that one was a '96 F800 diesel, same 20 foot box. Only got 88,000 on that one before I retired...my department didn't have anyone else with a CDL to operate the truck after I left....

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That is a beauty also, but I prefer the F-700! :thumbsup:

This is what I have come up with for throttle. Remove the stretchy old spring from the throttle to the governer and replace it with a piece of bailing wire. I have a little slack for manually closing the throttle for extra slow speeds. Good luck.:thumbsup:

rer said:

This is what I have come up with for throttle. Remove the stretchy old spring from the throttle to the governer and replace it with a piece of bailing wire. I have a little slack for manually closing the throttle for extra slow speeds. Good luck.:thumbsup:

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I'll have a look at it some time and see if it looks possible... Thanks for your reply! :wink:

When my Yardpro (Husqvarna) walk behind self propelled pusher was new, it would barely move 2.5 mph which was WAY too slow. Since there is no throttle nor any way to adjust the engine speed, I simply bent the tab that the governor spring was attached to....PRESTO....I now have a 4 mph mower that cuts much better, and so far there has been no increase in oil consumption and only a modest increase in fuel consumption. And since it travels so much faster, I save a lot of time.

JDgreen said:

When my Yardpro (Husqvarna) walk behind self propelled pusher was new, it would barely move 2.5 mph which was WAY too slow. Since there is no throttle nor any way to adjust the engine speed, I simply bent the tab that the governor spring was attached to....PRESTO....I now have a 4 mph mower that cuts much better, and so far there has been no increase in oil consumption and only a modest increase in fuel consumption. And since it travels so much faster, I save a lot of time.

Click to expand...

My mower propels at 2.6MPH, and that is fine for me. I have a relatively small lawn though.

jmurray01 said:

My mower propels at 2.6MPH, and that is fine for me. I have a relatively small lawn though.

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2.6 mph is a CREEP for me...I am 60 years old and enjoy mowing at a brisk walk which is 4 mph and up. When you have 450 feet of roadfront culvert 25 feet wide to mow with a pusher you appreciate having a faster push mower, and I trim several hours a week as well as mow the house yard (200X175) with the pusher.

JDgreen said:

2.6 mph is a CREEP for me...I am 60 years old and enjoy mowing at a brisk walk which is 4 mph and up. When you have 450 feet of roadfront culvert 25 feet wide to mow with a pusher you appreciate having a faster push mower, and I trim several hours a week as well as mow the house yard (200X175) with the pusher.

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If you have a lot of lawn to mow, I can see why you'd like a faster propel!

But seeing as I don't have a very large lawn (bigger than average, but still hardly a field), and my lower back has been giving me hell recently, I'm glad of my slow mower!