Toro Self Propelled, Junk It or New Engine?

[Mr_Joe]

I was visiting my single, retired, elderly neighbor yesterday & she asked if I would evaluate her walk-behind Toro mower. It is 8 years old and has a 6.5 hp Tecumseh engine. She described smoke & 'funny noises' as the recent problems.

I checked the oil & it started with a few pulls. We had a moderate amount of blue smoke & some internal 'clunking'. I let it run a bit then shut it down. I could see oil making it's way out the muffler, enough to slowly drip out.

I pronounced the engine as toast. She said she was getting by without it & planned to NOT replace it. She has a rider & weed whippers. I said it looked to good to just thow away. The deck is very solid. It has signs of use but the rest of the mower looks rather good.

She wanted the mower gone, so now I have it. I just did a quick search to get an idea of Toro mowers & engine costs. Is it worth it to put a new engine in? I don't really have a use for it. The neighbor does O.K. money wise, I'd probaby offer it up for her to use if I did fix it.

For some reason I've never been smitten over Tecumseh engines. I suppose it isn't easy to switch brands? I think she provides average care for her equipment, though at this point it doesn't matter.

Junk the mower or re-engine? That is my question. Cost? Thanks.

 

[Donald]

Given that its a Toro (not a MTD) I would get a new engine. A HF engine should last the rest of the life of the mower. No sense getting crazy over a new high quality engine.

 

[pbm]

It's my experience that a new motor costs nearly as much as a new mower. I have a Scott's with a blown 6.5 B&S OHC and a good body and I'm putting it on CL "Free to good Home"...

 

[Mr_Joe]

I was thinking about the 'free' give away, also I don't really have a use for it. I'd also imagine it needs some attention elswhere too, I see the blade is in poor shape. I'll just leave it sit a bit, maybe find a free outlet.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

There may be someone in your area that recondition mowers that would take it off your hands. I bought my mom a Personal Pace Toro back in 2000. If it has the personal pace drive feature that works I would say it is worth something to someone. I love the mower. The deck tends to not clog. I had a Sears mower with the same 6.5 Briggs engine and the deck would get a build of of grass all the time. A Toro deck is well engineered.

 

[SrDriver]

How about replacing the engine with a new Chonda engine for about $120.00. Love that Personal Pace system.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Mr_Joe

For some reason I've never been smitten over Tecumseh engines. I suppose it isn't easy to switch brands?


No smittens for Tecumseh here either...

Usually the throttle and/or deadman controls differ by engine brand, I dunno if cables are part of a new engine assembly but I kinda doubt it...

I was able to adapt the deadman cable on a used Honda engine from a Craftsman for use on a Snapper... Biggest issue was deck had to be re-drilled so engine would face forward... Also had to get a 1" ID Snapper type blade hub and pulley to operate the drive system(orig B&S was 7/8")plus a correct length belt... Wasn't terrible job, just took a bit of time but produced a fine mower that I really needed after the old B&S kicked the rod...

 

[dparm]

Sounds like a fun project. Replace the motor.

 

[NHGUY]

I have never cared a bit for Tecumseh engines,they are finicky/noisy/leak/pop and backfire and start very hard.Now that they are out of business,it does not hurt my feelings at all.They obviously went under due to lack of business,the market finally caught up to their inferior product.I absolutely laughed at the last commercial they ever ran nationally.....there were a parking lot full of snowblowers on a fresh snow morning,dozens of operators walked out and pulled the cord on every one.The voice over says "They cant do the job unless they start",and every one of them starts running.No multiple pulls,no swearing,no kicking the unit in disgust....not typical Tecumseh operation.

 

[BigCahuna]

FYI, Harbor freight has 6.5 hp motors on sale for $99 every other month or so.,,

 

[wally6934]

How come no one suggested fixing the old motor. What could cause oil to come out of the muffler. If OP pulled the rope and the piston went up and down there can not be to much damage.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: wally6934
How come no one suggested fixing the old motor. What could cause oil to come out of the muffler. If OP pulled the rope and the piston went up and down there can not be to much damage.


You missed the part about it being a Tecumseh engine?

