[GT_80]

I have been messing with the 2 Tecumsehs I have for Jolene for several months now, and last night was the last straw. I went out to the lean-to and two pulled-to start the Greyhound on Miss Emma and went out and worked it for an hour with no issues, and parked it. Then I tried to get Jolene running, which took about an hour because the battery was weak and needed to be charged. Once I got it running, it was the same thing as before- messing with the carb and choke settings, adjusted the points, and I was just getting sick of messing with it even though it runs pretty good. I am planning on selling both the Tecs and all the spare parts and buying a predator 11HP for it- They are on sale right now at Harbor Freight, and with a 20% off coupon, it's only going to cost $200 in beautiful tax free NH. I have a little money saved up, and I need to sell the other 2 motors to finance the rest of the project. I just want easy to operate machines. I love Tec's, but I never should have sold my best running motor in the 67 Suburban 12 I sold this year. So you will hopefully be seeing another repower thread soon.

Consequently, I have 2 Tecumseh HH120's one a point motor, and one and SSI motor, both run, and a bunch of extra parts for sale. The motors are in the For Sale Section of the forum, and if you need anything for a tec tractor, let me know, I might have it.

 

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Think you can do it without cutting that pretty grill of her's?

 

[Plowthesidewalk]

Are these engines able to run without a problem without a belt guide at the engine pulley? How do you get the clutch to work? Do you simply rely on the brake to stop the drive belt from spinning when you want to shift gears?

Have you considered trying one of the larger engines they sell for about $320?

 

[Plowthesidewalk]

Here's a video clip I found of a Sears Suburban with a repower. Take note of the spot they cut out of the grill.

http://youtu.be/gpInAJXhUos

 

[69l46vert]

I hear ya James! Thinking about putting my Greyhound 6.5 in your old 65. It'll be mostly used for garden work and probably won't mow with it, except for the sicklebar which seems to use very little power anyway.
I'd like to hear a report of how the 11hp mows or snowblows. My old 67 sub 10hp tec had plenty of power for the rotary mower deck.

 

[GT_80]

Tractor #2 - NO
PTSW, I have the same motor (but a greyhound brand) in my 68 Super 12 and it was minimal work to put in- trimmed the grille, redrilled holes, and I used a battery tray/clutch bracket from a SS16 and it worked well, I had to buy new pulleys because the new motor is a 1" shaft instead of 1 1/8" I have not had a problem yet with no belt guide/pulley guide, but I plan on modifying the one off a Tec for a belt guard.

 

[GT_80]

I hear ya James! Thinking about putting my Greyhound 6.5 in your old 65. It'll be mostly used for garden work and probably won't mow with it, except for the sicklebar which seems to use very little power anyway.
I'd like to hear a report of how the 11hp mows or snowblows. My old 67 sub 10hp tec had plenty of power for the rotary mower deck.

I am thinking of getting another pulley (only have the drive pulley) to run my little 34" snow blower on the Super 12 and see how it does. That motor is awesome! I was plowing snow with it yesterday, in high 3rd just above idle and the tires lose traction before the motor thinks about stalling.

 

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Tractor #2 - NO
PTSW, I have the same motor (but a greyhound brand) in my 68 Super 12 and it was minimal work to put in- trimmed the grille, redrilled holes, and I used a battery tray/clutch bracket from a SS16 and it worked well, I had to buy new pulleys because the new motor is a 1" shaft instead of 1 1/8" I have not had a problem yet with no belt guide/pulley guide, but I plan on modifying the one off a Tec for a belt guard.

Are they the same? I thought they may have changed the design. Maybe from a Honda clone to a Suburu clone?

 

[Tractor-Holic]

Though I cringe at the thoughts of Jolene going "chineese" ,I cant say I blame you for being frustrated at trying to keep the aging Tecumseh's going,when parts are getting scarce and expensive for them,much like the Onans..they are probably the est effort Tecumseh ever made,but when you have to pay a few hundred bucks for a new carb or an SSI ignition,the price of those brand new engines ARE tempting...

If I had the cash I would be interested in the HH 120 with points,but since I now own 3 Suburban 's already,I figure I'll never use any of them enough to justify the expense,or need an SSI coil (hopefully)...

