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Gentlemen, I just got around to completing this project. My original intent was to simply raise the air filter up a foot, it ended up moving up 21". I'll attach 4 photo's to show the progress.
Photo 1 shows the basic structure/frame with the air tube (2" radiator hose) and mounting plate made from a plastic electrical cover. Photo 2 shows the base plate. Photo 3 shows the air filter box. Photo 4 shows the filter arrangement and box lid. Looking at the rear of the machine, the air box is open on left hand side(as far away from the discharge as possible). The lid simply folds flat on top of the filters. The outer filter is a WIXs 42088.

Please review and send any questions, Cheers, Ray

Tou might need to replace the hose with suction hose as it might collapse in heavy use .
If you start seeing black smoke & the mower feels like it is running rich then suspect the tube collapsing .
And you will need some diagonal bracing on those legs lest they smack you in the back of your head .

bertsmobile1 said:

Tou might need to replace the hose with suction hose as it might collapse in heavy use .
If you start seeing black smoke & the mower feels like it is running rich then suspect the tube collapsing .
And you will need some diagonal bracing on those legs lest they smack you in the back of your head .

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Hi Bert, both good points, there is some bracing not shown but may be room for more. As for the tube, it is actually very rigid but I will continure to monitor very closely for issues, one option is to simply use the OEM filter, thanks Ray

What is your main reason for all that modification?

What does a air filter cost?

bkeller500 said:

What does a air filter cost?

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We sell them daily for 22.99.....that is for a air filter & pre-filter kit.
These OEM filters work real well!

mower king said:

We sell them daily for 22.99.....that is for a air filter & pre-filter kit.
These OEM filters work real well!

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Yeah, that would have been my first choice.

Wow !! To be honest, I'm just not feeling it.. (sorry man)

(1) For any valve adjustments, & / or etc, "looks" like you would have to remove this 'tower'.

(2) I see that thing wiggling back & forth while mowing.

(3) And FWIW: now that you removed the OEM filter cover, there are 2 open holes in blower housing that will blow out air that is meant to help cool the engine. And it needs all it can get.

mower king said:

What is your main reason for all that modification?

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To get the air source as far away from the ground as possible.

7394 said:

Wow !! To be honest, I'm just not feeling it.. (sorry man)

(1) For any valve adjustments, & / or etc, "looks" like you would have to remove this 'tower'.

(2) I see that thing wiggling back & forth while mowing.

(3) And FWIW: now that you removed the OEM filter cover, there are 2 open holes in blower housing that will blow out air that is meant to help cool the engine. And it needs all it can get.

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LA, first, thanks for the tip, if here is holes in cover that needs to be covered I'll get it done.

As for wiggling, actually this thing is made with corner brackets and is braced well, it is actually very rigid. It bolds directly to the rear frame and engine gaurd. If it becomes necessary to remove it's just a few bolts.

My yard is total 1.5 acres, when it's done about an acre of mixed varieties of grass, some areas with shade and moss. It takes ~ an hour to cut after which in the stock configuration my air filter is completely covered. As it is now with the filter raised (~21") it hardly looks like the engine has been run. One would have to believe that would be beneficial to the engine. I see or hear no change in how the engine performs from the stock arrangement but I am still toying with the filter arrangement. I placed the large filter around the stock filter without the pre filter. The lid folds flat on top of the filters and the air comes in the side away from the mower
discharge. Another member cautioned me about the air tub possibly collasping, I don't see that happening but I am watching.

