On 12/21/10 17:20 , m II wrote:
On 10-12-21 03:39 PM, D. Peter Maus wrote:
On 12/21/10 16:34 , m II wrote:
On 10-12-21 02:54 PM, D. Peter Maus wrote:


I'm still using a Briggs powered lawnmower my father purchased new in
1964. I mowed every lawn in the neighborhood, at 1 hour each, for 5
years, when I lived in New Duchesne Hills, two neighbors' lawns at 1.5
hours each, in Hazelwood for 8, and my own, sometimes twice a week,
since new.

It's still running, still starts on the second crank, every time.


Had it been better built, it would still be on it's FIRST crank.

Actually, that's not true. A carburetor takes at least one crank to
begin to draw correctly.


I
didn't even know you could get rebuild parts....


I've put one set of bearings in it. And carburetor membranes. Other than
that, haven't needed any


That was meant as a joke. I KNOW you meant 'crank' as a pull on the
starting rope. I used the term as a shortening of 'crankshaft'. Not too
many people would change that.

No, actually, I meant 'crank' as in crank. There is no starter
rope on this model. You turn it over with a fold out crank handle on
the top of the engine...where the traditional recoil starter would be.

As for changing out a crank...I've done it. Not on this model,
obviously, but I did service lawnmowers for a number of years. The
most common failure on Tecumseh engines I saw was spun bearings and
cracked crankshafts.

One of my experiments a number of years ago, was on a Murray I
picked up at a garage sale. It had a Tecumseh motor on it and it
needed a tune up and a carb kit. Took about an hour and a half to
rebuild the carb and I had it running. While doing the tune-up, I
got the bright idea to improve performance by as much as I could get
away with. Fitting new rings, balancing the crank/rod/piston
assembly, shaving the head, hand lapping the valves, porting and
polishing, and rejetting the carb, I got it to nearly double it's
full run rpm's, but it required premium fuel.

On a smooth payment, it would dance around the output shaft by
itself. And the output chute could drive a wind tunnel. It was the
only lawn mower that needed a tail rotor.

I had to advance the timing by a bit to get it to run smoothly,
and put a bigger squirrel cage fan on it to keep it cool. And I put
a port fin on the exhaust header, but it started strong, and ran
like a monster.

Until the casting let go.

I was picking aluminum out of the siding on the garage for
months. Hot oil flew 50 feet in every direction. And I never did
find the spark plug.

But, damn, for those two hours, it was something.

Never tried to punch up a Briggs, though.