180 hrs. Forgot to mention the 249F oil temp in direct sun mowing medium tough 12" weeds for an hour. This engine is very quick to cool compared with my DYT 4000. For instance stopping blades drops oil 4 degrees almost immediately and shade also has an immediate effect, about 5 degrees. Too bad Briggs is going under. They would have fared better with a better rep (more good engines).
Impressions: newGT48XLSi
- Thread starter motoman
- Start date
cruzenmike
Well-Known Member
I had an ELS that stayed quite cool but of course I kept the shroud clean, kept up on maintenance and never beat it up. My 18hp Vanguard ran a bit hot but it was running at 3650rpm and powering two hydro pumps and a 3 blade deck. Even with all that it still ran smooth and quiet.
Hopefully Briggs still continues in the small engine business and only sells off the mower brands and other parts of their business that aren't so profitable. Somebody had to have made some major mistakes to take a 100 year old business under in today's market!
Somehow an entry made a while back disappeared . The locking diff stopped responding , and was traced to a bad dash switch. I attempted to upload data on the switch and it seems the whole subject was deleted. If needed I could dig out the data, Husqy had failed to proved a switch part number and no vendors had the part via description. An ebay part solved the problem. Switch is a US source in New England state.
Oil is sealed for life on this advanced unit
wrldtvlr
Well-Known Member
I'm starting to see "no maintenance required" gas mowers. I assume marketing thinks saving a few cents on fill and drain plugs can be spun as a positive thing. Presumably they have data that suggests consumers never follow the recommended change interval and the initial oil fill will last 50 or so hours before the engine seizes and the consumer has to buy another unit. Win for everyone! (not). Suspect no maintenance trans axles are the same thinking.
The RF wheel fell off today. Sounds bad....gopher holes and ruts finally fatigued and snapped the e clip holding the wheel on. Shaft OD .750, groove .619." Will try the harbor freight assortment box.
7-15-21 My take... factory set up has .100" free clearance between e clip and washer stack holding on the wheel. The wheel came off on a left-leaning slope which loaded up ( perhaps hammered) the e clip for one last time, snapping it off.
I added another .050" washer to the stack. Bought H Frt e clip storehouse , $7 local. That puts the unit cost @ 2 cents, or else $2 and up each plus freight on line. Used the 5/8 e clip. Machine has 202 hours.
7-15-21 My take... factory set up has .100" free clearance between e clip and washer stack holding on the wheel. The wheel came off on a left-leaning slope which loaded up ( perhaps hammered) the e clip for one last time, snapping it off.
I added another .050" washer to the stack. Bought H Frt e clip storehouse , $7 local. That puts the unit cost @ 2 cents, or else $2 and up each plus freight on line. Used the 5/8 e clip. Machine has 202 hours.
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The seat cushion cover has started cracking along an embossed line . No sharp objects in pocket ever. No sun or freezing exposure. Disappointed...my dyt4000 , vintage 2004 with 800 hours still has a perfect seat , no cracks. I see perfect Craftsman used seats on Craigslist for $100.