Seriously it sounds as if it has a busted ring and/or piston, either would account for the dripping oil and internal noise... If that's the problem it wouldn't be the end of the world, but 99% of the time there is going to be a Grand Canyon size gouge in the cylinder wall that can only be fixed with a fresh block...

Wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the head to verify the cylinder condition, still I'd never put any real money in a Tecumseh engine...

 

[fdcg27]

I dunno.
I've got what must be ~400 hours on a Tecumseh that came on a cheapy I bought at Target in 1997 on clearance for $70.00.
It is usually requires a few pulls to start, and it does use nearly 3 oz of oil each hour.
Still, it runs well and goes through tall, heavy grass with some laboring, but it gets the job done.
I have used this thing as a matter of preference for years.
I just want to see how long it will run.
I'd say it's paid for itself.

 

[MNgopher]

If you are looking for a project, then by all means, re-engine it. The toro decks are usually good and make a decent base to work off of.

To the poster on the Commercial, I have no problem with the commercial when referring to Tecumseh snowblower motors. My snow king starts on the first pull every time. In regards to lawnmower engines, yes, I'd agree they were always a bit balky to get started.

 

[wag123]

Toro mowers are not the easiest/cheapest to re-power, they use a different (non-standard) crank shaft so you can't just buy any old cheap engine and bolt it on.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: wag123
Toro mowers are not the easiest/cheapest to re-power, they use a different (non-standard) crank shaft so you can't just buy any old cheap engine and bolt it on.
huh? bolt on a new engine and you get a new crank in it. Problem solved. Bolt on a blade adapter and "presto", new mower.

 

[TFB1]

Length from the engine mounting surface to the end of the crankshaft does vary by application... The crank in the Honda engine I installed on my Snapper is approx ¼" shorter than the original... Because the Snapper hub ID was too small for the Honda, I first used the orig(to engine)Craftsman blade hub that was close to another ¼" thinner vs the Snapper type hub... That spaced the blade too far up in in the deck to give a good "scatter" pattern when mowing without the bag.. I had a thicker Craftsman hub but it spaced the blade too far down, it hit the lower lip on the deck where it rolled under... After looking at various Snapper models I found some applications actually use shims in the blade hub to set the crank length, so a crank is not std by a long shot...

Most cheapie non self propelled use a stubby little crank that's maybe 1¼" in length, while most self propelled use a crank that's around 2¾" in length, but it's not std by any means...

 

[bigmike]

I've got close to 200 hours on my Toro push mower with a Tecumseh engine. I changed the oil around 8 times, put a few spark plugs on it and changed the air filter around 5 times, IIRC.

Works like new. Starts on first pull. I love it. I must be missing something.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I'm not crazy about Tecumseh engines either. A few years ago, I found a Lawn Boy with a Tecumseh in a trash pile. I took it home and swapped a Honda GCV160 onto it. Now it's my favorite mower.

http://www.jnjhome.net/ope/kermit.htm

 

[wag123]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: wag123
Toro mowers are not the easiest/cheapest to re-power, they use a different (non-standard) crank shaft so you can't just buy any old cheap engine and bolt it on.
huh? bolt on a new engine and you get a new crank in it. Problem solved. Bolt on a blade adapter and "presto", new mower.

The crankshafts used in engines supplied to Toro are a non-standard length, larger diameter, with a different keyway, and a bigger blade bolt. You can NOT buy an "off the shelf" engine and bolt it onto a Toro walk behind without modifying a bunch of other things. The Toro blade adapter won't fit which means that you can't use a Toro blade and if you use an aftermarket universal blade adapter and blade it still won't be spaced properly in the deck and the mower won't cut right. Also, if the Toro is a self propelled model the Toro drive pulley won't work.
Many years ago one of the aftermarket companies (I think Rotary) offered a special blade adapter with an integrated drive pulley that would allow the mounting of a cheap off the shelf replacement engine to be mounted on a Toro deck and use a Toro blade. They quickly removed it from the market (perhaps for product liability issues).
IMHO, since it DOES run, the Tecumseh engine on there now can be fixed for a much more reasonable cost than going the engine replacement route. I have been working on outdoor power equipment for 30 years, there is nothing wrong with Tecumseh's engines. Each of the engine manufacturers have had a few unique issues of their own.