What I would love to do if I needed a new engine,would be to buy one of those 10 horse diesels from the Surplus Center --that would be a neat upgrade,and you could run it on home heating oil,biodiesel,or diesel...the power and torque would be awesome,and be cheaper to run probably...uits a bummer the way the clutch is set up on the Suburbans hinders an engine swap some though,and the grille and hood might need modification too...my second choice would be a big briggs single cylinder ,a cast iron beast like the SS14 had..

I have an 11 HP Briggs (not cast iron) with electric start I was thinking about swapping onto my SS12 that has only a 6 horse Briggs,but I have 2 more identical 6 horse ones I could swap on if that one blew first--I dont mind recoil start as long as it starts with a few pulls and its a lot better than dealing with dead batteries all the time..I might not be here where I live long enough to wear out the motor on the SS12 aleady,so I cant see buying anything else right now...

 

[GT_80]

Though I cringe at the thoughts of Jolene going "chineese" ,I cant say I blame you for being frustrated at trying to keep the aging Tecumseh's going,when parts are getting scarce and expensive for them,much like the Onans..they are probably the est effort Tecumseh ever made,but when you have to pay a few hundred bucks for a new carb or an SSI ignition,the price of those brand new engines ARE tempting...

If I had the cash I would be interested in the HH 120 with points,but since I now own 3 Suburban 's already,I figure I'll never use any of them enough to justify the expense,or need an SSI coil (hopefully)...

uits a bummer the way the clutch is set up on the Suburbans hinders an engine swap some though,and the grille and hood might need modification too...my second choice would be a big briggs single cylinder ,a cast iron beast like the SS14 had..

I hear you on the Chinese motor in a Sears, but the Motor I put in my Super 12 is the same (pretty much a different name) motor as the predator, and it starts 2nd pull even in the snow storm- almost like it has fuel injection! It neede minimal mods to get it in there- I even used the keyswitch and everything the new one came with. It doesn't have a charging system (That I am aware of) so I will need to charge the battery often when running lights on it but because I used an SS16 battery tray and there is no bulky gas tank under the hood, I can put a bigger like Honda Civic size battery under there.

I liked the Idea of throwing a Briggs 14hp in it because I have one, I was going to swap the front frame and clutch setup onto Jolene, but then I decided I wanted to keep the 14 together- it runs really well, and it has the 'scream' grille which is growing on me.

 

[kb0nly]

Check out the DuroMax honda clones, Maxtool and Ebay are sources of them. I put one on my old Craftsman snowblower this year. Electric start, 3a alternator output, and it doesn't have the throttle and choke sticking out where it is on those predators, just a flat filter enclosure, so it might fit without cutting the grill.

 

[TheSaturnV]

Not to offend you, but have you had someone else look at it? Maybe some old-timer with the golden touch. I'd personally rather pay someone $75 or $100 to tune the machine and video the procedure.

I do understand the frustration issue, but there are relatively few moving parts to these old Tecs.

 

[GT_80]

kbOnly, I haven't sourced any other motors- I have a greyhound now which is the same motor as this, and it is great in my 68 Suburban and I doubt the others could be had for $200 price tag.

Saturn, No I haven't had anyone look at it, but even the Tec I had that ran great I still had to mess with it a lot even after it was running good. I love the power of the Tec, but it still stands that even when running well, they are hard to start in the cold, noisy, and a pig on gas. I love Tec's don't get me wrong, and I hat that I am putting Chinese motors in my American tractors, but they start easy, run well, and are cheap. I don't have time or money to mess around with parts and labor on a 40+ year old motor and I have no idea how the previous owner cared for it. This way, I get a brand new motor, with a warranty, and I know I will take care of it.

 

[GB in MN]

Wow just looked at the DuroMax engines on E bay 16 hp for $299.99 and free shipping, never heard of them before anyone have any real world experience with them, I know the older HF Greyhounds are good engines.
GT 80 I know what your saying about the old Tec's I feel the same way was just looking over the 66 Sub I have and was thinking of a Predator in it, so I'll be watching your conversion thread.
Just looked up Maxtools here's their sale price:
http://www.maxtool.com/us/products/XP16HP.asp
http://www.maxtool.com/us/products/XP16HPE.asp
1. is recoil start 2 is electric start
GB in MN

 

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I don't have time or money to mess around with parts and labor on a 40+ year old motor and I have no idea how the previous owner cared for it. This way, I get a brand new motor, with a warranty, and I know I will take care of it.

