Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why would a basic Briggs & Stratton steel MTD deck mower die after 3 years?
Might have something to do with him boasting about not bothering with any silly maintenance like oil changes or filter changes, because apparently global warming is a fraud or... I dunno... something like that.
That is interesting about the Honda GCV engine. Thats their consumer engine. I thought it was odd they used it on friends $800 Honda. But if one you picked out of trash has lasted eleven years, and they use them on high end mower, then maybe better engine than I thought. They are an odd OHC engine with a timing BELT internal. When belt goes, engine goes. Its not really a rebuildable engine. And being internal, guessing nobody replaces the belt as part of maintenance. Dont even know if you can buy just belt as a spare??? But hey I have never tried one so couldnt say if it can be coaxed to go 20 years. I do know the genuine Honda GXV can go twenty years, maybe longer. Its an OHV engine.
I didn't even know there was an internal timing belt. That's news to me, but then again I haven't don't much to this mower other than keep it spotless and make sure there is oil in there. I did check the serial number on the engine though, and it is a GCV with the tell-tale split case.
It's been a great engine for me and now this thread has made me slightly guilty so I will go perform some basic maintenance like change the oil and put a new air filter in it and maybe even change out that belt (or not). It's probably due a blade as well. I do know my way around an engine, but given that I spent $0 initially for this mower, I really didn't pay much thought to it. Now i'll go pay a little more attention to it.
I tried to find this particular mower but it's been discontinued. Best I can estimate it that it was a $350ish mower. Not cheap, but not particularly high end.
Every spring, I see lawnmowers put out on the curb. Once in a while I do grab one and 9 times out of 10 find the carb is just gummed up (don't store a mower with ethanol fuel in it). I have an ultrasonic bath so a quick disassemble and dip and it's running again. I've usually given them to relatives, or sold a few on FB marketplace, or just took the engine for a go kart build for the kids. In my area, I guess people are chucking lawnmowers over poor winter storage.
My weedwhacker is also a curbside restoration. I run 4-5 year old mixed, dirty gas in that thing and it runs great.
My snowblower I bought new and treat better than my personal car. That machine makes my life so much better in the winter and is worth every penny of the $1900 I paid for it.
Last edited by BostonMike7; 06-23-2020 at 07:58 AM..
Can I just say that I absolutely love this mower? I love that I don't smell gasoline and that I can rinse the bottom off. I have a smaller grass area- about 25 by 125 ft, but this has worked so well. You can purchase an additional battery if you have a larger area. I have had it two years.
I just reread your post and saw the note about the rugged terrain and large area. I'm not sure this mower would be best, but I have kind of pushed it to the limit cutting pretty tall grass and it held it's own.
Yea small wheel mowers really dont work well here, however they are powered. Before I got my ancient Yazoo with 20 inch rear wheels, it was like I had to drag dang mower around. I liked that Yazoo, why I keep it going, but friend had an old Kee mower and it was lighter weight (aluminum deck) but same belt drive design with engine back between rear wheels. This design is lot better balanced. I have looked and looked for one of those, they were the penultimate of push mowers. Yes they look kinda strange, but first time you use one, you forget all that.
Of course like most Americans, he abused it and treated it like a throw away. Yea he was stupid, that was absolutely by far best push mower ever IMHO.
There are areas small battery mower would work at my place, but not as only mower... These are great for small postage stamp size lawn. I like tinkering with engines but sometimes they really arent the greatest tool to use. Heck back when I went to college and dinosaurs roamed the countryside, I lived in a trailer court. Landlord required we mow our tiny lawns. if we didnt he would with his power mower and charge extra. He provided choice of several push type real mowers all armstrong powered that we could use for free. They really were ok for small lawn. I wouldnt want to try and mow a suburban size lot with one. Smallest twig can lock them up. they are picky about height and quality of grass.
Oh I watched some long youtube comparing various battery mowers. Some could do over an acre on single charge. Thats best of the best. Thats impressive. I am sure they are not cheap. They didnt give prices. Cheapest electric mower is kind you plug in. Its just royal pain to deal with LONG extension cord. Mom had one back in 70s cause she didnt want to deal with gas engine. It mowed just like regular gas push mower, but you had to really watch so you didnt run over the cord. If it was relatively small lawn, I would have no problem with one like it. Funny Mom got that mower then only used it few times after I moved out of the area. Some guy in neighborhood that would mow lawn cheap, so she just hired him.
I have a Craftsman 6.5 horse, self propelled, that is about 20 yrs old. Engine is still good, but it's been sitting the past 2 years because I overhauled the carb and messed it up. Was running great - still didn't burn oil. The working mower is maybe 10 years newer, another Craftsman, self-propelled. Runs great. If I fix the float bowl on the old one, it should be good to go again. Of course, for $20, I could buy a replacement carb.
