Powermore engines?

Joined
Feb 25, 2011
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Up State NY
I purchased a new Huskee LT 4200 lawn tractor from Tractor Supply. I've been looking online for info about the engine in it. Seems they've been making them for a while but I could find NOTHING on them. I'm not worried about it, I have a Chinese Greyhound 6.5 horse on my old tiller and it's a fantastic little engine. Does anyone on here have any experience with them or know anything about them??
 
The engines are Honda clones made in China. They are OK but unproven in long term use. The smaller pull start engines have very weak recoil starters. Repair parts are relatively expensive. Production quality is suspect and it doesn't appear that they do any kind of quality control inspections before shipping (common on many/most Chinese manufactured products). Before you jump to any conclusions you should know that Honda and B&S both have manufacturing plants in China.
 
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I have one of those, a cheap OHV vertical shaft on a MTD deck. I sought it out b/c I was sick of flatheads. Runs great. Starts up smoothly, governor doesn't overshoot like a nasty briggs. Just slowly goes up to speed. Fantastic on gas: I wanted to run it out for winter and it took about two complete lawnmowings to get that far.

My sample came with a defective starter rope, had to take it off and bend some metal tabs to get them out of the way. Was the last of my model's stock so I didn't want to return it.

In short it is a complete appliance motor, no personality whatsoever.
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The Cub Cadet Snow Thrower (526-SWE) I bought in 2011 has a 277CC PowerMore engine. I would agree about QC lacking as some of the bolts on the engine look like they weren't threaded in properly.

So far it's kept up but doesn't seem to be on par with the 270CC rating. Figure I'll take care of it and we'll see how long it lasts.
 
SEMI, you'll be fine with that Powermore engine. It's probably better than a comparable briggs or kohler today.

My main concern with your mower would be the transaxle. I'm hoping for your sake it's an actual gear drive and not a transmatic (belt and variator drive).

You know it's an MTD transmatic if you've got a separate lever for F-N-R and one for 1-2-3-4.... I've spent more time tinkering with them than I would have liked.
 
Well this bit of info is promising! It's a transmatic, hopefully it won't give me too many problems. Any idea what Honda it's cloned from?
 
Originally Posted By: SEMI_287
Well this bit of info is promising! It's a transmatic, hopefully it won't give me too many problems. Any idea what Honda it's cloned from?


In the early days of "Chonda", they were cloned from Honda GX series. They've evolved quite a way from them over the years IMO. The cosmetics on that Powermore don't look anything like a Honda GXV340, but the underpinnings might be similar.

Good luck with the transmatic. The main thing is to keep them clean and dry and try to avoid garden hose washing. This will give you maximum life out of the bushing for the moveable sheave on the variator pulley.
 
You meet the nicest people on a Chonda.
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I have one in my generator. The key to success is:

1. Do 2 break in oil changes at 1 and 2 hours of operation with 30w oil.
2. Ditch the OEM spark plug for a champion or autolite
3. Use techron at least 2x each year and store with a double dose of Marine Stabil.

That thing will run forever with just a little bit of care. Mine likes Rotella 10w30. be sure to keep the air filter clean.
 
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My take on this stuff is as always...

The engine make/model should be the LEAST of your worries. The transaxle, cutting deck and associated components and steering components are what matters.

SEMI- make sure you set that 42" such that it does not ride on the ground. Gauge wheels on this type of machine are only intended to ride over occasional high spots.

Scrape the underside of the deck after each use with a paint stirring stick or the likes, blow the whole thing off with your leaf blower and you'll be good to go for a long time.

FWIW, I'd run a HDEO in that engine, be it 15w40, 5w40, Kohler or Briggs 10w30. I'd also x-ref and probably oversize the oil filter as well.
 
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At the moment I'm trying to find a filter to cross reference to. I do not have the tractor yet so I can't take it to a parts store to check it out. I would like to run a Wix 51516 on it, if it had 3/4 16 threads. I also plan to run a quality 15w40 in the summer and 5w40 in the winter or 5w30 if next winter is really bitter. It does have the mounting on the deck for the deck wash system. It's $13 at Sears.
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I did about three break ins on my Chonda on the old tiller.
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I also intend on getting a good ole Champion plug in her too.
 
Yep, it looks like you should be able to go longer on the oil filter. Not sure if you could go FL400 long, but maybe. That's what I used to run on my Kohler Command and Courage V-twins.

With gas as expensive as it is, you made a good move sticking with a single cyl engine. I like that Powermore also because it looks like you have no need for a fuel pump. The tank is set higher than the engine. Much more simple. You could install a fuel shut-off valve in-line for additional safety if you wanted to.
 
Cool thread. My push mower has one foot in the grave. Im looking to buy a new one this week, but Im on the fence between Briggs or powermore. My dad has a briggs 125cc that I cleaned the carb on this spring. I actually liked the plastic carb on it. The powermore looks good too and has honda roots from what I can tell. Im having a hard time finding good info on these newer engines.
 
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my dad has a husky rider with the powermore engine ran great the first year then had to clean the carb 2 times last year....has been running great ever since, the third year now, i'm not sure where all the crap came from but it looked like cotton fibers inside the carb...maybe from manufacturing or something my dad did and won't admit to it I don't really know...so far other than cleaning the carb , it's been running great
 
^^^ with the newer fuel-efficient engines, I've found that installing inline fuel filters really helps in reliability and nuisance clogs.
 
It's not a mower but I have a MTD 24" 2 stage snow blower with a 179cc Powermore engine, since 2014. If you can avoid having ethanol fuel from clogging the small carb it runs great. Replacement carbs on E Bay are ~$13. This little engine works hard throwing heavy snow and ice and it does it well, it never falters. It starts on the first pull and doesn't use oil despite being run real hard. I've been using Rotella T 10W-30 since I store it in a semi heated garage. For a "cheap" Chinese small engine it runs real well. I did change out the factory Torch spark plug for a NGK plug, but in all honesty it runs the same except it starts on the first pull with the NGK vs the 2nd or 3rd pull with the Torch plug.

Whimsey
 
Originally Posted by Woody71
The Cub Cadet Snow Thrower (526-SWE) I bought in 2011 has a 277CC PowerMore engine. I would agree about QC lacking as some of the bolts on the engine look like they weren't threaded in properly.

So far it's kept up but doesn't seem to be on par with the 270CC rating. Figure I'll take care of it and we'll see how long it lasts.



I have the same engine in a 10 going on 11 year old MTD snowblower. The carbs are finicky...after the first season of use I'd didn't use fuel stabilizer and the next season it would not start due to the carburator being gummed up with varnish. I had it fixed and now use fuel stabilizer and run the fuel out after every season and it runs like a champ. Lots of snow up here in MA and so it gets lots of use and after that first season I've never had a problem.
 
Reviving an old thread here, we were recently given a Craftsman T1000 42" riding mower (made by MTD) by an elderly neighbor who moved. It has the Powermore/Zengshen 420cc engine and I'll be trying it out it in place of our 1996-vintage MTD 38" riding mower. The Craftsman mower also has the MTD "transmatic" drive. It all seems to be working at the moment though it seems a lot more plastic-y than the old mower and I don't know how it will hold up over time. (Will be keeping the "old faithful" MTD mower that's been working for 25 years around for a while just in case)

In any event, I found this thread while trying to find the engine service manual for the T1000's Zengshen engine. I found a pdf of the operator's manual for the mower but have not been able to locate the engine manual online. Anyone have a lead on that?

T1000.jpg
 
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