1974 Sears SS/16

Fish

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Doesn't really matter, to find and buy the parts for this engine are quite prohibitive.
 

gfp55

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Doesn't really matter, to find and buy the parts for this engine are quite prohibitive.
I have 1972 16.5 Onan on a Gravely 816 that gotten parts for some new some used. If the engine ran when he last used it he should be able to get it running again with a little work.
 

Warhorse

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Moving day is fast approaching. I've missed the window for the type of garden I want to plant so I believe I will make this a whinter project and actually restor the tractor. In the meantime I am looking for a 1980's Case 444 through 448 to set up the ground for my garden next spring. I intend on tilling an acre. I like the hydrolics on the case. Any recommendations as to which model would best suit me? I will also be using it to haul logs out of the woods and to clear trails on just a little more than 5 acres of a messy wooded lot filled with undergrowth and such.
 

hbigjim

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Hello Mower people.

I retired about 4 months ago and found I have lots of time on my hands to do just about anything that comes to mind. The reason I joined is due to a project I have decided to take on. I have a 1974 ss/16 with an Onan opposed twin in it that hasn't been cranked since 2000. I've owned it for a little more than 30 years and I am rather partial about it. We (My wife and I) are fixin to move to the country on a five acre lot were I can start another large garden. This is why I want to get my workhorse up and running again. I need a carburator and I am having a problem locating one. Does anyone know if the Onan will accept any other type of carburator other than the one that it has?

I am interested in meeting new people and discussing gardens and tractors so this is my introduction and plea for help.:smile:

I hope to hear from other members soon.

Brian.

Hi Brian,
My name is Jim. I retired a little over 6 years ago. Like you I am a DIY'er and advocate od Sears garden tractors. The Onan's became obsolete after Cummings bought them out around the turn of the century. This makes todays efforts to maintain them extremely expensive (mainly because of availability of new parts). Used parts are sometimes available, but are risky in respect that they might not be as good as what you are trying to replace. A typical price for an overhaul kit for a Onan is $1200. The carb's were mostly Marvel Schebler DD models and were, and still are, very expensive. An overhaul kit is available, at around $70, and the brass float to replace the fiber one that generally goes bad form cracking is another $30 or so. I have five Sears tractors all form the 1970's. I have replaced 3 of the five with Predator engines form Harbor Freight. They are easy retrofits. They are Honda clones. The Honda GX670 and the newer GX690 are virtually the same engine. The Predator retails for $749. The Honda GX690 (the GX670 is also obsolete) is $1500-$1700 depending on vendor. It doesn't come with the muffler. That's another $200 or so. I just did one on my 1975 SS-16. It took about a day. The frame of the tractor is required to be re-bored to mount the new engine, and is a little tricky to get right. A 1" to 1-1/8" adapter for the pulley shaft is required. Drive belt adjustment is required, and sometimes a new correct length belt is required. If it hasn't run since 2000 you probably need one, anyway. They do dry-rot. Minor cutting out of the hood may be required for clearance when closing the hood because of the new configuration of the muffler. I converted the electric starter that was on the new engine to use the choke and throttle cables that were already on the tractor and removed electric control box. My 1975 also has electric lift and angle on the front, and electric angle for the rear blade. I fabricated dual wheel spacers from two 8" steel wheels, and attached four SUNF AO33's on the rear. On the front original ribbed tires I placed links of #60 roller chain for adding traction when pushing snow with the blade, or blades, angled. I designed and had professionally made, a new dash panel decal to reflect the changes. I also added two more headlight/driving light/fog light units in the upper grill for clearer vision if pushing snow at night. Four new illuminated switches are also installed in the dash panel. I have been into gardening, in the past. I still have a tiller (Rroto-Spader) as Sears calls it; I doubled the tines by bating the original tines off of the tiller and added standard tiller tine plates to accept regular tines. I added flotation tires, transformed it form lift to pull type, doubled the drive belts, and added a 11 hp electric start engine. In the near future I want to replace it with a 13 hp. Predator. And on and on. I can go for hours talking about what I have done to make these old brutes more versatile.
And Brian, I realize the concern of many people to maintain the integrity of these old tractors and keep them as original as possible, often with the thought in mind that they are more valuable that way - but in simple language - they are not. I have done it both ways. A retrofit project to me is just as exiting, and time consuming (if you will) as trying to maintain integrity, but because of times, it is not advisable to do it that way. It is all about whether you want people to look at your tractor as original, and admire your integrity for maintaining it that way, or whether, as you stated, you want something to garden with. My five tractors are all daily users. All workable. All will do gardens, work in the yard, (out-cut my 54" Husqvarna), and I have about 30 attachments that work with them. I am 69 years old and have no desire for anything else. I have seen what the newer one are not capable of, and I am well aware of what the older ones will do, without fail.
I hope that this might have helped a little, and if you are interested I have more that I can relay. Good luck with your project, and have a nice day. Sorry to take so much of your time. You need to get busy.
Jim
 

redneckcountryboy

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I have a sears suburban and would love to repower it, but I noticed that the engine I have turn in a clockwise rotation as viewed from the pulley side of the motor, don't the predator engines turn counter clockwise?
 
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