RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Just saying, if you want to talk about pre-2000 small engines, that is one thing. What you are buying today ain't nothing like that.
Push mower choices?
- Thread starter KeithB
- Start date
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Agree with Ric. At one time B+S was a fine an engine as you could get. But we're talking pre-1975-80. Somewhere along the line Briggs went south in their run of the mill engines. They still make commercial stuff thats pretty decent. Same with Kohler, once a name you could swear by, not anymore. Honda has always been good, but even they aren't what they were in the big box store.
Ian
Notorious member
I'd buy the cheapest new thing I could get. Pretty much everything is garbage except the real pro stuff and those lines change designs often and quit stocking parts for anything older than 3-5 years so you have to buy new sooner than later and the durability advantage is lost.
Small engines have been suffering from crap fuel, offshore low-bidder parts, and unshaved granola-munching envirowackos mandating the engineering for some time now. The most genius thing was eliminating the butterfly choke and replacing it with a bulb pump.
Small engines have been suffering from crap fuel, offshore low-bidder parts, and unshaved granola-munching envirowackos mandating the engineering for some time now. The most genius thing was eliminating the butterfly choke and replacing it with a bulb pump.
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KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
Took current broken mower to repair guy this morning. Brought home a Husky w/Honda motor from Lowes this afternoon. Wife mowing yard with new mower right now. It is a 21" rear wheel drive, the old one is a front wheel drive. Front wheel drive wheel mechanisms have the lifespan of a butterfly. Maybe at least one of them will be working at any given time long enough to get the other one fixed.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
" The most genius thing was eliminating the butterfly choke and replacing it with a bulb pump. "
Now, Now. My 1949 Norton Atlas bike didn't even have that, just a "tickler" to dump gas down the intake manifold.
Now, Now. My 1949 Norton Atlas bike didn't even have that, just a "tickler" to dump gas down the intake manifold.
fiver
Well-Known Member
that stupid rubber don't re-inflate bulb is the bane of my mowing life.
it takes 30 minutes to get everything primed so the engine will start [one pull for 15 years now] and 2 minutes to mow the lawn.
I have thought about redneck engineering a gravity feed bracket and shut off valve but I doubt the kids would ever figure out how to operate it.
it takes 30 minutes to get everything primed so the engine will start [one pull for 15 years now] and 2 minutes to mow the lawn.
I have thought about redneck engineering a gravity feed bracket and shut off valve but I doubt the kids would ever figure out how to operate it.
fiver
Well-Known Member
i had a boat motor like that.
3 carbs and over powered for it's size, I finally drilled a small hole right in front of the middle carb in the housing under the stupid second cover they had on it.
a short psst and it fired right up, choke, no choke, 45, 95, didn't matter.
the mower needs the little bulb pumped up either way, if it isn't the engine will starve for fuel either now or in a few minutes.
the parts ain't worth finding at this point, the engine is easily 15 YO now and it's on a second 'hey can I have that broken mower? deck and assorted other parts.
I don't even remember the original brand of the engine anymore [weed eater I think] or even where I bought it originally.
the current deck says craftsman, and the bag say's something else.
3 carbs and over powered for it's size, I finally drilled a small hole right in front of the middle carb in the housing under the stupid second cover they had on it.
a short psst and it fired right up, choke, no choke, 45, 95, didn't matter.
the mower needs the little bulb pumped up either way, if it isn't the engine will starve for fuel either now or in a few minutes.
the parts ain't worth finding at this point, the engine is easily 15 YO now and it's on a second 'hey can I have that broken mower? deck and assorted other parts.
I don't even remember the original brand of the engine anymore [weed eater I think] or even where I bought it originally.
the current deck says craftsman, and the bag say's something else.
My wife mows what little grass we have with whatever Craftsman mower she bought 10 years ago or so.
It does what it needs to do so I pretty much ignore it. I don’t know if the oil has been changed yet or not?
We eliminated the grass on side yard for some plantings and mulch. Goal is to do the same for the front and be done with mowing forever.
It does what it needs to do so I pretty much ignore it. I don’t know if the oil has been changed yet or not?
We eliminated the grass on side yard for some plantings and mulch. Goal is to do the same for the front and be done with mowing forever.
fiver
Well-Known Member
I have been eliminating grass over the last couple of years.
when phase 3 and 3A of the back garden are finished that will be a full 40 X 90ish foot of lawn eliminated.
phase 4 will get rid of another 15 X 30 foot or so and replace it with bushes and flowers which will be barriered and mulched.
the foot paths I'm putting in right now will most likely be gravel at some point [maybe] to match the ones in the garden.
at least another 15 ton's of gravel is in my future.
when phase 3 and 3A of the back garden are finished that will be a full 40 X 90ish foot of lawn eliminated.
phase 4 will get rid of another 15 X 30 foot or so and replace it with bushes and flowers which will be barriered and mulched.
the foot paths I'm putting in right now will most likely be gravel at some point [maybe] to match the ones in the garden.
at least another 15 ton's of gravel is in my future.
JonB
Halcyon member
Thank God for people trying to sell items right after Christmas (for cash to pay credit card bills?)
I picked up a Plastic deck Honda HRX 217 with Smart Drive tonight for $100.
These are $600 to $700 retail/new.
The seller said it's 5 yrs old and doesn't show any excessive wear from heavy use.
The yard was filled with large trees, so I bet the mowing was mostly patchy grass and bare soil areas.
The Blades are quite dull, but they don't appear to have been sharpened many times.
Actually if I were to take the time to clean it up, I bet it'll look like new.
It started first pull, in a unheated, unattached garage, temp was 30º outside.
They had it listed for $155, but no bag included. It had been listed for several days,
and I suspect they weren't getting many calls...they jumped at my lowball offer.
I'll report more about it in April, when I clean it up, sharpen the blades, and try it out.
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CZ93X62
Official forum enigma
MidwayUSA shipping regimen. I was born at night--but it wasn't last night.
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Mitty38
Well-Known Member
I have always had small lots, like less than an 8th acre. So my mower don' get used too much. I just put another patch on the old Tecumseh I have had since 1985 and keep on rolling. But If I were to buy a newer one, would most likely be a Honda. Unless they still make Tecumseh push mowers.
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Mitty, I don't believe they even make Tecumseh engines anymore. They were a problem child even back in the 80's. If you got a good one, you were blessed, if not- ehhhh, life sux. They seemed to have snowblower engines down, but anything over 45 degrees the problems started. The design was decent, but like Briggs and Kohler, the "consumer quality" mindset seemed to take over.
In that line, I was listening to one of my favorite Sunday morning radio shows last Sun, "The Car Doctor" with a guy named Ron Inanian. Ron was talking about longevity and mentioned an old study that GM did back in the late '60's that showed the estimated service life of a Turbo 400 automatic transmission at about 250,000 miles. The bean counters at GM said that was way too long, so they had the engineers re-design the tranny to give an estimated service life of about 125,000 miles, or so the report says. I don't doubt it a bit.
In that line, I was listening to one of my favorite Sunday morning radio shows last Sun, "The Car Doctor" with a guy named Ron Inanian. Ron was talking about longevity and mentioned an old study that GM did back in the late '60's that showed the estimated service life of a Turbo 400 automatic transmission at about 250,000 miles. The bean counters at GM said that was way too long, so they had the engineers re-design the tranny to give an estimated service life of about 125,000 miles, or so the report says. I don't doubt it a bit.
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