how to use the harbor freight 5.5 greyhound vertical shaft engine on a tiller.
I bought one of these engines without looking closely at it. when I unpacked the engine, I realized that it would not work for a tiller, simply because of the aluminum flywheel. In fact the box staes, "for lawn mower use only"....oh oh !
Anyone that has fooled around with small engines knows that a small engine that runs anything except a lawn mower blade, must have a cast iron flywheel. If not, the engine will kick back, and shear the flywheel key, and just run terrible, if it starts at all. If you ever tried to start a push mower without a blade, you know what I'm talking about.
I was about to put this thing back in the box and return it, then I remembered something. I had a 5.5 harbor freight chinese generator(chicago electric) in the garage with a blown rod. Humm......I wonder if that flywheel would work on this engine?
So I tore the generator apart, and sure enough, it was a cast flywheel. I took it off. Then I tore apart the vertical engine and removed it's aluminum flywheel.
the keys in the shaft is identical. the aluminum flywheel, is one piece, the Iron flywheel, has a different ,magnent , is thicker, and has a seperate plastic fan that is held on by the starter flange and nut.
also, the starter flange is shorter on the iron flywheel,, due to the extra thickness you will need this shorter flange..
Proceed as follows.
keep all original parts in case you need to return the engine for warranty. I purchased the two year plan..
remove the top cover (friggin metric bolts!!!!)
Remove the flywheel.
remove the mag.......NOTE there are spacers between the Mag and the block......don't loose these!!
The Iron flywheel will sit closer to the engine block, being thicker, so you need to do the following to gain clearance.
remove the engine blade brake (you dont need it on a tiller anyway)
remove the fuel tank from the front of the engine. You will find two more spacers under the fuel tank bolts. obtain shorter bolts and remount the fuel tank without the spacers. if you don't, the flywheel will collide with the bolts.
Install the iron flywheel, plastic fan and the SHORT starter flange from the 'donor" engine.
the top plastic cover is mounted on the engine by three studs screwed in the block, and one holds one side of the mag., unscrew these, and install a small washer under them, between the studs and block, I had to do this to keep the fan from rubbing the top cover. The top cover just needs to be raised very slightly.
Install the spacers under the mag, and set it up. reinstall the top cover. make sure the pull rope works.
Reinstall the kill wire on the bottom of the mag. this can be modified later. it was originally on the brake.
Notes....
I had my doubts about the engine timing, because the magnents appeared to be slightly different places when the flywheels were lined up with the keyway. However, the engine started at second pull, and sounded good. On the old tiller, it has a LOT of power, and runs smooth and quiet.
The donor parts were from a harbor freight 5.5 horse generator(2500 watt) with a horizontal chinese engine. I needed the flywheel, fan and starter flange. I do not know if these parts can be purchased at harbor freight, but I would say it would be a safe guess that the greyhond 5.5 horizontal engine would also have these parts, or perhaps be ordered. It's still cheaper than a briggs engine.
with any article this sounds harder than it really is. however, if you need a cheap vertical shaft engine, this is well worth looking into.
Andy Taylor
I bought one of these engines without looking closely at it. when I unpacked the engine, I realized that it would not work for a tiller, simply because of the aluminum flywheel. In fact the box staes, "for lawn mower use only"....oh oh !
Anyone that has fooled around with small engines knows that a small engine that runs anything except a lawn mower blade, must have a cast iron flywheel. If not, the engine will kick back, and shear the flywheel key, and just run terrible, if it starts at all. If you ever tried to start a push mower without a blade, you know what I'm talking about.
I was about to put this thing back in the box and return it, then I remembered something. I had a 5.5 harbor freight chinese generator(chicago electric) in the garage with a blown rod. Humm......I wonder if that flywheel would work on this engine?
So I tore the generator apart, and sure enough, it was a cast flywheel. I took it off. Then I tore apart the vertical engine and removed it's aluminum flywheel.
the keys in the shaft is identical. the aluminum flywheel, is one piece, the Iron flywheel, has a different ,magnent , is thicker, and has a seperate plastic fan that is held on by the starter flange and nut.
also, the starter flange is shorter on the iron flywheel,, due to the extra thickness you will need this shorter flange..
Proceed as follows.
keep all original parts in case you need to return the engine for warranty. I purchased the two year plan..
remove the top cover (friggin metric bolts!!!!)
Remove the flywheel.
remove the mag.......NOTE there are spacers between the Mag and the block......don't loose these!!
The Iron flywheel will sit closer to the engine block, being thicker, so you need to do the following to gain clearance.
remove the engine blade brake (you dont need it on a tiller anyway)
remove the fuel tank from the front of the engine. You will find two more spacers under the fuel tank bolts. obtain shorter bolts and remount the fuel tank without the spacers. if you don't, the flywheel will collide with the bolts.
Install the iron flywheel, plastic fan and the SHORT starter flange from the 'donor" engine.
the top plastic cover is mounted on the engine by three studs screwed in the block, and one holds one side of the mag., unscrew these, and install a small washer under them, between the studs and block, I had to do this to keep the fan from rubbing the top cover. The top cover just needs to be raised very slightly.
Install the spacers under the mag, and set it up. reinstall the top cover. make sure the pull rope works.
Reinstall the kill wire on the bottom of the mag. this can be modified later. it was originally on the brake.
Notes....
I had my doubts about the engine timing, because the magnents appeared to be slightly different places when the flywheels were lined up with the keyway. However, the engine started at second pull, and sounded good. On the old tiller, it has a LOT of power, and runs smooth and quiet.
The donor parts were from a harbor freight 5.5 horse generator(2500 watt) with a horizontal chinese engine. I needed the flywheel, fan and starter flange. I do not know if these parts can be purchased at harbor freight, but I would say it would be a safe guess that the greyhond 5.5 horizontal engine would also have these parts, or perhaps be ordered. It's still cheaper than a briggs engine.
with any article this sounds harder than it really is. however, if you need a cheap vertical shaft engine, this is well worth looking into.
Andy Taylor
