Is it safe to run Briggs & Stratton 5 hp engine without governor?

[TobyU]

I really can't tell enough from those pictures to tell if you have a governor that could work or not. Basically just check it with your finger. Push back against the governor rod as you give it some throttle at the carburetor and if you're getting resistance then that means the internal Governor works. That's what you want so then all you have to do is hook up some linkage to it and a spring.
You can run an engine and probably get by for a long time without a governor but it's annoying and doesn't work that well. You have to constantly adjust it because under load it needs a lot more throttle and then when that load goes away it wants to over rev so it's just not good or safe for the engine and it's highly annoying.

 

[sharnett]

I inherited that same mulcher. When I got it, the governor wasn't working and the engine would run at wide open throttle. The governor had disintegrated inside the engine, and I suspect that's what happened to yours. I cleaned out the bits of governor from the crankcase and fashioned an air-vane governor to replace the original plastic piece of junk.

You definitely don't want to run without a governor for a couple of reasons. 1. You can easily overspeed the engine. 2. The governor automatically throttles back under no-load and opens the throttle under load. Without a governor the throttle will be at a fixed position and the engine will bog way down under load. That mulcher needs all the power it can get, so the governor is essential.

 

[kinwin]

It took me a while to get the impeller wheel balanced to minimize the vibrations. It's still far from perfect, but at least the chipper would stay at the same place now, when the engine is running. I had to order new shredder blades, it turned out the old blades were made for lawnmowers and not shaped the correct way for a shredder.
With new blades and a somewhat balanced impeller, I had good success in chipping and shredding away a big pile of yard trimmings. As expected, without the governor, the engine bogs down under load, but if you are patient and only feed a little at a time you can get the job done. Attached is a picture of the bucket of wood chips I made with this machine. I also slapped on a new coat of paint to cover the rust.
For now I'm very happy with this setup, it gets the job done, and I'm not planning to use it more than once or maybe twice a year, so the minor annoyance of running it without governor is acceptable for me. Anyways, I want to thank everybody on this thread who has provided very useful information to me, without which I would not have dared to proceed with the project. Thank you all for you help.

 

[bertsmobile1]

It took me a while to get the impeller wheel balanced to minimize the vibrations. It's still far from perfect, but at least the chipper would stay at the same place now, when the engine is running. I had to order new shredder blades, it turned out the old blades were made for lawnmowers and not shaped the correct way for a shredder.
With new blades and a somewhat balanced impeller, I had good success in chipping and shredding away a big pile of yard trimmings. As expected, without the governor, the engine bogs down under load, but if you are patient and only feed a little at a time you can get the job done. Attached is a picture of the bucket of wood chips I made with this machine. I also slapped on a new coat of paint to cover the rust.
For now I'm very happy with this setup, it gets the job done, and I'm not planning to use it more than once or maybe twice a year, so the minor annoyance of running it without governor is acceptable for me. Anyways, I want to thank everybody on this thread who has provided very useful information to me, without which I would not have dared to proceed with the project. Thank you all for you help.

here is another little diamond in the rough that will make working with it as is ( and I still do not recommend this ) as easy & time efficient as possible .
Rather than do a pile of trimmings then try to process them in one fell swoop, take the chipper down to where you are trimming & fire it up, then as you cut a branch off toss it strait into the chipper so it can chip while you are working out where to make the next cut .
Thus you are not hanging around like a shag on a rock while you wait for the chipper to finish each branch before you toss in the next one and the one job ( pruning ) does not create 2 more, ( Collecting the off cuts & processing them ).
It also gives the machine time to recover if you are not a demon with the pruning saw .
This is what I do with 4 acres of olive trees and 2 acres of christmass trees so 5 minutes after the final cut the job is finished .
I sit the chipper on a tarp and when it has as much on it as I can lift I grab the corners and empty the chips into a trailer.
When the trailer is full it is time to have a break so it gets driven down to the processing area for the olives to be turned into compost.
For the pine trees I start on a tarp then for the second tree I move it to the first tree & when finished the second tree, rake the clippings evenly around the base of first tree and thus wise for all 800 of them ( 2-3 day job depending upon the size of the trees ) .

 

[kinwin]

I inherited that same mulcher. When I got it, the governor wasn't working and the engine would run at wide open throttle. The governor had disintegrated inside the engine, and I suspect that's what happened to yours. I cleaned out the bits of governor from the crankcase and fashioned an air-vane governor to replace the original plastic piece of junk.

You definitely don't want to run without a governor for a couple of reasons. 1. You can easily overspeed the engine. 2. The governor automatically throttles back under no-load and opens the throttle under load. Without a governor the throttle will be at a fixed position and the engine will bog way down under load. That mulcher needs all the power it can get, so the governor is essential.

So this "air-vane governor" is something you attache outside the engine, near the fly-wheel? Sounds like you wouldn't need to open up the engine to do this mod. Does Briggs and Stratton actually make an air-vane governor for this engine, or is this more of an aftermarket hack? I'm trying to figure out which is the easiest/cheapest solution, restore the factory governor gear which requires taking apart the engine cover, or this "air-vane" mod.

 

[vsalcido]

I recently got hold of a very hold and rusted chipper/shredder. It's a craftsman model# 247.797851, I believe from 1990.
Previous owner said it hasn't been used for years, but it did run fine before that. I cleaned the carburetor, replaced the spark plug and lo and behold the engine fired up.
However, this is when I noticed the engine has no governor. In the attached pictures, you can see where the governor rod is supposed to be, there is simply a bolt.
I figured the previous owner removed the governor on purpose and ran the engine by manually adjusting the throttle.
My only worry is, how do I know I'm not running at too high rpm? Is there an easy way to tell you are running at slow enough rpm to be safe?

Make sure to replace the flux capacitor and the Johnson rod to prevent the rpms from exceeding 4k. As the pressure should not exceed the hydraulic pressure, otherwise your proximity switch will implode.

 

[7394]

What about the knuder valve ?

 

[vsalcido]

What about the knuder valve ?

The knuder valve too

 

[7394]

Very important !

 

[7394]

Not sure if that one has a 'muffler bearing' tho ?