I read a study some decades back about small engine devices. They looked at engine life compared to oil change interval. When you got down to changing the oil every hour of operation - lifetime was practically infinite. I compromise and change every 4-8 operating hours. That may be an aggressive schedule, but the proof is in the pudding. I know a neighbor who buys a new mower every year rather than bother changing the oil. He doesn't believe changing the oil would make a difference.
I have a Craftsman 6.5 horse, self propelled, that is about 20 yrs old. Engine is still good, but it's been sitting the past 2 years because I overhauled the carb and messed it up. Was running great - still didn't burn oil. The working mower is maybe 10 years newer, another Craftsman, self-propelled. Runs great. If I fix the float bowl on the old one, it should be good to go again. Of course, for $20, I could buy a replacement carb.
I read a study some decades back about small engine devices. They looked at engine life compared to oil change interval. When you got down to changing the oil every hour of operation - lifetime was practically infinite. I compromise and change every 4-8 operating hours. That may be an aggressive schedule, but the proof is in the pudding. I know a neighbor who buys a new mower every year rather than bother changing the oil. He doesn't believe changing the oil would make a difference.
Well, o-kay then!
Say it outright, if you can get any engine to last 20 years with regular use, you are far ahead of game. Dont happen to know what brand/model of engine that was? Craftsman brand mowers used variety of engines over the years. I keep forgetting 20 years is still too new to be in my realm of experience. That Honda GXV plus some chinese clones of it are all I really have much experience with last 30 years. I guess I used a Briggs flathead 5hp for few years, but it was old design and though they called it commercial duty, it wasnt. It had most annoying auto choke float bowl carburetor, finally had to disable the choke. Think before it gave up ghost I finally put non-original carb on it. I much preferred the old regular Briggs 5hp with the diaphram carb that bolted to gas tank. Here like this:
Its been an interesting push lawn mower summer. The Murray with the Briggs 500e has done well. Still starts one pull with the Tecumseh carb. Liked it well enough I upgraded the stubby screw in dipstick (for which you need to use a screw driver) that makes mess if you change oil, to one of the tall ones from a higher spec "e" engine. No screwdriver needed and lot easier to add/change oil. Little tabs were there and all, just had to cut notch out of the shroud. Now heard some horror stories of people hitting something solid and the sump casting on bottom of engine cracks.... Hopefully dont experience that. It obviously wasnt designed to last for the ages. Thin castings and plethora of plastic. (plastic starter cup.... seriously?) But for most people its that original plastic carburetor that is biggest PITA on "e" engines.
On Yazoo, got tired of no restart hot and saw an old Honda GCV160 I own setting in back corner of shed, that I had forgotten about. Off some old mower I picked up and the bolt in end crankshaft broke off in crankshaft so it set for 10 years forgotten. The Yazoo is belt driven so broken bolt not problem, just put on a pulley. It kicked back like Missouri mule starting when damp weather not as bad in dry weather (made me remember it did that ten years ago) and not easy to start hot or cold despite thorough cleaning of carb. Take about six firm pulls. It would however start hot. Adjusting valves did nothing, finally got clue it might be funky ignition module (molded into coil) so bought cheapest new compatible Honda coil off ebay. Solved problems. No kickback and starts with one pull. restarts easy hot. I have become rather fond of the GCV. Its not as robust design as the GXV but has good reputation. Other than no oil drain plug, its a good match for the Yazoo. Has good torque at the speed I want to run it.
So really curious about the Predator clone engine I formerly had on the Yazoo that wouldnt restart hot. Temporarily mounted it to old junk mower deck. Could it be "the module"???? Another cheap coil from China. Bingo. Starts hot or cold one pull. Is there a pattern here.... Apparently Honda design ignition modules dont just quit like every small engine ignition module I ever owned, instead they go bit wonky. Worth a try on any HOnda mower engine that is hard to start but once started, runs fine. Also if it has choke, make sure choke is closing completely when engine cold. GCV has kinda weird choke system.
How about 16 years for a Toro mulching mower and the oil been changed less that 5 times. ( better to change the oil every season) It starts right up and runs well, however I feed it real gas that is ethanol free! Save the corn for the cattle.
Recently had a Murray that I purchased for $200.00 and it lasted 4 summers. Got it in June 2017 and ran it through July 2020. Did not mow all year as I lived in a cold part of the country and only mowed April through October. Mowed 2.2 acres by hand every 1.5 weeks, took me 3 days to mow the whole thing as I would mow in sections (ie: front lawns, rear lawns, back field). The last summer the mower was just about shot physically as all of the height adjusting levers had broken off. The Briggs & Stratton engine was still running strong so I gave it to my neighbor who wanted it for parts.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
