John Deere Model E - New Cart Kit

This engine is heavy enough that it is difficult to move it around unless it has wheels under it. I looked around online and came across a universal cart kit for hit and miss engines on a website called Flywheel Supply. The kit came with four 8" diameter cast iron wheels, two cast rear axle supports, a front cast axle swivel bolster, and some U-bolts.

Ryobi RY38BP Leaf Blower Engine Kickback Issue

A friend has a two-cycle Ryobi RY38BP leaf blower that has stopped working. Initially I thought the whole problem was that the pull cord was messed up, as it was partially hanging out of the motor housing. After pulling on the cord several times at their house, it decided to not retract at all and the engine no longer spun. Easy fix, or so I thought. This photo is off the net.

1931 John Deere Model E 1-1/2 HP Hit and Miss Engine Acquisition

Another new addition to the clutter followed me home last night. As the title states, it's a hit-n-miss engine. Right at the moment though, it's only a "miss" engine, as the magneto is kaput. I'll tell the story of the acquisition at the end. Here are some beauty shots.

1940s Blue Diamond Generator AKA Gas-O-Lectric Plant AKA Pioneer Gen-E-Motor

I'm not sure what the official name for this generator is, but I'll call it a Blue Diamond Generator since that is the name at the top of the tag. All three names in the title are on the tag in various places, so I guess folks can take their pick as to which one to use.

When Will The Madness End - Several New Projects: Wisconsin, Briggs & Stratton and Other Engines

I have tractor projects coming out of my ears and what do I do? Buy two new projects (update - there are more, read to the end). Oh boy. At least they're small projects, and they were too cheap to pass up. Ten bucks for two Wisconsin single cylinder engines.

1925 Economy Hit & Miss Engine Repairs/Tune-up and 1939 Turner Hay Press Tensioner Handle

A guy in my tractor club owns this 1925 Economy 1-3/4 hp hit & miss engine. It hasn't run right for a couple years now and at the recent county fair, we started smelling gas, and I speculated it might have a tank leak. I offered to take a look at the engine, brought it home after the fair and sure enough, the soldered outlet on the gas tank had failed. I pulled the tank and re-soldered the joint. Of course, to get the tank out, the wheels and wooden base had to come off. That meant enlisting the help of the engine hoist, as the engine is probably in the 300+ pound range.

1985 Cushman Truckster New Brake Master Cylinder

I bought this Cushman May of 2022 and it has had a brake master cylinder leak for who-knows-how-long, certainly years before I got it. I figured it was time to fix it. Needing to move the beast to the garage, the engine did not want to start. I cleaned the points. I checked the spark at a plug wire. I made sure the fuel pump was pumping. I cleaned the points again. I bypassed the coil resistor. I checked for voltage to the coils. I put in more gas. I checked the points again, and yep, still a spark. Then out of the blue, the thing started up. Who knows what the problem was. But during that time of troubleshooting, I had to push the Cush out of its hole in the shed, and in doing so, I noticed one of the dump bed hinges seemed a bit off. Ok, add that to the list of things to do today. Once I got the engine running, I drove to the front of the garage and lifted the dump bed. Yep, that is a broken hinge.

1950 Briggs and Stratton Model 23 9hp Engine from an AgriCat

I went to a garage sale and saw this engine sitting there with a $25 "as-is" price tag on it. Hmm, I can't pass that up now can I. So home it came. The guy selling it said he had the piece of equipment it came out of, an AgriCat mini dozer (the Briggs being replaced with a modern engine). He said this Briggs probably still ran  Uh-huh, sure. At least the crankshaft turned over and the engine had compression. What I don't understand is why he would sell the original engine out of a 1950 AgriCat. I'm not complaining by any means, it just doesn't make sense to me.

1940s Homemade Garden Tractor Gets an Engine and Clutch

I've been busy working on the John Deere 650 lately so I haven't posted much on this homemade tractor. As I'd mentioned previously, I crudely mounted a 1947 Onan BH twin cylinder engine. Since then I permanently attached the engine and made a belt tensioning clutch assembly and belt guard. This first photo is with a trial belt that is too long.

1986 John Deere 650 Tractor Engine Reassembly

Parts for my engine rebuild came in so it's now a simple matter of putting everything back together, right? First up was to press the new main bearings into the engine block. The front bearing presses directly into the block and the back bearing presses into a flanged casting that then bolts to the back of the block after the crankshaft is installed through the rear of the block. There is a funky center bearing on the crankshaft that is held in place by a large circular split casting. The crankshaft is installed into the block, then the center split casting is bolted to the block with one bolt. The rear bearing and seal flange is then bolted to the block. Here's a photo of the flange when I was removing the bearing:

1986 John Deere 650 Tractor Engine Disassembly

This is a Yanmar 2T80UJ two-cylinder diesel engine. Yanmar made the engine (and the tractor) to JD specifications, and I understand it's not identical to any Yanmar-branded engine. Fortunately there are still some aftermarket parts available for these things.

