Broke my neighbors mower

[bollingball]

it is actually a 14.5 HP motor, is that too small?

I think it is to small. I would ask him what he thinks BEFORE you put it in. Doing things like this is a good way to make bad friends. Even if you have to make a loan do the right thing. When someone borrows my stuff and breaks it I say take it to the shop and have it fixed. You did not even know if you needed a torque wrench Learn on your own stuff. If this sounds harsh sorry Just don't make things worse.

Ken

 

[crispins]

I think it is to small. I would ask him what he thinks BEFORE you put it in. Doing things like this is a good way to make bad friends. Even if you have to make a loan do the right thing. When someone borrows my stuff and breaks it I say take it to the shop and have it fixed. You did not even know if you needed a torque wrench Learn on your own stuff. If this sounds harsh sorry Just don't make things worse.

Ken

Well thank you Ken but I would rather set it on fire then get a loan to buy a replacement $1,000 engine.
My neighbor has told me that he has never changed the oil in the 6+ years, 400+ hours he has owned the mower.
he was over today to see the old motor and I showed him the 14.5 HP I had and we agreed that we would give it a shot, nothing really to lose at this point.

Does anyone have experience with going down in HP on a yard tractor and what effect it had?

 

[reynoldston]

Well thank you Ken but I would rather set it on fire then get a loan to buy a replacement $1,000 engine.
My neighbor has told me that he has never changed the oil in the 6+ years, 400+ hours he has owned the mower.
he was over today to see the old motor and I showed him the 14.5 HP I had and we agreed that we would give it a shot, nothing really to lose at this point.

Does anyone have experience with going down in HP on a yard tractor and what effect it had?

If you can make it fit no one will know the difference in HP. Everything my neighbor does with his 20 HO craftsman my 12 HP wheel horse will do. Back in the 30's a full size tractor only had 10 HP. Back when my father sold garden tractors in the 40's the top HP was 5 HP for the bigger tractors and only 2 or 3 for the smaller ones. Then in the 60's tops was around 8 to 10 HP. Now this day and age we are looking some run up to 30 HP. I don't know how Horse power is rated but for some reason they keep raising it. My thought is you can't really look at horse power. If you say nothing to your neighbor he won't know the difference because he sure won't look at the engine till it blows up next time when he gos another 500 hr on the same oil. Its a good thing you are his good neighbor because I would tell him to shove the mower where the sun shine doesn't shine. You are going away above where most people would go on this.

 

[crispins]

If you can make it fit no one will know the difference in HP. Everything my neighbor does with his 20 HO craftsman my 12 HP wheel horse will do. Back in the 30's a full size tractor only had 10 HP. Back when my father sold garden tractors in the 40's the top HP was 5 HP for the bigger tractors and only 2 or 3 for the smaller ones. Then in the 60's tops was around 8 to 10 HP. Now this day and age we are looking some run up to 30 HP. I don't know how Horse power is rated but for some reason they keep raising it. My thought is you can't really look at horse power. If you say nothing to your neighbor he won't know the difference because he sure won't look at the engine till it blows up next time when he gos another 500 hr on the same oil. Its a good thing you are his good neighbor because I would tell him to shove the mower where the sun shine doesn't shine. You are going away above where most people would go on this.

thank you for your answer.
It was my thought that the big HP mowers are just to help sell them.
Now if this was a commercial mower or saw heavy duty use, that would be different.
He just mows his less than 1 acre lot with it.
I am lucky that the shaft on the 14.5 motor is the same as the one on his mower 1" diameter by 3 3/32" long. Now this motor hasn't been ran in a few years but I am hoping that cleaning out the jets will get it going.

Thank you again for your information

 

[bollingball]

thank you for your answer.
It was my thought that the big HP mowers are just to help sell them.
Now if this was a commercial mower or saw heavy duty use, that would be different.
He just mows his less than 1 acre lot with it.
I am lucky that the shaft on the 14.5 motor is the same as the one on his mower 1" diameter by 3 3/32" long. Now this motor hasn't been ran in a few years but I am hoping that cleaning out the jets will get it going.

Thank you again for your information

You could use a 5hp motor it is all in the gearing. Ask a question enough times and you will find someone to answer it the way you want. It doesn't look like your neighbor takes care of his stuff that is for sure. You are doing the right thing talking to him about it. Only a slime ball would try to sneek it in IMHO. You will sleep better when all is said and done. I don't think you are going way above what most people would do you are doing what you know is right. I think that little motor will do just fine after seeing how he took care of the other one. I went a little to far saying to take out a loan but if it were a nice new motor just out of warrenty then I would. I don't put to much stock in people that break other peoples things and tell them to stick it. Would you like that done to you?

Ken

 

[reynoldston]

You could use a 5hp motor it is all in the gearing. Ask a question enough times and you will find someone to answer it the way you want. It doesn't look like your neighbor takes care of his stuff that is for sure. You are doing the right thing talking to him about it. Only a slime ball would try to sneek it in IMHO. You will sleep better when all is said and done. I don't think you are going way above what most people would do you are doing what you know is right. I think that little motor will do just fine after seeing how he took care of the other one. I went a little to far saying to take out a loan but if it were a nice new motor just out of warrenty then I would. I don't put to much stock in people that break other peoples things and tell them to stick it. Would you like that done to you?

Ken

If you are talking about me on this. Frist of all I would of not ran it out of oil. I have been in the repair business all my life and one thing I will never be responsible for someone else's equipment that has been miss treated or worn, out end of this story. Another story I get is it wasn't doing this before I brought it to you or you charged me too much. The day I have to start repairing things for free they can just keep it themselves and do there own repair work. As a rule there is no problem's but through the years it has, but then business is business and friends are friends. You can be the good person and give your work away. I don't know how you made a liveing but when it came pay time I would bet you had your hand out also. But as for me I still have to pay for my daily needs and this is how I make my money and most people understand this.

 

[Carscw]

The only real time you will notice the missing 6 hp will be in thick long grass. The smaller engine will not recover from a heavy call for power as fast as bigger one.
I think for what he will be cutting with it it should do just fine

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[Carscw]

Oh and it really does not matter how good or bad he took care of it it broke while you had it so your doing the right thing by fixing it and talking about it with him

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[crispins]

Well I am waiting on a pulley to arrive.

I am going to clean out the carb on the 14 HP motor in the next day or so and see if it fires up.

I would say by the end of next week I should have it all running and out of my hair.

I may need some help on the wiring, well just how to connect the alternator but I will worry about that after I have it running.

 

[reynoldston]

Oh and it really does not matter how good or bad he took care of it it broke while you had it so your doing the right thing by fixing it and talking about it with him

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If I am reading the first post right. He changed the oil and filters. The only thing that I can see it was a pint low in oil. Which I would not have done. Why in the world did the engine go bad??? Someone not telling the whole story or was the engine on the way out from miss use? As I am reading it, it is not the repair persons fault. Was it ran without oil at another time? Now if he is doing this free for a close friend and this is under stood right from the start and getting parts payed for parts maybe yes. Myself I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. He was servicing the mower not mowing his lawn with it. Just where do you draw the line with service work? As I said before I am not responsible for the owners poor maintenance or worn out mower.