I believe I have read every article available on the FX style air box and honestly believe what I have fashioned does the job well for a fraction of the cost of the manfuctured products. I probally could have simpy placed a single flat plate on the frame work with the stock filter and got similar results. All in all I don't see how anyone is happy with the stock airfilter arrangement with an FR651V on the back of any ZTR, unless your yard is much cleaner than mine. Cheers, Ray

I'm new here. but i have to give you a handshake on a good job, you saw a problem and instead of complaining, tweaked that machine for your personal useage........Ive always experimented in treeking.........and got a lot of fails over the years, but it sure is fun for me...;-)

When you look at the 3 engines , FX, FS & FR it is pretty obvious the FX is how it was designed
then when the mower makers demmanded a cheaper engine they looked at ways to make the engine cheaper and cheaper and cheaper .
It is a con job.
Kawakasi originally supplied only the FX to top end commercial mowers, thus it established the reputation of being bullet proof .
Then using that reputation cheaper engines got fitted to lower level mowers .

When he original Victa push mower was designed , he factory realized the air filters were not doing their job so they fitted a snorkel to the next model that drew it's air from the top of the handlebar and that was around 1956
Every subsequent model was fitted with the snorkels either as standard fitment if their own engine was fitted or as a option if fitted with an alternative engine.
This remained till B & S took them over & the snorkels were dropped because B & S wanted the engines to wear out .
Because of competition pressures , all the rest of the locally made mowers also fitted snorkels as did the fully imported Hondas.
Many of these engines are now better than 70 years old and still on original bores because the cleaner air eliminated bore wear .

OTOH I have now done ( well I did one & customer did the other ) re-ring & hone jobs on Timecutters fitted with baggers & Kawakasi engines because the filtering system is badly designed and prone to leaking between the elbow & carb if you are not very careful with them .

So yes a very good idea and a lot cheaper than fitting the Donaldson type filter .

Digiacomo said:

I'm new here. but i have to give you a handshake on a good job, you saw a problem and instead of complaining, tweaked that machine for your personal useage........Ive always experimented in treeking.........and got a lot of fails over the years, but it sure is fun for me...;-)

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Hi D, kind works, thanks. I'm also very knew to this forum and look to draw from the senior's expertice. I also enjoy improving devices and I for one am very happy with this outcome. I will make some additional changes to the set up and post. Your input either pro or con is most welcome. Cheers, Ray

bertsmobile1 said:

When you look at the 3 engines , FX, FS & FR it is pretty obvious the FX is how it was designed
then when the mower makers demmanded a cheaper engine they looked at ways to make the engine cheaper and cheaper and cheaper .
It is a con job.
Kawakasi originally supplied only the FX to top end commercial mowers, thus it established the reputation of being bullet proof .
Then using that reputation cheaper engines got fitted to lower level mowers .

When he original Victa push mower was designed , he factory realized the air filters were not doing their job so they fitted a snorkel to the next model that drew it's air from the top of the handlebar and that was around 1956
Every subsequent model was fitted with the snorkels either as standard fitment if their own engine was fitted or as a option if fitted with an alternative engine.
This remained till B & S took them over & the snorkels were dropped because B & S wanted the engines to wear out .
Because of competition pressures , all the rest of the locally made mowers also fitted snorkels as did the fully imported Hondas.
Many of these engines are now better than 70 years old and still on original bores because the cleaner air eliminated bore wear .

OTOH I have now done ( well I did one & customer did the other ) re-ring & hone jobs on Timecutters fitted with baggers & Kawakasi engines because the filtering system is badly designed and prone to leaking between the elbow & carb if you are not very careful with them .

So yes a very good idea and a lot cheaper than fitting the Donaldson type filter .

Click to expand...

Hi Bert, I for one didn't know the history with Kawa engines but I could easily see how this evolved. This may not be pretty but I know this is a winner when it comes to extending the engine life. After running for only ~ an hour I knew the stock arrangement would not do.
If anyone is interested, the air pipe I used is a 2" radiator hose from O'Reillys PN 72053 10877 simply cut to length and I placed a WIX filter PN 42088 around the OEM filter. Even if you only use the OEM filter it will still be much improved over the stock arrangement. R

bertsmobile1 said:

So yes a very good idea and a lot cheaper than fitting the Donaldson type filter .