The first step in this engine's disassembly process was to get the engine moved from the motorcycle jack to the engine stand. I took the plastic fan off first, as it already had chunks missing and I didn't want to cause any further damage. I then took the engine stand's main bracket (the black thing that bolts to the engine) off the stand (the red thing) and bolted the bracket onto the back of the engine, then jacked the MC jack all the way up to get the engine as close to the height of the engine stand as possible. I put a blanket over the engine so I didn't get covered in oil when giving it a bear hug to move it, then manhandled the engine from the jack to the stand, fitting the bracket's rear stub pipe into the pipe of the stand. It's one heavy little engine, let me tell you. I'm guessing 200+ pounds. And you may be wondering why I didn't use the engine hoist? It's got the loader hanging from it.

1986 John Deere 650 Tractor Engine Removal

With the loader out of the way, I moved forward with taking out the engine. The first step in engine removal is to remove the front frame and axle. Of course it is. Ok, so the reason is because the engine block is an integral part of the tractor frame. The front frame bolts directly to the engine block, and the engine block is bolted to the clutch housing.

To get the frame disconnected, I first needed to remove the rear support for the loader (another "of course"). The steering arm drag link needed to come free of the front steering knuckle, and wiring for lights (of which there currently aren't any) also needed to be fished out, then seven bolts are removed. I supported the rear half of the tractor with a jack stand, then used a floor jack to balance the front end and roll it away.

1940s Homemade Garden Tractor

This little guy followed me home a few weeks ago. It was advertised in the local Craigslist as Yard Art (!). Well, I suppose it is pretty far gone, but that's not going to deter me from trying to get it going. This first photo below shows it in its natural habitat, waiting patiently for someone to come along and give it a little TLC. The lady who owned it said her late husband (Ron) built it on the farm in the Key Peninsula area of Pierce county.

Pulsar Inverter Generator Hard Starting When Cold

Here's a quick little entry. I picked up this 2kw inverter generator a year ago for a screaming good deal, $279 plus tax and free shipping, from Home Depot. It's a great running generator once I get it started when cold. If it's a cold start though, look out. Get ready for 15 to 30 pulls of the cord before it springs to life. I thought that maybe there's some simple thing that is amiss, and I wondered if the twist knob that actuates the off/run/choke settings is maybe not fully closing the choke. So, off to the great YouTube to see if anyone else might be suffering this same malady. Lo and behold, there was.

1957 Petter Diesel Engine Gets A New Air Cleaner

Prior to buying this engine, I'd called the previous owner and asked him some questions. One was about the air cleaner, or more accurately, about the missing air cleaner in the photos. I asked if he had the air cleaner. He said something to the effect that it does have an air filter but not the original. When I went to buy the engine, the below photo is what I found mounted on the engine. It's the white pleated thing. He said it was a vacuum cleaner filter (!) but it works fine.

1957 Petter AVA1 Diesel Engine "Overload Stop"

If anyone having an older Petter diesel engine has read the starting procedure in the manual, they've no doubt come across something called an Overload Stop. Folks may not understand what this mechanism does. I was one of those folks when I bought my 1948 Gibson D tractor that has a Petter AC1Z diesel engine on it. There was this funky lever that the instructions (and previous owner) said to move down and release. I (and the previous owner) had no idea what it did but I found out later that it is called "Overload Stop". And not until I got this new-to-me AVA1 engine did I realize what the Overload Stop actually does. On the AC1Z engine, the fuel injector pump rack is enclosed so I can't see what is going on, but on this AVA1, the pump and rack are hanging out there for all to see, and the Overload Stop is also right there. Well, if my engine had one, it would be right there, but unfortunately the Overload Stop contraption was missing. Not having anything better to do while recovering from rotator cuff surgery, I decided to make one today on the Smithy mill.

1957 Petter AVA1 Diesel Engine Welding Broken Cast Iron Pump Gland Clamp

One of the cast iron clamps that seals the Gardner-Denver water pump shaft on the Petter engine's trailer is broken into three pieces and is missing some chunks. Someone had brazed it together in the past and filled in a lot of voids with what looks like JB Weld.

1957 Petter AVA1 Diesel Engine Loose Flywheel

Ok, it's not as bad as the title sounds, but the flywheel was slowly working itself outward on the crankshaft. Thus the interference with the fan shroud that I'd noticed the first time I started this engine. I had previously spent a day tweaking the shroud around so it didn't scrape on the flywheel and I'd thought to myself that the shroud was sure a close fit to the flywheel, but it didn't dawn on me that the flywheel could be the culprit. Today I started the engine and noticed the rubbing noise again. Hmm, there must be something going on. I then realized the flywheel had moved closer to the shroud. Time to take action.

1957 Petter AVA1 Diesel Engine

Another project followed me home recently. And I fully admit I'm a sucker for "small" (a somewhat relative term in this case), older hand-crank diesel engines. This particular engine is a British Petter model AVA1 single cylinder diesel engine, and dates to approximately 1957. Without further ado, here's a photo:

Gas Trimmer Problems

I worked on a friend's gas trimmer today. What I thought would be a short tune-up turned into a five-hour job. Not knowing what issues there might be, I started with the fuel tank on the machine. I pulled off the cap and looked inside. Hmm, that might be the problem: