How can I get a little UMPF to my mower

[Herz]

my 2007 craftsman pushmower is in need of a bit more power.

the mower is maintained regularly every year. Use good gas, I use good oil and I prepare it for the winter season.

The mower when the grass is a little wet or long lacks power. it is a 6 HP engine brigs and straton it shouldnt be so weak.

Any fuel additives or such that may give me a bit more power?

thanks

 

[Barkleymut]

Not really, most mowers will bog down in thick grass. Just make sure the air filter is clean.

 

[Scienceman]

what the [censored]?

I just started a thred about My 2007 Craftsman pushmower... do you have a vibrating problem?

 

[Warstud]

First of all your not suppose to mow when it's wet and second your probably not mowing often enough. I'm guilty of that myself!

 

[IndyIan]

Tweaking the govenor can give you a few more rpms which can help alot in the thick stuff. In fact if you think the mower has gotten weaker over time you should probably check the govenor. If it doesn't react quickly to dropping rpms your mower will bog easily...

I have my lawnboy set up for a bit of "overrev" power, I wouldn't run it overspeed all the time but once it a while its good for the tough stuff.

 

[Turk]

Sharp blades.

New spark plug.

Premium gas & Seafoam or equivalent.

Clean air filter.

 

[fxrider]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Sharp blades.

New spark plug.

Premium gas & Seafoam or equivalent.

Clean air filter.

and mow it once a week and in the afternoon.

 

[Bror Jace]

"and mow it once a week and in the afternoon."

+1

Also, use a 5w30 synthetic oil. If you are daring, try a 5W-20 oil ... but be sure to change it frequently ... like every 25 hours of operation ... and check each time before you start it in case oil consumption increases.

(I'm also a fan of razor sharp blades ... though sandy soil will dull them quickly and they will chip more easily if you hit a stone or piece of metal with them.)

 

[TrentMiller]

+1 to sharpen and check air filter.
a 6 hp is not going to tear up wet grass. How wide is your deck and are you using a mulching blade? Is this a rear bagger?

 

[Herz]

rear bagger, I dump it often as my lawn is big 1/4 acre. I replace the air filter every year when I put it away for the winter season.

I use 5-30 dino, usually what is left over from the 5qt bottles i use for the 4qt jeep. sometimes I use 10-30.

Valvoline WB, chevron supreme, castrol most of the time.

I will pick up a new plug tommorow when I go out to buy the new filter. I inspected the plug and it was in good condition.



I never thought that sharpening the blade would aid so much? I'll pull it off tommorow and sharpen her up!
I'll check the governor.

and no its not vibrating

its also a 21"

 

[yeehaw1960]

Sometimes the spring on the governor gets weak over time. The tighter the spring, the faster the engine revs. If it's a Briggs and Stratton, the spring should have a straight portion. Give that a little (LITTLE) bend to make the spring taughter. Adjust more as needed.

 

[greenaccord02]

So, I'm the only bitoger who thought UMPF was an acronym they didn't know?

Sharpen your blades and don't mow if it's wet. If that fails, mow more often.

 

[dwendt44]

One of the reasons I don't care for young kids or even young adults to mow my lawn (they want to make some money) is because the go to fast. A leasure pace works best.
To fast and you get clumping and or bogging.
Make sure you don't have a lot of grass sticking to the inside of the deck, and that the exit chut is clear.
Some decks, particularly the cheaper level of mowers have poor design decks-(not that all the higher priced ones don't)-this
allows clippings to accumulate inside hindering cutting.

 

[CharBaby]

I agree with the "not mowing enough" statement as Im an offender of this myself. Raise the deck a notch. Will feel like more power. And try to cut more regularly...I did!

 

[CharBaby]

So, I'm the only bitoger who thought UMPF was an acronym they didn't know?

Yeah, I thought that I was missing something too! I finaly figured it out...OOMPH! I can't spell either, read some of my responces. Neferm,ind, don"t. LOL

 

[boraticus]

I use a self propelled two stroke Echo mower with a 140 cc engines. In stock form, it's rated at 4.5 h.p.at 2800 rpm. Although plenty powerful for cutting grass, it was too slow for my preferred walking speed. I decided to adjust the governor. I was surprised that I could get the engine to spin up to 6500 rpm which is waaaay too fast. I took a video of the mower with a digital tach attached to it to assist in setting the governor.
I found a formula to mathematically work out the h.p. that a 140 cc two stroke engine would be putting out at 6500 rpm. According to the formula it was between 12 and 14 h.p. ! The engine didn't seem to mind the speed but the rest of the mower (clutch/blade assembly) likely wouldn't hold up too long and obviously, it would have been a dangerous set up.

I have since set it back to a maximum of 4000 rpm and have controllable throttle. If running in light grass, I cut the throttle back to 3000 or so. When I get into thick grass with much more cutting resistance, I just give it more throttle. Now it's plenty fast and quite a bit stronger.

A clean air filter and sharp blade will contribute to better performance. However, if your carb has even the slightest fuel flow restriction happening from the tank to the carb or even within the carb, performance will be compromised. If nothing else works, look into your fuel system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggeVrfl1o2U

 

[Herz]

thanks for the replys.

I went ahead and sharpened the blade, replaced the sparkplug. airfilter was replaced a day or two ago.

I adjusted the governor as was suggested by bending the spring a little and the mower seems to have a bit more "oompfh" lol.

thanks guys.

 

[Cujet]

Many new mowers run at 3000 RPM, so the 6HP rating is not accurate, as the 6HP is only achieved at 3600RPM.

For the last 100 years, mowers ran at 3600 (for real, no kidding). Due to today's litigious society, nearly all manufacturers have lowered the RPM's to 3000. Some even lower.

I am not afraid of running 3600. I don't run worn out junk blades.

 

[SecondMonkey]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Tweaking the govenor can give you a few more rpms which can help alot in the thick stuff. In fact if you think the mower has gotten weaker over time you should probably check the govenor. If it doesn't react quickly to dropping rpms your mower will bog easily...

I have my lawnboy set up for a bit of "overrev" power, I wouldn't run it overspeed all the time but once it a while its good for the tough stuff.


This is a *REALLY* bad idea on a stock Briggs and Stratton engine. The rod won't take it, and shortly poke it's way through the crankcase. But yes, it would be good to confirm that the governer is operating correctly at the RIGHT speed. If your lawnboy is a 2 cycle then that's a completely different animal...

As for more "power", try synthetic oil, and don't use ethanol mixed gas if you can avoid it.

 

[greenaccord02]

Mix a bit of 2T oil in with the gas. Just a little. More power per stroke.