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Bert- My Donaldson conversion was really low cost, I got the canister & mounting bracket used off Feebay, for about $20. Needed cleaning badly.
I added new filters of course about $18. total. So I didn't have much in that set-up. But it looked factory imo. My version # 2 for my new mower will look stock as well, & perform like an FX filtration system should.

RayMcD said:

This may not be pretty but I know this is a winner when it comes to extending the engine life.

Click to expand...

I think your reached your goal.

7394 said:

Bert- My Donaldson conversion was really low cost, I got the canister & mounting bracket used off Feebay, for about $20. Needed cleaning badly.
I added new filters of course about $18. total. So I didn't have much in that set-up. But it looked factory imo. My version # 2 for my new mower will look stock as well, & perform like an FX filtration system should.

Click to expand...

The actual conversion kit down here is around $ 600 including the steel blower housing.
The difference in price FS to FX is about $ 1000
So yes if you ferret around you can luck it in cheaply but bought new there was a big difference .

7394 said:

I think your reached your goal.

Click to expand...

LA, I'm sure we both had the same thing in mind with when you added the Donaldson filter upgrade. I already have a change planned to my contraption in mind I will post once it is completed. Cheers, Ray

RayMcD said:

LA, I'm sure we both had the same thing in mind with when you added the Donaldson filter upgrade. I already have a change planned to my contraption in mind I will post once it is completed. Cheers, Ray

Click to expand...

Ray- Yes I think so.. Look forward to seeing your change. Who or what is "LA" ?

7394 said:

Ray- Yes I think so.. Look forward to seeing your change. Who or what is "LA" ?

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You because you are at Lawn Addict level

7394 said:

Ray- Yes I think so.. Look forward to seeing your change. Who or what is "LA" ?

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Just my way short for Lawn Addict, I didn't want to call you Left Wing !!!, Cheers, Ray

7394 said:

Ray- Yes I think so.. Look forward to seeing your change. Who or what is "LA" ?

Click to expand...

I raised this issue a few weeks back and did not get a lot of support here. Did I let that stop me? No Sir!

Here is what I did. This is flexible steel electrical conduit. I did not want something rigid because I go under low limbs and/or sometimes when I turn the engine goes into shrubs. So far no problems to report. It is leaf chopping season in NJ that creates a lot of dust. I want to wait for leaves to dry out a little before using it some more and delivering my verdict. I plugged the original air intake and these hoses feed the air filter housing above where the air was being drawn from. The volume of air delivered is about the same as it was.
The hoses will let me easily play with where I pull air from. Behind the mower is not the best but higher is better. The hoses will also let me play with feeding some propane from a handheld tank into the air supply when I get bored.
I am considering putting another hose from in the seat bottom to experiment with the occasional methane boost.

RayMcD said:

Gentlemen, I just got around to completing this project. My original intent was to simply raise the air filter up a foot, it ended up moving up 21". I'll attach 4 photo's to show the progress.
Photo 1 shows the basic structure/frame with the air tube (2" radiator hose) and mounting plate made from a plastic electrical cover. Photo 2 shows the base plate. Photo 3 shows the air filterView attachment 58984View attachment 58985View attachment 58986View attachment 58987 box. Photo 4 shows the filter arrangement and box lid. Looking at the rear of the machine, the air box is open on left hand side(as far away from the discharge as possible). The lid simply folds flat on top of the filters. The outer filter is a WIXs 42088.

Please review and send any questions, Cheers, Ray

Click to expand...

This should win the red-neck of the year award.

RayMcD said:

Gentlemen, I just got around to completing this project. My original intent was to simply raise the air filter up a foot, it ended up moving up 21". I'll attach 4 photo's to show the progress.
Photo 1 shows the basic structure/frame with the air tube (2" radiator hose) and mounting plate made from a plastic electrical cover. Photo 2 shows the base plate. Photo 3 shows the air filterView attachment 58984View attachment 58985View attachment 58986View attachment 58987 box. Photo 4 shows the filter arrangement and box lid. Looking at the rear of the machine, the air box is open on left hand side(as far away from the discharge as possible). The lid simply folds flat on top of the filters. The outer filter is a WIXs 42088.

