My first Ariens EZ Rider zero-turn mower had this engine on it. IMHO it's a piece of ****. Blew a head gasket with less than 100 hours on it, and never had the power I'd consider normal for an engine rated at this HP. The smog-friendly too-lean carb was borderline unacceptable. You'd engage the blade at full governed speed, and it'd nearly stall the engine. Once the blade was spinning, it still seemed like the engine was laboring to just keep it turning, say nothing of cutting any grass.
All in all, it was a fun rider with a horrible engine. When it blew the head gasket, that was the final straw to dump it and get the new model, the Zoom 1740 which has a 17 HP Kohler Courage single cylinder engine on it. Light years better than the B&S was. Gobs of torque, and mowing 6" tall grass with the mulcher doesn't even phase it.
That engine, as well as the 5 HP B&S on our generator for the race car trailer have totally soured me on B&S engines. The new design Pulsa-Jet carburetors on these engines have a fixed jet, and again, they're borderline unacceptable lean. This generator surges and sags so badly that it kicks out the circuit breaker on the battery charger. I'm going to be drilling out the jet a touch larger to fix what should have been done from the factory. They only have one other jet, and that's a "high altitude" one that's even leaner than the original.
I'm hoping that generator kicks the bucket soon so I have a reason to replace it with a Tecumseh or Kohler powered unit.
All in all, it was a fun rider with a horrible engine. When it blew the head gasket, that was the final straw to dump it and get the new model, the Zoom 1740 which has a 17 HP Kohler Courage single cylinder engine on it. Light years better than the B&S was. Gobs of torque, and mowing 6" tall grass with the mulcher doesn't even phase it.
That engine, as well as the 5 HP B&S on our generator for the race car trailer have totally soured me on B&S engines. The new design Pulsa-Jet carburetors on these engines have a fixed jet, and again, they're borderline unacceptable lean. This generator surges and sags so badly that it kicks out the circuit breaker on the battery charger. I'm going to be drilling out the jet a touch larger to fix what should have been done from the factory. They only have one other jet, and that's a "high altitude" one that's even leaner than the original.
I'm hoping that generator kicks the bucket soon so I have a reason to replace it with a Tecumseh or Kohler powered unit.