so waht ya doin today?

fiver

Well-Known Member
I dunno,,,,,,,,, dragging a welder through 3-4' of snow is probably gonna toughen you up a bit more than you think.

that 6013 looks like it laid some pretty decent welds down.
I used to love a rod called MG-500 it was pretty pricey [what rod ain't] but I never had to so much as tap the flux cover off the stuff, it would just curl up as the weld cooled off.
I could bridge [like 3/8"] gaps with it and it would run at lower amp settings.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I kept having to turn it down, ended up at 70 amps and it would still burn a hole through the pipe if I shoved on it. It filled 1/4" gaps no problem, even on the bottom side, all i did was manipulate the rod angle and distance to keep the puddle floated up in the gap while it burned out the rust and let her eat. Used a bunch of rods, and it ain't fast, but it works good on this rusty pipe. The flux doesnt come off very easily, but that's because it doesn't build a thick layer. 7018 rods will shuck the flux off like a centipede curling up as the weld cools if you do it right, bu that thick layer traps all the impurities and is a bee-atch to weld upside down with because that flux globs up and snuffs the arc.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I think it was 7018, maybe 7014, that we used to call "beauty rod". You went in with 6011 and bubble gummed whatever greasy, rusty, paint covered old trash you could find together, ground off the worst of it and then finished up with the "Beauty Rod". Any idiot (trust me I know idiocy) could finish it off and look like the greatest welder in the world. The slag would drop off as it cooled and it always looked nice. I don't think it penetrated worth beans and you had to have a decent base, but it sure looked nice.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Worked on manure spreaders today. Yeah, I know, crappy job. One needed some adjustment so it didn't try to dump the whole load off in 50 feet and a snap ring replaced that apparently fled the country of it's own accord. Had to cut a few threads to add a little adjustment to 40 years of wear and weld a little extension on a dog that held the do-hickey that does the adjusting in place. Got-er-done.

2nd spreader was the New Holland disaster I've been working on for 20 years. Finally had it pull it's front half into it's back half this winter, so it's gonna be a water, wire and wood wagon. Repaired the light weight sheet metal assembly New Holland jokingly refers to as "the frame" and bolted some heavy 3"x4"x3/8"angle in place to support the whole thing. I'd already replaced the light weight sheet metal assembelies New Holland jokingly refers to as "the axles" (seeing a trend here?) with 3 1/2" and 4" pipe welded solid to the light weight sheet metal........never mind, I fixed the axle, 'nuff said. I should be able to put our 300 gallon water cube in the back over the axle and the net fencing and whatnot up front. Frees up my F350 which needs brake line work ASAP so I can get to the lumber yard for suplies to build the buck/ram enclosure. The boys are starting to pay a little too much attn to the ladies, so it's time to get them in off the pasture.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Speaking of water, after supper I leveled off a spot on the little grassy mesa across the driveway from the living room and put the new 110-gallon flexy rubberishplasticish water trough down, cobbled together enough garden hose ro reach it, and pumped it full of the Trinity aquifer's finest. From where we sit, now we can watch the deer come in for a drink.
 

Gary

SE Kansas
I have this old riding mower, a Snapper Z series mower I purchased new in July of 1995. I hate to say this for fear of causing an immediate disaster concerning her ride-ability, but outside of a couple of belt changes she is stock as I bought her.
That said, I gave her a new set of blades yesterday. She liked the new feel.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I've got a snapper walk behind rear wheel drive. Been a great mower, use it for all the places that are too difficult to get the Husqvarna riding mower. 6 years old now and the Briggs has developed a rod knock. :( It has never been run a drop low on oil and it has no idea what dirty oil is. The problem? The splash oil system and nothing here flat, run an engine with a splash oil system instead of an oil pump and when on an angle the engine is not getting oiled. I contacted the dealer I bought it from and they checked with Brigg's, that engine for a bolt in swap is no longer made. :mad: So I have a game plan, I shall run it until it don't. Replacement comparable mower in the $400-$600 range. Dang. :(
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I just done an engine transplant.
it was another brand for a B&S and everything lined right up.
fitting the new 'Universal-ish' type Blade took about as long as the engine swap did.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I thought about a brand swap or even seeing if a rebuild kit may be available. I'm no fan of Brigg's, haven't been for years but seems about everything these days is using them. I'm also no fan of imports but I gotta admit that Honda has the small engines figured out. I'm thinking the next one will be either a Honda mower or a brand of mower that uses Honda engines.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
Honda is super proud of their products, maybe that's a case of getting what you pay for with them though.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
No doubt Honda small engines are more money but not if I don't have to replace it every 5 or 6 years.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
I've got a snapper walk behind rear wheel drive. Been a great mower, use it for all the places that are too difficult to get the Husqvarna riding mower. 6 years old now and the Briggs has developed a rod knock. :(

...SNIP
I am a BIG fan of the Snapper walk-behind High Vac, rear wheel drive with differential (so you don't tearup the grass).
Their design is relatively unchanged for decades. I use to have a "redneck" side-business in lawn equipment repair...that's another long story. Anyway, That's when I fell in love with the Snapper. Since the time I quit the lawn equip repair, If I seen a snapper at a garage sale, I'd buy it to fix up or for parts. I've used and abused 4 snappers over then last 20 years...done some motor swaps (used motors) to keep 'em going.

ANYWAY, three years ago, I bought a HF Predator on the advice of a discussion forum,,,they claimed it would bolt right up. It DID bolt right up, the shaft was the correct diameter and the correct length. I learned a lesson long ago, that push mower engine designs have different shaft lengths. HF's China clone of a Honda design has been refined over the years and are quite reliable now.

That is my recomendation.
https://www.harborfreight.com/55-hp-173cc-ohv-vertical-shaft-gas-engine-carb-69731.html
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Ditto on the HF Predator engines being good. Only caveat is to do an oil change or 2 in the first 1/2 of run time. Internal cleanliness has not quite been grasped has a good idea in China yet...
 

JonB

Halcyon member
Oh, I should add a couple things if you go with a HF Predator.
If you use the bagger, with the plastic mount on the chassis, The HF Muffler will exaust right onto it and melt it, The simple redneck fix is to remove and remount the Muffler. There are only two bolts holding it on, so it can be mounted backwards, which moves the muffler body forward of the engine and will not exhaust onto the plastic.
ALSO, they don't have a oil drain plug. You drain the oil out of the filler plug. to do so, you have to lay the mower on it's side...it's a bit messy. I haven't heard of a fix for that yet.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
Yes to what Bret said ...change oil a couple times when new.

I found a suggested break-in procedure on the discussion forum.
>Fill with oil
>run engine at various throttle settings, meaning rev up, then let idle down.
>Do that for 10 minutes, change oil.
>run engine again at various throttle settings for 30 minutes, change oil.
>DONE.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks Jon, I just may look into that. I'll give that some consideration given the price. No bagger, mulch only. Few of these small engines have an oil drain plug, I've worked out a solution where I set the mower on a rack about a foot and a half off the floor so I can easily tip it over and drain into a funnel, works great. In trying to figure out how to change oil in the log splitter I read the Brigg's owner manual which had wise advice, it said to just tip it over. Uh, say what? Maybe not considering the 600 pounds the thing weighs. :confused: Had to buy a hand pump and suck it out, works well. I'm an oil change nut on everything I own. Most times I change oil in the truck it doesn't even change color.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I'd drain the oil, put about twice as much paint thinner in the crankcase as oil that I drained out, crank it over a few times slow with the spark plug wire grounded, roll/shake/swish etc. to rinse the trash out, drain, repeat, then put oil in it, put it on the machine, and run it for ten minutes, change the oil, etc.

The kind of grit I've seen inside Chinesium stuff is a special kind, it's like a mix of grinding wheel debitage and mill scale.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
The rod is the weak link in most of those small air cooled motors. Most don't have a bearing from rod to crank. The rod is aluminum. If you haven't run it long knocking, a new rod, rings, hand lapping the valves, & new head gasket will buy you another 500hr. That's about all those were designed for.

I've had great luck with the lifan honda clones. Carroll Stream motor co ship's them out pretty reasonable. They also honored their warranty fwiw.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I'm sure the main problem here is the splash oil system, it runs most times on fairly steep hills. All of these small engines are the same with the oil, never seen one yet that had a pump & filter. Years ago they made 2 cycle lawn mowers, if they still did I'd buy one in heart beat. 2 cycle doesn't care about hills and run on steep ground, could run it upside down if ya wanted. :rolleyes:
 

Ian

Notorious member
They make electric ones that are pretty good now, but I don't know if any are self-propelled.