Honda engine swap onto a Craftsman deck?

[CharBaby]

Will a Honda GCV160 engine adapt atop of a Craftsman(MTD) deck that currently has the OE B&S engine on it?
I have a great condition Craftsman/MTD lawnmower deck with a(not so good) B&S engine on it!
And a rotted TroyBilt/MTD deck w/ the OE Honda engine on it and I want to swap the Honda engine over to the Craftsman deck that has the B&S engine.

Will the mounting holes lineup?
I found this video which is exactly what I’d like to do but I have some reluctance.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Not sure if it would work or not but good luck to you!

 

[Boomer]

Can't you drill holes if needed to make it work??

 

[Opelman]

Try it, if it doesn't work, no big deal and you can trash the rotten deck to free up some space.

 

[dlundblad]

I would drill holes to make it work if it doesnt line up. Sturdy it up with washers and Loctite.

 

[AZjeff]

You should be able to tip both mowers up and measure the center to center distance of the bolts to see if they're the same diameter mounting circle. Might also measure the mounting surface of the engine to mounting surface of the blade to see if the shaft is the same length. Do all mowers rotate the same direction? Doesn't seem like rocket surgery.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Its a mower not an airplane. Drill some new holes. If it seems not rigid enough fab some sort of ring to stiffen the whole assembly. As long as the engine doesn't move and the blade is in the approximately correct position - it should work. I would start by measuring and comparing the blade distance from the deck and the shaft length and diameter - to see if one of your existing blades will work.

 

[oldcodger]

Seems to me the hole spacing can be made to work, but the shaft length is critical. The shaft length will determine whether the blade cuts too short or too long. May or may not be able to make up with the difference with the deck height adjustments.

 

[doitmyself]

Reiterating the previous 3 posts, you need to confirm that the final position of the blade (up/down) is very close to the original mounting. The deck shape is designed to work with the blade at a certain location to optimize either mulching or uplift/cutting/ejection of the grass.

 

[CharBaby]

It worked perfectly! No adjustments needed. The Honda engine used the other three mounting holes in the deck(6 total). The B&S uses the different three mounting holes in the deck. I didn’t have to adjust the handlebars, the throttle/brake bar, or the blade.

Thanks everyone!

 

[AZjeff]

Love it when a plan comes together.