Recent content by tom3

That actually sounds like a pretty good system, rather than the rubber tire running on a rotating steel wheel at 90 degrees. Interesting....

Wow. Using magneto voltage to set timing. What will the demons think of next?

Actually I like to run the twins a bit slower anyway, sounds better to me. I like the sound of a two cylinder motor and when mowing for an hour or so it makes a difference. No magic in 3600 rpm unless it's a generator.

I have a Harbor Freight strobe type tach that works pretty decent. Uses an LED I think, put a strip of foil on the rotating screen on the top of the motor and point the tach at it. Cheap and it works.

My winter paradise. Welcome, let's get it running.

Swap the plugs, see if the problem goes with the plug.

Plug wire is on top of the coil I believe if correct?

Bottom line, the governor is not pulling the throttle back to operating speed.

Somebody wasted a whole lot of time on the chainsaw driven wire wheels.

This is a pretty dumb question, but is it possible to put the coil on upside down, way early ignition?

Engine mount bolts tight? No cracks in motor base or frame?

Is this an overhead valve motor?

Can't beat a good poop joke.

Sure got a load on it.

Also note that most credit cards have removed any buyer protection coverage that the premium cards used to offer, no chargebacks, no airline protections, no extended warranties. etc. Dog eat dog out there with merchandise these days.

I'd guess it's a brushless motor, runs on AC. Those square gizmos are switching transistors, the black round things are capacitors that time the switching for the correct AC supply. I'd also guess it's been run on low voltage or stalled out and the transistors are shot. But first off I'd look...

And I'm guessing the old stock holders have worthless paper now, but the company will reissue renamed shares and the new big shots will really cash in with stock options. Last a while before the roof just caves in. And I have read all about those $800 headlight assemblies, buy a sealed beam...

I got a kick out of this, have to look a little close:

Site doesn't like cell phone pictures. I download to the computer, resize and save with paint, then goes to site easy. Those old front tine tillers are tough, used to see the bouncing around and killing the operator, but keep on going.

Variable speed drive, two belts and varying pulley, singe blade, 30+/- inch blade. Friction reverse. Yep, beat the heck out of a 20" push mower with 1-1/2 hp Briggs.

Take a close look at the hole. Are there any threads left at the bottom of the hole? Put a stud in completely to the bottom, then put a nut on to hold carb. Or put the stud in with some JB weld, leave it sit overnight. Sometimes put a strip of small dia. solder down the hole and force the...

Pretty sure there were riders way before '63. Had a 4 hp motor and handlebar steering, tractor style seat. Hustler? I'm thinking Wheel Horse? This is the one I'm thinking of:

Or take it back to the dealer, either get it fixed or a new replacement?

Dad had an old Gravely that he put an electric starter on when he got too old to pull the strap. He'd turn it forward up on the top of the compression stroke, then hit the button. This would give it two crank rotations to get up to speed for starting. Old machine is still running and gets...

Reminds me of Harleys back in the mid 70s. Half assed final assembly and QC. Hope you can get it straightened out, customer service is pretty much non-existent these days.

If made in China, FOB west coast for about 30 dollars. Sell in Walmart/Amazon for 249.95. Good luck with warranty or service - or any concern whatsoever for your problem. That's today's marketplace.

From what I read when you turn one wheel goes forward while the other wheel actually goes reverse so not to pivot on that inside wheel. But I can't run one of those things at all.

If the cylinder has any serious wear and scoring, you'll see it with the piston down in the hole.

I'd try to relap the valves before doing anything serious. Having the valve sticking open a bit might have messed up the seat to valve contact. Get some lapping compound, probably videos on Youtube on this.

Would that have a Power Products motor on it? That machine goes way back for sure. If you get anywhere with it come back and post, interesting project.

Might check on that gas tank issue. There was/is a recall on a lot of the LB tanks like yours. I checked into it for my leaky F engine tank and it was covered but I would have had to take it to a dealer for replacement. Can't imagine any mower dealer these days fooling with a 40 year old Lawn...

Basic Briggs flathead Kool Bore.. I'd guess the cylinder is shot. New rings might help it but this is getting pretty common these days. The chrome plating on the piston wears and the bare aluminum surfaces rubbing together creates a mess. Hope I'm wrong but you'll have to pull the head and check.

How many hours on the 345?

Bought the wife a new HP desk top with Win 10 a year ago. Hear nothing but complaints and all I get done is trying to clean it out so it will work decent for a couple weeks. My Chromebook works flawless and this old Gateway with Win8 also works pretty decent.

Does this motor have a sleeved bore? Briggs&Stratton calls this an I/C - industrial commercial - engine. If it is sleeved the standard oil is probably ok. I'd still run the Kohler SH/SJ rated oil, or an additive.

I like that VW in your avatar. What does the oil in the mower look like when you drain it for an oil change?

I like that idea of using a ring, squared up with a piston, and comparing the end gap at it goes down the cylinder. Genius, or at least ingenious

Well everybody was thinking it, nobody would post, except me:

That picture is bogus. Anybody knows a Honda doesn't break down.

I suspect this has a brushless motor. These have a lot of electronics to power and control the motor and are highly stressed. One component goes south and it's done. Pretty expensive mower and most reviews are basically negative. Ouch.

The old LB mowers with alloy deck and good wheels that run seem to bring about $100 in season around here. Real handy for trimming but not used for serious mowing. Might post a couple pictures and the Lawn Boy enthusiasts on here can pin-point the year I suspect.

Better than me dragging around that load of leaves.

Are you saying the tractor won't move, and now you have no brakes at all?

