The ol' Briggs & Stratton Diesel

[KMeek]

This last summer a well intentioned friend accidentally poured diesel fuel into my lawnmower that was already half full of gas. I could not figure out why it would not start. Finally recognized the smell was wrong-by then I had torn it all apart and could not get it back together properly. Needless to say my Sears mower did NOT run on diesel. Ended up with a new mower though.

 

[cartman]

years ago briggs had a engine that ran on kerosen you started it on gas and there was a valve at the carb you turned it to start mixing kerosen with the gas and then turned the valae all the way and it turned off the gas and the engine was running on kerosen briggs didnt make it very long they had a lot of problems with it and people did not know how to adjust them

 

[thejeepdude]

Re: Briggs modifications

Originally posted by phoekema

This is off the subject a bit, but my brother and I made a mini bike a few years ago powered by a Briggs lawnmower engine. We spent several hours fine tuning an exhaust pipe for that thing and when we got done it was unbelievable. When we wound it up down the road it sounded like a big o' Harley! Man, did people ever look - then didn't believe what they saw.

About 15 years ago I had a mini bike powered with a 2. 5HP Tecumseh... also played with making my own exhaust... out of black gas pipe or whatever I could find. That thing moved pretty good... especially once we filled it with 40% Nitro RC airplane fuel. I think for that run it must have been putting at least 5-6HP to the ground! That is, until the rod shot out through the crankcase!

 

[KBennett]

I had a friend back in Chicago that used to be a mechanic for a Nitro Funny Car team and had 55 gallon drums of nitro. He would put some in his mower and cut the grass like it was butter. He had to take it back every year to the hardware store to get a warranty replacement. He was never honest with them when they asked how the aluminum material got in the exhaust! He thought it was part of the piston burning off.



He had some good information on small engines because his daughter raced "stock" class go-karts. I guess the machine that ground the camshafts was pretty sloppy at B&S. He built himself a fixture that would fit the exact cam he was looking for and went up to the B&S plant in Wisconsin. His buddy let him pick out cams from the production line and he took them home and put them in his daughters motor. He figured that she had about 20% more power than anyone else on the track but no one knew why even when they tore down the motor.



The Jr. dragsters really crank out the horsepower on alchohol.

 

[daveshoe]

John Deere

The early John Deere two piston tractors started on gasoline . when they were warmed up, you closed off the small gas tank and switched over to kerosine. My neighbor has an old ''A'' and that is how it is set up. I don't know what year they discontinued the gas/ kero tractors, but I remember the [760 ? ] two piston Diesel. Way cool.

 

[supersonic]

I have a 18 hp 3cyl. Diesel Kubota lawn mower that I put bigger injectors and adjusted the timing on. Have been tinkering around with propain injection and thinking about adding a turbo in the future. Probably need a little decompression though to keep from lifting the head or bending the rods.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Did you put the injectors out of the 36(?) hp Kubota engine... . or did you have a custom set modified?



I think a turbo-diesel lawn tractor would be awesome!



Matt

 

[AKAMAC]

Just think of it... .

"supersonic" Kubota

 

[supersonic]

Yes they were out of the 36hp engine but then were extude honed for even more go power. I need to put a pyro on it sometime i know my temps are waaay up there. These things have the dinkiest cooling systems! Late one evening I was cutting through some thick wet grass with the hammer down (about 15-17mph @4000RPM ROLLIN the black smoke) and started to see sparks out of the exhaust through the smoke leaned over and saw a 2" flame out the chrome tip. I think its time to put some air to this thing before I melt it down? I do plan on stoping the experiments with propain after that one though. After all I still need it to cut the grass right? BUT when its retired from regular duty LOOK OUT!

 

[thejeepdude]

My old craftsman riding mower is gonna give up the ghost soon... what can I expect to pay for a used diesel Kubota lawn tractor that's not a POS? What year/model would you recommend? I want a BOMBable lawnmower! I only have an acre or so to mow, but I'm all about overkill.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I looked for a while for a diesel Kubota lawn tractor... but couldn't find anything.



You could always repower the Sears (MTD?) tractor with a 1. 6L/1. 9L Volkswagen diesel. :-laf



My OEM 90hp VW engine is easily 150hp with really basic stuff... .



Matt

 

[thejeepdude]

Originally posted by HoleshotHolset

You could always repower the Sears (MTD?) tractor with a 1. 6L/1. 9L Volkswagen diesel. :-laf

Haha... yeah I think that's a little more involved than I wanted to get! If I was that ambitious, I would have already mounted my VFR750 motor to the GoPed.

 

[EMD-Run8]

That's so Briggs!!!!!! Oh, and your sick Vaughn, tsk tsk. Very sick indeed.

 

[ramsalot]

Man you guys crack me up. I can say that I have dumped nitro into the grass cutter when I was not paying for the maint. The thing ran great, much fast mowing, and I think dad still has and uses the same mower.



For starting, with any fuel but nitro or gas, you can use a propane torch. (one problem, this takes 2 people) So, just crack the throttle, open the torch valve a little (don’t light!!) point the output from the torch where it will be inhaled, crank kick or yank, and vary the mix with the distance between the torch and the air filter so as to control the revs. Shortly there will be enough cylinder heat to sustain operation.



A buddy and I dreamed this up one cold day at the Oregon dunes attempting to get his Banshee lit on alcohol. It would NOT light below about 60 deg f unless we did a little pre heat.



Happy diesel mowing!



Andrew

 

[Jdonoghue]

This brings back some memories! Years ago I had a mini-bike with a 2. 5HP engine on it. When we didn't have any more gas to run it on (and no money to buy any more), we began using up the 20 gallons of kerosene that was in the garage (we got rid of the heater the year before, so we had to get rid of it somehow). Starting was a 2-person job: 1 to crank it and 1 to spray WD-40 in the carburetor. Lots of fun. We went to the tractor repair place and bought a bunch of carburetors and intake parts from their junk bin. Kept us out of trouble

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Hey who dug this thread up?? Heheheh



Well since you brought this up Jdonoghue I will give an update. Still run the mower on diesel



I have a little better startup process, probably not that safe but I have a spray bottle with gas that I shoot some in the carb to start it then give it a little dose to keep it going for a few seconds then once it gets a bit of heat it sustains on diesel.



When the weather is below 70 it is quite tempermental and hard to get going. Above 80 it's easy going.



Spark plugs that are healthy is a must, weak ones make it not run well and it really stinks. With a good plug it burns pretty clean.



Over the winter I pulled the head and massaged it and cleaned up the intake/exhaust ports a bit (it's a "flathead"). Now it cuts deeper grass without lugging as bad and doesn't detonate as much. When it does it sound cool and spits out some blue smoke followed by black.



Vaughn

 

[Andy Perreault]

Originally posted by Vaughn MacKenzie

Hey who dug this thread up?? Heheheh

I noticed that this topic includes a few replies by the late great HVAC!

Andy

 

[Jff24Gordn]

In case some one tries the Amnonia Nitrate mix, it would not be a good idea, it is very corrosive and wont dissolve very well in gas or diesel.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

You're right Andy, and as always with typical HVAC humor

Originally posted by HVAC

. . . Vaughn, you've lost your marbles The heat has taken it's toal on your noggin. I recommend you fasten some headlights on that mower and wait till the sun goes down to take care of your yard work

 

[dalton4]

With the diesel fuel you are burning I bet you also use Delo 15w-40 oil or an equal. Who said "Tool Time" doesn't exist in the real world?