True that. Jolene looks like she couldn't have but a few hundred hours on her, somone must of really neglected the engine for it to need a rebuild...

 

[GT_80]

True that. Jolene looks like she couldn't have but a few hundred hours on her, somone must of really neglected the engine for it to need a rebuild...

Actually when I got it, it had it's second motor in it already, and IT was blown up too! It was replaced with a brand new Tecumseh 12HP back in 1995, and that one lasted about 20 years before it let go. The PO bought the tractor new in 67 and only used it to mow and tow a cart, so it couldn't have been too beat on- I saw his yard. It was flat. The two motors I have one was original from a 67 Super 12 that was neglected it's last few years of use, but the motor is strong still, and the orange motor I was going to put in her was rebuilt (or at least opened) at one point- when I got it it would not run because the SSI was bolted on upside down. I got it to run well for a while, but never purred I always had to screw with the carb. Even a brand new carb still wouldn't make it run right. I just lost patience. I know I could make them run right with a little more tinkering, but I don't have the time I had before I was a parent. Even stumpy is suffering- got him apart, and he's been apart for about 2 months now. I pushed the frame under the lean to, and the rest is in my garage waiting for primer and paint.

 

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Three quick things to check if you haven't already:

Is the float needle gasket in the proper position? (mine was sideways)

Is the float dampening spring in place properly? (mine was absent)

Is the main jet fully seated? (mine was loose)

All three problems still allowed my Tec to run, just intermittantly poorly (which is the worst), I fiddled with the adjustment screws forever before I figured it all out.

Just thought it may be worth one last try...

 

[GT_80]

I have given it "One Last Try" about 4 times now- hence the 'new' carburetor... You know the funny thing is, the one thing I will miss most about the Tecs is the S/G belt cover. They are so unique...

 

[kb0nly]

Wow just looked at the DuroMax engines on E bay 16 hp for $299.99 and free shipping, never heard of them before anyone have any real world experience with them, I know the older HF Greyhounds are good engines.
GT 80 I know what your saying about the old Tec's I feel the same way was just looking over the 66 Sub I have and was thinking of a Predator in it, so I'll be watching your conversion thread.
Just looked up Maxtools here's their sale price:
http://www.maxtool.com/us/products/XP16HP.asp
http://www.maxtool.com/us/products/XP16HPE.asp
1. is recoil start 2 is electric start
GB in MN

I have a DuroMax 7hp Electric Start on my snowblower, a neighbor has a bigger 16hp on his old lawn tractor, i don't actually know what brand it is, i think its a Craftsman tractor, as they repainted it with rattle cans, but its runs strong and pushes the plow hard! After seeing that blue motor on there last winter i asked them about it, then when the Tec on my old Craftsman gave up i put on a 7hp DuroMax in its place.

They run strong and quiet... No vibration or noises, another good solid Honda clone. There is also the DuroStar which looks like these only yellow. Basically the same engines, made in the same factory, just have a slightly different recoil starter housing and sold under two names.

 

[GT_80]

I have a DuroMax 7hp Electric Start on my snowblower, a neighbor has a bigger 16hp on his old lawn tractor, i don't actually know what brand it is, i think its a Craftsman tractor, as they repainted it with rattle cans, but its runs strong and pushes the plow hard! After seeing that blue motor on there last winter i asked them about it, then when the Tec on my old Craftsman gave up i put on a 7hp DuroMax in its place.

They run strong and quiet... No vibration or noises, another good solid Honda clone. There is also the DuroStar which looks like these only yellow. Basically the same engines, made in the same factory, just have a slightly different recoil starter housing and sold under two names.

I checked them out a little while ago- while they appear to be decent mechanical motors, the fit and finish looks cheaper than the predators and Greyhounds... The predator is almost a 100% clone of a Honda. I would almost wager that the internals were interchangeable.