Cyber Lawnmower .com

I bought a new Bolens riding lawn mower with a 15.5 hp Briggs & Stratton motor with a 2 year warrenty on it. Well just two weeks after my 2 year warrenty was up I started my mower and blew a 3 inch hole through the motor. I am an aircraft mechanic and tuned up and changed the oil in it every year. I heard that Briggs & Stratton are now made in China and from my experience I believe it now.

I was lucky and found a 1992 Montgomery Ward Industrial,Commercial 7 speed 42 inch riding mower with a 12.5 hp Briggs & Stratton I/C Quite Industrial Commercial moter for $150.
What I want to know is why is my current 17 year old lawn mower still going strong and new ones today only seem to last for two years.

Like I said I am an aircraft mechanic.. My boat is a 1989 Maxum Cuddy with a Force 125 that still runs like new, My car is a 1971 Plymouth Satellite that was still running on it's original spark plugs and starter when I got it. I guess the days of being made in the U.S.A. meaning anything are over.

I have been looking for my next riding lawn mower to come with anything but a Briggs & Stratton motor. I am sure though that my 17 year old B&S has a few more years left in it. Heck I think that I should just rebuild my current riding mower and motor since it seems that anything new today is built only to last through it's warrenty and nothing else.

Spike2428

Find out where B$S head office is. Take photos of your damaged engine in detail.. Write a description and history to them and ask them if their current engines are doing this and why did this one malfunction when in a normal operation mode and did not run out of oil for some reason.. Perhaps an oil leak occurred and the engine unexpectedly ran out of oil.. You are an aircraft mechanic and can understand that something serious went wrong to inflict such damage.. Manufacturers usually appreciate feed back and you never know.. You might get a bonus.

2009-04-22 21:55:24 by Scott F

Craftsman Lawn Mower Tune-up (Briggs and Stratton 6.5 hp). Visit us at www.mikesequipmentrepair.com Thanks to Franny R. for use of the lawn mower.

We have tried everything we can think of. Changed a blown fuse. Checked the starter. Checked the wiring. When we had the battery on a charger it started, but now it won't start when on the charger. The motor turns over but acts like it's sticking and won't do anything. (it did this when we had the charger hooked up directly to the charger). Any ideas???
we have put new spark plugs on. the oil has already been changed.

When a battery is weak, it may not start even on a charger. If the motor turns but does so weakly, then it would seem to be the battery or the starter is dragging. Make sure also, that all the safety switches are oaky. If these go bad, they will also keep the motor from starting.

2009-04-15 12:21:03 by His Wife

I am the proud inheritor of a Yard-Man "Easy Rider" rear-engine riding lawn mower powered by a 12.57 cu. in. 5HP Briggs and Stratton vertical crankshaft engine. The following are the identification codes off the engine tag:

MODEL: 130902
TYPE: 0355 02
CODE: 76102507

I cannot seem to find a replacement engine out there, as the machine was probably built around 1980 or so (I'm guessing). I'd have to imagine that there's a more up-to-date engine that I can drop into this beast.

Is it workable to replace such an old engine with something with a few more "horses?" I'm really having trouble getting any info on "OEM"-type replacements.

Thanks!

Jayson

As stated, the shaft size is the most important thing. The mounting pattern will be the same on a similar sized engine. The engine you have was made in 1976, they haven't changed much over the years. I would think that you could go up towards 10 hp before the shaft size changes.

2008-05-11 17:02:08 by Chainsaw On Idle

My riding lawn mower will crank over just fine but it will not run. Last week it was shooting gas everywhere so I replaced the needle and seat. It pressure tested just fine after that so I reinstalled. Gas is no longer filling up the cylinder or leaking. When I try to start it, it doesn't even attempt to run. I checked for spark which is good and I'm also getting good compression. Only thing I can see is it is flooding out after starting attempts. I did inspect the float and it appeared to be just fine. Not sure what else to do.

The best thing you can do is ask this question at the gardenweb forums.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/lmow er/

2009-09-10 17:47:07 by d_tones01

I have a 2006 craftsman riding mower with a 16 hp briggs and stratton engine. It has always worked great until yesterday. after mowing the yard i shut it off for about 10 minutes and then went to start it again and white smoke came out of the muffler and it wouldnt start. I finaly realized it was getting to much gas. I pulled the plug and gas ran out of the hole. I assumed the carb float is maybe bad? I took the carb off a looked at it, nothing seemed wrong so i put in back together and it worked fine for a few starts i rode it around for awhile, shut it off for maybe 30 seconds and then it wouldnt start again, filled the cylinder with gas again. I dont know much about these engines so any help or ideas would be good. Thanks
I did check the oil before i ran it again and no oil had gotten in. When i get the problem fixed i will change the oil just to be safe. Thanks for all the help!

Either a float with a pin hole in it or a bad needle & seat. Check the oil for gas too as some models will run gas into the oil pan when the carb goes bad.

2009-06-04 11:09:21 by johnie s