"Dave Liquorice" wrote | Chris Oates wrote: | >> Thats a point but 3.5hp would not have the grunt. This engine | >> 4.5hp... | > fit a Turbo | I want it to mow the lawn not race. B-)
Lawn racing across South Derbyshire [1] Only doing this job 'cos he can't find the shears
Owain
[1] Insert county as appropriateBriggs and Strattons generally very sturdy and take abuse and even modification well! Our current 3.5 HP about ten/twelve years old now (little bowlegged due to being left under several feet of snow a few years back) works fine. A previous B&S (about 25 years ago) required the seized piston to be driven out with a hammer and large punch. We fitted a used piston and it lasted another few years with two hubs piggybacked on the bottom of the engine shaft to get the blade low enough to cut grass; until the steel 'pan/deck' of the mower rusted away (that was the second deck on that mower and it was not dished as low as the original) hence the two hubs! If/when our current mower expires I'll probably just replace it. The price of brand new 3.5 HP absolutely 'bog standard' (no extra features whatsoever and thereby fewer parts to maintain) has increased gradually over the past 10 to 15 years. Our current one cost $129.99 plus approx. 16% sales tax ten years ago. A few years ago they were around $149 to $169, plus tax. The best price (not on sale but just regular retail) at beginning of this summer was $199.00 plus 15% sales tax. Canadian Dollars/Pounds.
129.99 + 16% = $151 Approx. 67 UK pounds. Circa 1990-93. 149.99 + 15% = $173 Approx. 75 UK pounds. Circa 1996 169.99 + 15% = $196 Approx. 85 UK pounds. Circa 1999 199.99 + 15% = %230 Approx. 100 UK pounds. 2003 (Was either Canadian Tire or Home Hardware.) Some companies now use Tecumseh engines but prices are pretty well identical to B&S models.Oh. And by the way. Important. USE STEEL REINFORCED SAFETY FOOT WEAR WHEN MOWING. One individual who later worked for me (in an office capacity!) lost two and a half toes while wearing rubber 'gum boots'/Wellingtons. There are scars on my steel toed/shank work boats to prove they have saved me at least once!
I think I was quoted around £130 for a B&S 3.5bhp motor a year or tow ago..
When I bought my mower, I bouhght it together with my next door neighbour - and Irishman of considerable humour.
HE claimed that in Belfast, the hospitals have an urban legend about someone who came in minus all his finger tips.
He had apparenttly decided to pick the mower up by the baseplate and use it as a hedge trimmer :-)
Just the motor or complete mower? Prices I listed were for a mower; usually the bottom of the line model has a red base with a black engine. You buy it, stick in the vehicle, bring it home, read the instructions add/check the oil, put in gas (petrol) and away you go. For the last few years it has been mandatory for manufacturers to provide them with the safety shut off when you release the handle. Recently I fixed one for a friend that had hit a rock/stone which had bent the grass guide underneath so badly it was mangled and bent. The blade had come up solid and jammed against it. I feared the worst for the engine! Used a cold chisel to cut out the spot welds that held the curved metal grass guide and threw it away. Mower works fine. Cheers.
Hi Dave, I've worked in the garden machinery industry for quite a number of years and have done crank shaft straightening on numerous occassions. You won't do it in situte, the engine has to come off and is bolted into a jig and then the crank is pushed back straight by tightenig bolts against it. It requires some nerve as it takes an awefull lot of pressure and it is possible to break the sump or crank case casting if you are not carefull. Most mower shops will just want to sell you a new mower, engine or crank so you may have to hunt around untill you find a 'good one' that can do it for you.
Hope that helps, BashTin
Motor bare. The Hayterette (old cast chassis version) is still going strong after 18 years, and a replacement would cost over 500 squids.
Its the best rough corner cutter I have come across, and I am loath to replace it wioth somethig plasticky and cheap.
It is NOT the No 1 mower, tho. I use it for the edges of teh garden and round trees.
Hmm. The No 1 mower is held together by prayers and bits of bent tin. Its a westwood ride on. Its alarmingly badly made, apart ftom its B & S engine, which has never missed a beat.
Engine since taken to village garage and the flywheel removed(*). Trouble is the bottom sump casting has a long tube (2") that is only just clearance on the shaft. Needless to say the shaft is far to bent to pass through this tube. B-(
If I cut the end off the crankshaft I can get it out but then *will* require a new crankshaft... grrr.
(*) I don't have a 23mm socket for the nut and even if I had the holes that are supposed to accept the bolts for a puller hadn't been tapped out. Garage of course had a puller big enough to go over the outside, even then it was damn tight and need persuasion from an airline hammer to break the joint to get it off.
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