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Hello. I hope that you are well and enjoying life in general.
I've had this Rear Engine Relic for more than a month now, and I finally got around to putting in a battery and oil and climbing aboard.

I'd never rode a rider before, and I was horrified at how fast it was. On Speed Number One. On Speed Number Six I probably could have taken it out onto the highway.

Between that and not really knowing how steep a hill it would take to tip it over, and I got hills, I'm kind of ascaired to get back on it. I know that there's a throttle, but Briggs and Stratton says that their engine really wants to run at a high speed, and my experience with throttles has not been good. These things really want to run full out. And or course if the engine slows down the blade slows down, and that can't be good.

Does anyone have any nonobvious suggestions regarding slowing this baby down?

drag blocks or logs?

Very Fine Person said:

Briggs and Stratton says that their engine really wants to run at a high speed,

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All correct. Keep the engine at roughly 3600rpm at ALL times. This is for MAX engine cooling and lubrication. For the deck it cuts and bags better too.

Far as speeds, the transmission driven disk sounds like someone has been messing with it. Jim Jackson has a ton of youtube videos on these RER machines. Do a search under Jim's name and you will have a ton of info on these.

Normal speeds in first gear is a slow walk. Sixth gear is a slow/med jogging speed.

Wonder if some kid/grown person changed the pulleys out trying to make a racing mower??? These really are not that fast.

Huh.
I used to be a person who would want to climb under the machine, but age is really doing me in, which is why I bought a rider in the first place. "Just tip it up on it's butt" people say. Yeah, I lift ninety pounds all the time.
Not.
Thanks for the input. I don't know how much I can mess around with the zany disk drive, it has a pretty specific beginning and end. But there seems to be a chain set somewhere in the drive path, I think, and this might be a place where tomfoolery could occur.

A big downside of having a rider is if it has to go to the shop, well, you need a truck or a trailer, and all the poo that that entails.

Hello VPF,

Most shop newer small engine shop techs have never worked on the older rear engine riders, so that would be a waste of time and money.

Is first gear position actually that fast or is it the sudden lurch forward that is surprising you? The clutch is pretty sudden on these, so the pedal has to be released slow as it starts to move.

Someone may have changed out the friction disc and modified it in the process.

The other option would be to sell this one and get a rider with a hydrostatic transmission with foot pedal speed control.

It's kinda both. But it's fast, yes it is.

And let's talk about those pedals. Instead of having a pedal that makes it go, this thing only has a pedal that makes it stop. If a rider is incapacitated somehow and can't push the pedal, the machine doesn't stop, it goes, out of control, its merry way until it hits something it can't mow or move.

I'm usually against all the safety sissies, My Hyundai owner's manual is 75% WARNING warnings. But is anything more unsafe than this pedal setup?

The clutch pedal also acts as a brake when it's pushed all the way down normally. If it is not braking, the brake cable is broken or out of adjustment or the brake pad is worn out.

I think that you should read the post that you respond to.

Okay?

Very Fine Person said:

And let's talk about those pedals. Instead of having a pedal that makes it go, this thing only has a pedal that makes it stop. If a rider is incapacitated somehow and can't push the pedal, the machine doesn't stop, it goes, out of control, its merry way until it hits something it can't mow or move.

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Maybe it's time to call a professional lawn crew? Educate yourself more on riding mowers if that is not an option for you.

I told you that this was going to get weird. What did I say that wasn't true?