Replacement Harbor Freight engine and their excellent extended warranty.

[slumlord]

Two years ago,I was in a tight spot and decided that a Harbor Freight engine was my best option to get a big 520h wheel horse back to work. The grass was growing fast,and because the mower had a P series Onan,which are very costly to repair,I decided to try a Harbor Freight engine. It took some modification,but by golly,it started and ran and had enough power at 13 HP to mow the grass. The electric starter quit working last year due to poor quality in the key switch /safety switch area not letting power get to the solenoid. The key still functioned as an ignition on-off switch but the start position did not work. No big deal as it would always start on the first or second pull of the rope.
I got to thinking that the extended warranty I bought would get a new engine that had a functioning electric starter,so why not?. Two years to the day I took it in and got a replacement 14 horsepower as they no longer made the 13 HP unit. When I remarked how lucky I was to catch the warranty so close to the end,they said that I still had 90 days left as the two year warranty extends or adds to the free 90 day warranty. You get only one free replacement engine in this time period,however.
So I got my new engine at no cost even though it was more expensive than the old one. They also offered me a two year [plus 90 day] warranty on this engine for 38 bucks. I jumped all over the offer.
BTW,a Small Engine Warehouse engine would run 1500 for this tractor,and the Harbor Freight less than 300 on sale. The HF engine uses about half the fuel compared to the OEM Onan. This solution is not for everyone,but I still have my lawn mowed and an extra 1200.00 in my pocket.

 

[Rocketman]

Two years ago,I was in a tight spot and decided that a Harbor Freight engine was my best option to get a big 520h wheel horse back to work. The grass was growing fast,and because the mower had a P series Onan,which are very costly to repair,I decided to try a Harbor Freight engine. It took some modification,but by golly,it started and ran and had enough power at 13 HP to mow the grass. The electric starter quit working last year due to poor quality in the key switch /safety switch area not letting power get to the solenoid. The key still functioned as an ignition on-off switch but the start position did not work. No big deal as it would always start on the first or second pull of the rope.
I got to thinking that the extended warranty I bought would get a new engine that had a functioning electric starter,so why not?. Two years to the day I took it in and got a replacement 14 horsepower as they no longer made the 13 HP unit. When I remarked how lucky I was to catch the warranty so close to the end,they said that I still had 90 days left as the two year warranty extends or adds to the free 90 day warranty. You get only one free replacement engine in this time period,however.
So I got my new engine at no cost even though it was more expensive than the old one. They also offered me a two year [plus 90 day] warranty on this engine for 38 bucks. I jumped all over the offer.
BTW,a Small Engine Warehouse engine would run 1500 for this tractor,and the Harbor Freight less than 300 on sale. The HF engine uses about half the fuel compared to the OEM Onan. This solution is not for everyone,but I still have my lawn mowed and an extra 1200.00 in my pocket.

I am not familiar with Harbor Freight engines, what is the brand name fo their engines? Are they a Chinese made item?

 

[midnite rider]

Harbour freight has some big savings even though the quality may not be as good. I have bought many items from them that have been effective for my use as a homeowner. As for the professional, he or she may not be served as well. I did not see any engines sold by them in a vertical shaft of that large a horsepower? Was this part of the modifications you did are was your original engine a horzontal shaft. Below is one of their engines they sell online.

The Predator 346cc OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine 11HP - Certified for California​

 

[motoman]

Over the years I have bought a lot of H Frt stuff. About 80% is good enough to do the job for me, a home owner. I am leery of their steel products as most are not what advertized: won't hold an edge, but sometimes they surprise you . Usually the surprise is not straight China, but an intermediary such as DrillMaster whose stuff is ok. The wood rasps are good. I would not touch a (mainland china) drill or saw. The air regulator (red two jugs) I used and kept repairing pure junk. I belonged to Inside Track for years until their offerings became low level junk.
After that I went to the retail stores which are sometimes surprisingly good. One example. An "800 ft lb" air hammer wouldn't tear out of a wet paper bag (on line purch). After 10 years and no receipt the sales dude said bring it in. He sold me a great "earthquake" model for about $10. I keep going to H Frt. Just be careful.

 

[slumlord]

Harbour freight has some big savings even though the quality may not be as good. I have bought many items from them that have been effective for my use as a homeowner. As for the professional, he or she may not be served as well. I did not see any engines sold by them in a vertical shaft of that large a horsepower? Was this part of the modifications you did are was your original engine a horzontal shaft. Below is one of their engines they sell online.

The Predator 346cc OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine 11HP - Certified for California​

Yes,it is a horizontal shaft engine. The old engine was a Greyhound and the new one is a Predator The mods that i made were to raise the engine 1.5 inches to center the output shaft, make up a drilled plate to reposition the holder for the clutch yoke, and increase the output shaft from 1" to 1-1/8"
The main point I am trying to make is the excellent warranty. Boiled down to the simplest terms, you can buy a motor and run it for 2.25 years and get another engine for the cost of the extended warranty. Then run your free replacement for another 2.25 years for just 38 bucks. This could go on forever. If someone was less than honest,he could take a wire loose or some such thing and get a new engine on a regular schedule.
I have read about kids who take the HF motor and increase the RPM's way past the design limit and just hammer the beejesus out of them on go-Karts and such. They even put stronger springs in them to counter valve float at high revs. I wonder how many of those abused engines get returned to the store ?
My particular engine still runs and performs fine,but it was the electric start switch that went out. If I had not bought the warranty,I could have added a starter button to bridge the solenoid and just kept mowing. I just hope that the new Predator is as good as the old Greyhound. I will definitely put a better air filter on the new engine that is more like the Greyhound because mowing is a dusty environment and the Predator air filter leaves much to be desired.
If you are fond of doing maintenance on your engines--things like adjusting valve clearance and such,then this engine is not for you.There are no repair manuals available that I know of. I suppose that out there somewhere on the web there exists a forum on how to work on these engines as they are said to be Honda clones.
As far as vertical shaft engines,HF sells only a 6 HP motor for walk behind mowers

 

[motoman]

It may be hard to admit, but since our country got us out of the manufacturing business others have jumped in and got better and better. Remember in the 60's returning Japanese bearings when stores sold them. The Japanese, Koreans and now China are making most of our stuff. The Chinese motorcycles are average quality clones of others. The upside , perhaps , is competition, which should improve things. Listening Briggs, and Kohler?

