The old 5HP Briggs on the chipper is getting tired and starting---

ol' stonebreaker

Tractorologist
Senior Member
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--- to make metal in the oil. Tore it down today and the bore looks rough. It will cost about $115 for parts and I'm not sure a new piston, rings and rod will fix the problem and they're hard to find so I'm thinking of checking on an 8HP Predator for $230 to replace it. It's mainly used as a fan on my leaf vac setup. Maybe I'll just button it back up and run 'er 'til she blows. It doesn't get that many hours anyway.
Mike
 
Ive had a couple of leaf vacs, a Trac Vac and an MTD self prop walk behind, both were 5hp Briggs. and both had a ball bearing on the PTO end with a 1" diam PTO. Hard to find combo. and you gotta consider crankshaft height for the impeller. I have never been a fan of Predator and the like.
 
The rotor mounts on the crankshaft so no alignment worries. I've had a HF 6 1/2 HP on the Horse tiller for about 8 yrs and no problem. It doesn't get that many annual hours and I figure the one on the chipper will probably outlast me.
Mike
 
but the factory base and the shroud are connected, right? on the ones I worked on the shroud had an L bracket that bolted to the base, so that would have to be unbolted/ cut apart and the shroud brackets repositioned relative to the base, at least. Better believe that crank height is important... if the "new" engine has the crank shorter to the ground, then no biggie, you can shim it up. if the new crank is taller then you will have an issue!!!!
 
I have run a couple of the HF clone engines in the past, including the Greyhound. Only issue I had was one on a wood spliter. Did not have the hang power the old cast iron Briggs had. Fixed the ignition issue on the Briggs and put it back on the splitter. Some people can tear up an anvil, others use a coffee can for an anvil and get along just fine.
 
This MTD has 4 bolts that attach the shroud with the 4 threaded holes around the crankshaft. It also has two holes that attach to the base that are just drilled holes so if the crank height is different I'll just have to drill new holes in the base. If the engine base holes are different then a cardboard template will have to be made to mark and drill new holes in the base.
Mike
 
Yeah, chieffan, I put a 6 1/2 HP HF on the horse tiller and it bogs down pretty good when the horse is in to hilt. The original on the horse was an 8 HP Briggs, so there's the difference. It does what I want so I'm happy.
Mike
 
Received the HF engine and found it won't work at all. The gas tank and exhaust are in the way of the rotor housing to bolt up to the block. I'll return it to the store 60 mi away next time we go to Pocatello. Ordered a 7 1/2 HP briggs that will work for about $8 more delivered than the HF.
Mike
 
In this case someone back when put a fan housing from a different engine on this block. By the numbers this engine had ball bearings on each end of the crank and this block didn't. So in briggs world without the right numbers you're SOL IMO.
Mike
 
Received the briggs today and all the holes lined up but the exhaust was blowing on the back of the seat. I removed the exhaust , cut the vertical section and rotated it as far as I could. Still wasn't quite enough so added a piece of exhaust pipe cut off at an angle. This made the heat shield unusable but if I get burned that'll be on me. Later I'll make a support bracket from the rotor housing up to the pipe addition. I think this will work fine. It's ready to vac up lawn thatch in the spring.
Mike
 

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