Please review and send any questions, Cheers, Ray

Click to expand...

I like it.

txmowman said:

This should win the red-neck of the year award.

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TX, is it still OK if it actually works well ?

ok if it makes you happy......but if in the long run lets say 10 years you only have to replace the air filters twice instead of 10 times you saved some money for sure. Sorry it's Bad-awful looking and wonder if anyone will try to move in when it gets cold good luck!! I'll call it the covid contraption

mmoffitt said:

ok if it makes you happy......but if in the long run lets say 10 years you only have to replace the air filters twice instead of 10 times you saved some money for sure. Sorry it's Bad-awful looking and wonder if anyone will try to move in when it gets cold good luck!! I'll call it the covid contraption

Click to expand...

If someone is that cheap as to not want to change their OE filter, as part of regular maintenance, then you should probably own a cow or a goat.
I haven't see many proper suggestions on this blog. Mostly a bunch of hacks.

RayMcD your efforts displayed here together with those of the likeminded klutzes backpatting the trophy hatchet-job only serve as good reason to check brains at the door for these forums.

Owners either follow an engineered design or change out the original filter on servicing.
These motors are not under 1956 design rules nor are they totally "open aspirated engines" really, the air design for the combustion side of the engine is a critical factor, and why that supplied airbox is the way it is.

This contraption is the product of an idle mind and a wintered sawbench!

KrashnKraka said:

RayMcD your efforts displayed here together with those of the likeminded klutzes backpatting the trophy hatchet-job only serve as good reason to check brains at the door for these forums.

Owners either follow an engineered design or change out the original filter on servicing.
These motors are not under 1956 design rules nor are they totally "open aspirated engines" really, the air design for the combustion side of the engine is a critical factor, and why that supplied airbox is the way it is.

This contraption is the product of an idle mind and a wintered sawbench!

Click to expand...

KK, so you're calling the flip cover on the back of the FR engines an air box, right. If you took the air intake on your car and put it that close to the ground and run around off road all day, I wonder how long your engine would last. You won't make be believe elevating the filter straight up to get it out of the crap is detrimental to this engine.
BTW, KrashnKraka, since we are all a bunch of klutzes, where does your expertise originate? R

FWIW: A friend of mine has the same Kawasaki FR651V engine & currently has over 600 hours on it, using the OE filters only.
And his mower is still full of life..

This was what I did long ago.
https://www.lawnmowerforum.com/showthread.php/52096-Kawaaski-FR651V-FX-air-box-conversion

KrashnKraka said:

RayMcD your efforts displayed here together with those of the likeminded klutzes backpatting the trophy hatchet-job only serve as good reason to check brains at the door for these forums.

Owners either follow an engineered design or change out the original filter on servicing.
These motors are not under 1956 design rules nor are they totally "open aspirated engines" really, the air design for the combustion side of the engine is a critical factor, and why that supplied airbox is the way it is.

This contraption is the product of an idle mind and a wintered sawbench!

Click to expand...

I rather think it is more about meeting the noise regulations that engine breathing
Once again, they are SLOW reving low power cheap engines not Nascar top fuelers .
Kawakasi use the exact same blower housing without the flap on the FX series with a flex tube to a Donaldson double element filter
On the FX 600 /651 they use a single element Donaldson filter , again with the air box cover removed,
Every wanna be with a SUV fits a snorkel .
All of our local push mowers from 1956 to 2008 were fitted with snorkels .
I have serviced 40 year old mowers still running with the original filter which is still in good condition as it is pulling clean air.
Where as a foam filtered Sprint will be lucky if the filter is not choked beyond use in a single season.
The std B & S or honda side panel filter will clog enough to prevent an engine starting in as little as a single season as well.
So while it might be a thing that only it's creator could love shifting the air intake as far as possible from dirt & dust is always a good idea.
Lots of desert bike upgrades that shift the air filter to a position above the fuel tank to get them out of the dust .