 

[noma]

Hi All

I also have one of those grayhound hf engines on my walk behind tiller and it does very good there don't use it a lot but for the $100.00 bucks it cost me it's ready to go when i need it . This one doesn't start to good when it's cold out side and don't know way. But i like it too.:licking::licking::licking::licking:

 

[djdicetn]

It may be hard to admit, but since our country got us out of the manufacturing business others have jumped in and got better and better. Remember in the 60's returning Japanese bearings when stores sold them. The Japanese, Koreans and now China are making most of our stuff. The Chinese motorcycles are average quality clones of others. The upside , perhaps , is competition, which should improve things. Listening Briggs, and Kohler?

motoman,
Unfortunately, you are soooooooo right:0( Now if I were to buy a motorcycle, I would still lean towards a good ole USA Harley Davidson(thank goodness for some red, white & blue manufacturing). But look at how far Kia and Hyundai have come since they were intoduced(at first they were "cheap junk", but now they are competitive quality-wise with all the other automobile players). Same with electronics.....when Samsung first introduced TV sets I wouldn't have touched one.....now they are "top-of-the-line" as is some of the new kids on the block like Vizio. USA economics(corporate greed) and politics have undermined us a a leading manufacurer of almost everything and that is why we are where we are. I have been employed in IT for 43 years(mainframe computer) and now outsourcing and off-shoring is forcing me into retirement. Shame on corporate America and shame on our political system for allowing this!!!!!!!!

 

[motoman]

Well Mr djdicetenn, you fared much better than my wife and I who were squeezed and popped out into the street 12 years ago by our caring corporate giants. Luckily we were able to withstand...back to the topic. I fought to keep buying American with my final pathetic attempt the Chev Citation (v6 choked down lean and would not start half the time) and Ford Tempo (a disguised truck engine). One day looking for a decent car for my daughters I drove a Nissan Sentra with the 2.0 liter SER engine-holy cow we ( USA) couldn't touch it. So started to mix in Japanese and good stuff it is.

I know the US craftsman is alive. He's just hiding in his garage and maintaining and modifying. I wish the younger guys would branch out beyond the "dremel." Come on guys there's a world of tools out there.

We read about the 3D printers which promise to revolutionize manufacturing, including printing organs and parts of the anatomy. Hmmm, let's see if I can think of an organ or maybe a face I could order. Probably a few years away yet.

 

[djdicetn]

Well Mr djdicetenn, you fared much better than my wife and I who were squeezed and popped out into the street 12 years ago by our caring corporate giants. Luckily we were able to withstand...back to the topic. I fought to keep buying American with my final pathetic attempt the Chev Citation (v6 choked down lean and would not start half the time) and Ford Tempo (a disguised truck engine). One day looking for a decent car for my daughters I drove a Nissan Sentra with the 2.0 liter SER engine-holy cow we ( USA) couldn't touch it. So started to mix in Japanese and good stuff it is.

I know the US craftsman is alive. He's just hiding in his garage and maintaining and modifying. I wish the younger guys would branch out beyond the "dremel." Come on guys there's a world of tools out there.

We read about the 3D printers which promise to revolutionize manufacturing, including printing organs and parts of the anatomy. Hmmm, let's see if I can think of an organ or maybe a face I could order. Probably a few years away yet.

motoman,
I hear ya...I have a 1995 Chevy Silverado Z71(90% American, 10% Canadian) that's built like a rock(230K miles and going strong...original 350 V8). But I bought my wife a new 2001 Lincoln LS for Mother's Day(Ford product, but only because Ford bought Jaguar from British Leyland). I owned 5 different MG Midgets(1972 off the showroom floor my first for $1,700...no not a typo < $2k) and 4 others over my lifetime(sold my last one, a '67 in 2000 because my wife wanted a bass boat...gotta love that:0). Never dreamed I would own a Jaguar(the infamous "Ultimate Cat" of the 70's with the XKE V12). When I found out the Lincoln LS was a Jaguar S-type sedan, with Lincoln detailing and the company I worked for could get me a Ford X-Plan employee price it was between that and a Pontiac Bonneville SSE for the same money and a "no brainer" decision. I did the first oil change(all the Fords recommend every 5K miles and I'm an old-school 3,000 mile oil change kind of guy, The first 36K miles/3 years maintenance(including oil changes) was "free", so I did an oil change in between at every other 2,500 miles(and supplied Penzoil to the dealership for their maintenance). My first 2,500 mile oil change replaced the white no-name oil filter(labeled "Made In England") with the equivalent/recommended Motorcraft. There was no doubt at that time I was driving a Jaguar. I'll have to brag that the LS(with a 3.9 litre V8) got 28mpg highway(until the EPA forced ethanol down our throats) and now gets around 24-25. It handles like a Jaguar and with 151,000 miles will be our post-retirement transportation unless the truck is needed(although many people say "you better buy a NEW car before you retire"). No "payment" on the LS in 7 years offsets any wear & tear maintenance by a long shot versus another 60-72 monthly car payments to replace something that I love driving!!! When Ford sold the Jaguar division to an Indian company it pret' near broke my heart:0( What a travesty....a Jaguar made in India!!!