Yes. That does have a neutral position.

That old Q-jet is probably good for 800 cfm, doubt they had efi back then that would keep up with that motor. Have one heck of a transmission in it too. If that machine was around here, pull the motor and rent the home out to a pipeliner for $750 a month.

Finally found the 00 grease and took the trimmer head apart. 5 year old Craftsman 25cc straight shaft trimmer. Kind of impressed with what I saw. Roller bearings, steel gears, all looked really good but the old grease seemed like it was just a gob laying there. The new grease is a thick...

Is there a screen type filter in the tank or the carb inlet? Most LBs have one somewhere in the fuel supply.

Does that have the two speed final drive? Might shift it back and forth a couple times to make sure those gears are engaged fully.

I could have some fun with that 454. Late model for a carb, wonder if it has a roller cam?

Do the blades fit tight on the mounting bolt or fit in a star shaped spline of sorts. Maybe one didn't get exactly right and being off balance cause some noise in the spindles or belt tensioners. Odd problem for sure.

When those bass fishers run out of beer they need to get to shore quick!

Any chance of some water in the gas? Just a little in the bottom of the carb bowl and the engine won't run right, or at all.

Not sure what kind of engine is on that mower but leaning it way over can really cause a mess in the motor sometimes. I usually make a chute out of cardboard to channel the oil from the drain pipe to a pan.

My take on this. If you somewhat enjoy mowing the lawn, get a lawn tractor, nice sounding smooth running V-twin with a decent hydro. If you just want to get it done and get off the thing as quick as possible, get a zero turn and learn the tricks.

Some of the newer carbs have a rubber insert in the recess for the float valve. If the needle has a metal tip look for that.

Might make no difference, but my Kohler has had their 10w30 in it since new. Last spring I was in Rural Kind and they had Valvoline oil on sale, way better than $8 a quart, got a couple quarts and changed the oil. Like you, I started smelling oil burning right off. Real quick I changed it...

I wonder if that's the inlet for the primer hose to push air into the float bowl to prime the engine for a cold start?

I'd guess the float or the float needle valve inside the carb needs attention. A really small piece of something in that needle valve will cause the overfill.

If that's a small engine have someone hold up the motor by the flywheel, then whack the crank a couple licks. I'll sometimes put some heat on the flywheel around the center to help.

The L series diagrams show the diodes in the coil circuits and separate line to the solenoids as above.

Yep that's one of them. Better have a stout back end on that boat.

One thing I don't like about those Kohlers is that info sticker. When that falls off it's trouble.

I've played around with the timing change from points to electronic and you see some advance, motor sounds a bit different, more power. Not to sure it's good for an old motor though.

Usually goes the other way, voltage drops. Wonder how a bridge rectifier would work in that circuit?

New key, clean the top of the crank and inside the flywheel taper, tighten that nut really tight. Should do it.

Always amazed me how much power those outboards make. Saw a smaller cruizer boat down in Florida with four 350hp outboards hanging on the back of it. Really wanted to take a ride in that monster.

Aha! As I've said before, learn something every day on here.

A single diode tests as you describe, not sure on the doubles. And I wonder about diodes in a kill circuit. Something odd going on here.

Buy a new Chinese special for a couple hundred bucks. Verify shaft size and rig up the muffler, pretty decent quality. And this place has a bunch of K56 Tuff Torq, hydros for cheap too. https://www.surpluscenter.com/Engines/Gas-Diesel-Engines/Vertical-Shaft-Engines/

Wife is kind of small and the 22" NAKTO was just right for her, and I kind of figured it would be a short lived interest and didn't want to put a lot of money in it, sure might be even shorter "lived" than I expected.

Might get some plastic totes for covers? Stack inside each other when stored. My dad instilled in me to never leave stuff outside, even my wheelbarrow is in the shed.

Is this one of those that you pull up on to allow the switch to move?

My old 18hp flat twin Briggs just sounds good at idle though, sort of lopes like an old Harley. Like to put some straights on that mower but the neighbors probably wouldn't appreciate it.

I've been running Rotella T 15w40 with a dose of Rislone ZDDP additive in my Kohler twin lately. Getting old at 700 hours but this oil seems to do the job fine. Old throwaway JD L130 that I'm going to keep going until it keels over completely.

One thing for sure, John Deere really hit it big with those throw away riders. Get out on a sunny day and those D, E, and L mowers are everywhere. But see Craigs list full of them too, pretty cheap, and no doubt run really good - for 10 or 15 minutes. I do like those variable speed belt drives...

Many years ago I cut a hole in a distributor cap to see how the electronic timing advance worked, couldn't picture it but did see how it worked through the hole. Might have to do that someday on an old Briggs. That big old coil with that air vane shaped over and around it seems like it would...

Indoor shutters here. And we're not that interesting. Living in town does have it's problems sometimes.

Yep, there it is. The one store I didn't go to, LOL. Tractor supply has a pretty good website seems like.

The area you are pin-pointing is just a broached ring to hold the shoulder ring on. The splined pulley is a three piece deal looks like, center and two outer rings. Idler pulley looks ok, need bearing and snap ring? The bearing would sit on a shoulder with the snap ring holding it in on the...

Where do you get this 00 grease?. I've checked several Tractor Supply, Rural King, Menards stores. No luck.

I don't think the zt-2200 hydros are serviceable? Probably still last you a long time with your useage.

And I've often wondered why Briggs is so persistent on blocking that cooling air for the engine. Either a governor or now the choke deal. I took that choke deal off my mower with this deal on it. Another solution looking for a problem.