7394 said:

FWIW: A friend of mine has the same Kawasaki FR651V engine & currently has over 600 hours on it, using the OE filters only.
And his mower is still full of life..

This was what I did long ago.
https://www.lawnmowerforum.com/showthread.php/52096-Kawaaski-FR651V-FX-air-box-conversion

Click to expand...

LA, that is very promising, I glad to know the engines are up to the task. This is my first Kawasaki, I was told by several they considered them the industry leader when I started looking for a mower. I'm sure different operating enviornments play a big roll in how the engines perform. Between us, I'll try to make my next update prettier, might even add paint. r

txmowman said:

If someone is that cheap as to not want to change their OE filter, as part of regular maintenance, then you should probably own a cow or a goat.
I haven't see many proper suggestions on this blog. Mostly a bunch of hacks.

Click to expand...

TX, the mod has nothing to do with saving money on filters, it's all about taking better care of the engine for the long haul. I will admit my choice of material may not have eye appeal but it's what I had easily available to work with. Watch for round 2.. Cheers, r

bertsmobile1 said:

I rather think it is more about meeting the noise regulations that engine breathing
Once again, they are SLOW reving low power cheap engines not Nascar top fuelers .
Kawakasi use the exact same blower housing without the flap on the FX series with a flex tube to a Donaldson double element filter
On the FX 600 /651 they use a single element Donaldson filter , again with the air box cover removed,
Every wanna be with a SUV fits a snorkel .
All of our local push mowers from 1956 to 2008 were fitted with snorkels .
I have serviced 40 year old mowers still running with the original filter which is still in good condition as it is pulling clean air.
Where as a foam filtered Sprint will be lucky if the filter is not choked beyond use in a single season.
The std B & S or honda side panel filter will clog enough to prevent an engine starting in as little as a single season as well.
So while it might be a thing that only it's creator could love shifting the air intake as far as possible from dirt & dust is always a good idea.
Lots of desert bike upgrades that shift the air filter to a position above the fuel tank to get them out of the dust .

Click to expand...

Muddling engine breathing with noise outputs (dB) says you really should not be playing with air Bert, let alone advising anyone on after market 'hacks' to any design, 40years in place or less!
OEM avenues will get anyone an alternative trashbox and filter with housing for these motors, it is done every other day of any week, with the assurance no performance suffers. I suggested as much in my original comment.
Whatever,
As usual the factor of operator error is being ignored here as there is another airway possibly way more critical for an air-cooled engine, and in the instance of mowers an airway requiring cleaning whilst doing the job should grass be found blowing over the engine difficult to avoid through circumstance or ignorance.
As suggested earlier, the purpose of these forums is to assist those looking to be assisted. Anything else is just a total waste of electricity and time in feeding egos or in the case of the educated, rebutting the bullshit.
Just cease... whichever camp one identifies with.

andyboy said:

I raised this issue a few weeks back and did not get a lot of support here. Did I let that stop me? No Sir!

Here is what I did. This is flexible steel electrical conduit. I did not want something rigid because I go under low limbs and/or sometimes when I turn the engine goes into shrubs. So far no problems to report. It is leaf chopping season in NJ that creates a lot of dust. I want to wait for leaves to dry out a little before using it some more and delivering my verdict. I plugged the original air intake and these hoses feed the air filter housing above where the air was being drawn from. The volume of air delivered is about the same as it was.
The hoses will let me easily play with where I pull air from. Behind the mower is not the best but higher is better. The hoses will also let me play with feeding some propane from a handheld tank into the air supply when I get bored.
I am considering putting another hose from in the seat bottom to experiment with the occasional methane boost.

Click to expand...

I'd put a one way valve on that setup in case of backfire under methane boost... That would give new meaning to the term "hot seat"!

Merry Christmas To all....

reported

Yea !