how to pull more power

[NCC74656]

i have a push mower that i use at some apartment buildings i manage. the grass can get very long and hard to cut. I have a craftsman brigs and stratton 5.5HP engine on the mower. what is a way to get some more power out of it? i have already changed the throttle spring to allow it to run at WoT, i am thinking of trying to add a turbo to it. any ideas or suggestions?

 

[reynoldston]

i am thinking of trying to add a turbo to it. any ideas or suggestions?



Anything is possable with enought money. Just what would you think it would cost you to install a turbo to a 5.5hp B&S engine. On top of that just how well do you think the engine would hold up to the added power. Now my thought would be to install a bigger engine on the mower. Maybe a motorcycle engine??

 

[NCC74656]

i was thinking the turbo would be a relativity inexpensive move to boost the power. the biggest issue i have with the mower right now is it bogs down when cutting and comes very close to sputtering out frequently. id like to some how give it more stable power.

 

[reynoldston]

i was thinking the turbo would be a relativity inexpensive move to boost the power. the biggest issue i have with the mower right now is it bogs down when cutting and comes very close to sputtering out frequently. id like to some how give it more stable power.

Are we thinking the same thing. A turbo charger that runs off the exhaust system? Is there such a thing made to fit a 5.5 Briggs? I am thinking not so it would have to be custom made. Now you would have a lot of added power on a engine that is designed for 5.5 HP. So now on top of the cost of custom made turbo you will have to rebuild the engine to take the added power which would also be custom made parts. I would say it wouldn't take long to get into thousands of dollars on a 200 dollar mower. Yes it can be done and yes I sure would like to see it when you are done. Now to be more on the practical side I would say go with a commercial mower but I have found everyone has there own ideas so I would say look into the turbo and send some pictures as you make this happen.

 

[scott47429]

yeah it dont take long to sink a bunch of money into a engine back when i raced go Karts we ran a 5 horse B&S like you find on a rotor tiller but mine was a little different it burned methonal had a motorcycle carb on it and a 3 stage header also had a 4 horse head with the spark plug moved over the piston and the exhaust valve had been enlarged to the size of the intake the ridge between the piston and the valves had been removed also it was bored so far over it had to have a girdle to keep the cylinder from coming off the block it was so thin it had a 3 horse flywheel all alum. with a bracket to set the coil down to the smaller flywheel and had a huge cam and a steel crank and rod with bearing it had a 2 ring wisco piston the block was decked and the head milled down and had to run a surface fire plug or the piston would hit the electrode and smash the plug closed when i was all done and doing alot of the work myself i had 1900.00 in a 5 horse B&S rotor tiller engine granted it ran alot higher RPMs up to 8000 but couldnt hold it there or it would come apart it was for short runs to the floor then off the gas back to the floor and back off the gas and it reved like a chainsaw with the lighter flywheel so yeah unless you just have lots of money and time then just get a bigger mower

 

[Carscw]

Any time you want more hp it's going to cost you big $
I had a mustang 4cyl 2.3 dirt track car. Had almost 10k in the engine ( I was cheating ) and still had other cars out run me with more hp
I would not spend $ do beef up a lawn mower engine I would just get a bigger mower

Sent from my iPhone using LMF

 

[reynoldston]

3 horse flywheel all alum. with a bracket to set the coil down to the smaller flywheel .


For racing I am guessing that you need a light flywheel to get fast and high RPMs. Now for a working engine like NCC74656 is looking for it just seems to me he would want a heavy flywheel to keep up the momentum for working. I am also just thinking that a turbo wouldn't work for him seeing he would want lower RPMs for a working mower which would mean he would want to keep a governor on the engine. I don't know much about turbos but wouldn't a turbo need high RPMS to make power.

 

[enigma-2]

To me, it would seem to be easiest and least expensive to just install a more powerful engine. For example, theres a 6.5 HP Quantum walk-behind lawn mower engine (with warranty) currently on Ebay for $140 (buy-it-now). Why not just bolt on more hp?

BRIGGS & STRATTON 6.5HP QUANTUM WALK-BEHIND LAWN MOWER ENGINE 126T02 W/WARRANTY | eBay

 

[Popeye]

NoX:thumbsup::thumbsup::laughing::laughing:

 

[NCC74656]

perhaps ill look into a better engine. if i did buy anew one id be looking for a 10HP plus engine. i figured it wouldnt be to much to modify the engine as i spent about 1400.00 to add 350HP to my trucks engine in a rebuild but perhaps parts for the smaller engines cost more?