I finally broke down and bought a new mower for the first time ever. I had always bought used or revived dead mowers in the past, but the recession has dried up the stream of available mowers that need a minimum of work. I am only mowing about 1/3 acre with a significant amount of trim-mower type work, so I am getting rid of my 2000 Simplicity rider. My old trim mower is a 3.0 B&S on a cast aluminum Craftsman deck. It has no power, smokes, the carb is finicky, and I think the coil is going bad. It was time.
I got a Craftsman 3-1 Highwheel with the Kohler Courage XT-6. It came down to that or a 190cc Briggs, and I decided to go with the OHV Iron-Sleeved engine. Before I ever started it, I added a fuel filter and fuel shutoff valve (I like running the carb dry every time).
I mowed about an hour on high damp grass in mulch mode and it never lugged in grass that would have stalled my trim mower. The only "Oh Shxx" moment I had was that it started missing and then died after about 3 runs around the yard. I was thinking I was going to have to replace the fuel line and return it when I found the spark plug wire loose.
Very Relieved.
I hadn't seen much in the way of discussion on this engine and thought I would put my first experience out there.
And the answer to the inevitable question: I am planning to change the oil after another hour of use with Delo (I use it on my TW200 dirtbike) and go with roughly 25hr changeouts from there.
I got a Craftsman 3-1 Highwheel with the Kohler Courage XT-6. It came down to that or a 190cc Briggs, and I decided to go with the OHV Iron-Sleeved engine. Before I ever started it, I added a fuel filter and fuel shutoff valve (I like running the carb dry every time).
I mowed about an hour on high damp grass in mulch mode and it never lugged in grass that would have stalled my trim mower. The only "Oh Shxx" moment I had was that it started missing and then died after about 3 runs around the yard. I was thinking I was going to have to replace the fuel line and return it when I found the spark plug wire loose.
Very Relieved.
I hadn't seen much in the way of discussion on this engine and thought I would put my first experience out there.
And the answer to the inevitable question: I am planning to change the oil after another hour of use with Delo (I use it on my TW200 dirtbike) and go with roughly 25hr changeouts from there.