Speed Governor

Maintenance/Repairs
21

I disagree, the throttle control was like a gas pedal on a car for the old lawnmower, Cannot imagine the complications you describe, @B.L.E

22

That ā€œGeorgia Overdriveā€ must be a regional thing. Out on the West Coast itā€™s Mexican Overdrive. And in Montana it was North Dakota Overdrive.

1 Like
23

Form past discussions people in the eastern U.S. are frightened of coasting down grades in neutral so there is likely to be objection to this discussion.

24

Itā€™s actually a very simple system. Watch the throttle butterfly on the carburetor while someone else pushes the mower through thick grass and bare spots and youā€™ll see it open and close to keep the engine from dying and running away. That ā€œthrottleā€ control on lawn mowers actually only tensions the spring that tries to open the throttle. The tighter that spring is, the faster the engine has to run before the air vane or centrifugal weights is able to close the throttle.
And yes, I have worked on a lot of lawn mowers.

25

The spring loaded tug of war between the throttle and governor seems to be on all small engines and for decades they had a throttle. More and more the throttles are fixed at some theoretically ideal position against the governor these days. But the fixed throttle design usually has no choke and rarely a primer bulb. Today we are just too smart to know how to operate ancient controls like throttles and chokes.

26

Now that we are talking small engines. Yeah the old way was the air vane. Now I think it is more of a counterweight like the spark advance on a car. Thatā€™s what was wrong with my snow blower engine that caused them to replace it under warranty. Somehow missed the heat treatment in China.

Now anyone know where the dang voltage regulator is on a 16 hp twin engine? Iā€™m replacing the battery on my mower and thought I would check the charging system for sure. Canā€™t see it anywhere where it is supposed to be so think its under the cover by the flywheel. Its a pain to take off. Iā€™ve even got the Briggs repair manual but doesnā€™t show where it is. I guess Iā€™ll just check voltage at the battery with the thing running and if not up to snuff, pull the cover off for a look-see. This is a busy time of year with leaves coming down already.