Mowing ..

[yanknbank]

A update on the old Rover. It’s not quite as iconic as DFB’s Victa 18, but I still like my Rover 200 ESX. It’s a lot lighter to push around than today’s heavier push behinds with their safety bars and other ‘keeping you safe from yourself’ devices attached to various parts of the machine. And being a really basic 36 year old mower (had it since new) it’s also a lot easier to fix and repair to.



But it did let me down for the first time in ages the other day. I was half way through the mowing and emptying the catcher when it sort’ve just petered out and stopped from idle. Pulled it through a few times, and absolutely nothing. Didn’t even look like firing. Pulled the plug out and no spark.
Fortunately I bought a spares machine for $20 a few years ago and with no spark figured it was the ignition coil.
Swapped the coil across and also fitted the fan shroud/tinware from the spares machine. The shroud on my machine had ripped its bolt hole and wouldn’t bolt on square, so it rubbed on some of the rotating hardware. Even rubbed it back a bit and gave it a coat of paint! All done in 30 minutes. Simples! And it also looks a little bit cleaner with the fresh paint.
Anyway it’s running as new again and I’m looking forward to another 10 years of trouble free mowing!

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by yanknbank

A update on the old Rover. It’s not quite as iconic as DFB’s Victa 18, but I still like my Rover 200 ESX. It’s a lot lighter to push around than today’s heavier push behinds with their safety bars and other ‘keeping you safe from yourself’ devices attached to various parts of the machine. And being a really basic 36 year old mower (had it since new) it’s also a lot easier to fix and repair to.

image

But it did let me down for the first time in ages the other day. I was half way through the mowing and emptying the catcher when it sort’ve just petered out and stopped from idle. Pulled it through a few times, and absolutely nothing. Didn’t even look like firing. Pulled the plug out and no spark.
Fortunately I bought a spares machine for $20 a few years ago and with no spark figured it was the ignition coil.
Swapped the coil across and also fitted the fan shroud/tinware from the spares machine. The shroud on my machine had ripped its bolt hole and wouldn’t bolt on square, so it rubbed on some of the rotating hardware. Even rubbed it back a bit and gave it a coat of paint! All done in 30 minutes. Simples! And it also looks a little bit cleaner with the fresh paint.
Anyway it’s running as new again and I’m looking forward to another 10 years of trouble free mowing!

I have my eye out for one of those 80's Briggs, they still had the adjustable carb on them, so they would idle down so nice. And the alloy Rover base is indeed light but strong.

By the way, flip the air cleaner the other way around, the pointed part should fit the contours of the blower housing and be facing toward the starter rather than pointing outwards. Sorry, my OCD brain can't not see those little details.

[Interceptor]

Jesus H Christ Honda power equipment are hard to deal with.

Local dealer advises that the direct replacement has been discontinued and there are other motors of the same base model but different specifications..... but cant tell me the differences between them.

Even the non franchised suppliers seem to be of much help.

Honda Australia themselves? if they got any more useless, they'd be telling me to buy a cheap knockoff from china.

How hard can it be to have a chart listing engine models breaking things down by shaft size & length, and then which options?

Surely its not difficult to imagine that theres someone out there thats used a vertical shaft Honda engine for something other than a lawnmower?

All I need is a *genuine* Honda vertical shaft motor with a 25mm straight shaft that measures 80mm from engine mounting face to end of shaft.

Grrrrr.... about ready to tell my guy to go buy an electric mower like he's thinking about.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Jesus H Christ Honda power equipment are hard to deal with.

Local dealer advises that the direct replacement has been discontinued and there are other motors of the same base model but different specifications..... but cant tell me the differences between them.

Even the non franchised suppliers seem to be of much help.

Honda Australia themselves? if they got any more useless, they'd be telling me to buy a cheap knockoff from china.

How hard can it be to have a chart listing engine models breaking things down by shaft size & length, and then which options?

Surely its not difficult to imagine that theres someone out there thats used a vertical shaft Honda engine for something other than a lawnmower?

All I need is a *genuine* Honda vertical shaft motor with a 25mm straight shaft that measures 80mm from engine mounting face to end of shaft.

Grrrrr.... about ready to tell my guy to go buy an electric mower like he's thinking about.

This one seems to have the shaft you are looking for -

https://sunshinecoastmowers.com.au/c...-gcv170-engine

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

This one seems to have the shaft you are looking for -

https://sunshinecoastmowers.com.au/c...-gcv170-engine

Its inly 7/8", so 22mm

[yanknbank]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

By the way, flip the air cleaner the other way around, the pointed part should fit the contours of the blower housing and be facing toward the starter rather than pointing outwards. Sorry, my OCD brain can't not see those little details.

DFB, I did try that a while ago when I first put that filter on the machine. When you turn it around, the filter housing doesn’t clear the vertical pull starter assembly. The original filter was of the paper element type which sat in a plastic housing on the upper handle bar. A snorkel ran from the housing to a horizontal plate sitting atop the carby, which it was screwed to supposedly sealing up the intake system. I don’t think it kept any dust out at all to be honest, hence the filter assembly change.
The briggs with the starter sitting on top of the fan housing wouldn’t of had that clearance issue and I think that’s where that style filter came from back in the day.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by yanknbank

DFB, I did try that a while ago when I first put that filter on the machine. When you turn it around, the filter housing doesn’t clear the vertical pull starter assembly. The original filter was of the paper element type which sat in a plastic housing on the upper handle bar. A snorkel ran from the housing to a horizontal plate sitting atop the carby, which it was screwed to supposedly sealing up the intake system. I don’t think it kept any dust out at all to be honest, hence the filter assembly change.
The briggs with the starter sitting on top of the fan housing wouldn’t of had that clearance issue and I think that’s where that style filter came from back in the day.

Rover were the only ones who used that specific snorkel arrangement on the 3.5 hp engines. For it to work well, you had to make sure the screw was TIGHT and that the gasket in place and in tact.

roversnor by D B, on Flickr

With the foam element air filters, there were two different housings, actually three.

For those older side-pull air engines, the metal housing is squarer with less chamfering around the edge.

old by D B, on Flickr

The newer engines from the early 90's have the pointier shape housing with chamfering around the edge. These were made in metal up to about the mid 2000's, then plastic. Looking at your engine, I'd say you have this style housing, which fits but not snuggly.

new by D B, on Flickr

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Its inly 7/8", so 22mm

What about this one -

Shaft - 25mm diameter / 80mm long

https://www.hendersonmowers.com.au/p...specifications

[yanknbank]

Roger on all of that re the filters. Yup, mines the plastic one. I didn’t know that there was a metal filter housing for the 3.5 HP engines. I’ll have to keep an eye out for one of those, as that housing looks a little more ‘finished’ on the engine than what I’ve got.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by yanknbank

Roger on all of that re the filters. Yup, mines the plastic one. I didn’t know that there was a metal filter housing for the 3.5 HP engines. I’ll have to keep an eye out for one of those, as that housing looks a little more ‘finished’ on the engine than what I’ve got.

They started using plastic for the air filter housing when they switched to sourcing from China. You can identify the Chinese engines via the vertical ribs cast into the back of the block, the earlier 3.5's were smooth.

(I know, it's sad I know this shit)

[DFB FGXR6]

And you thought your battery powered lawn mower was something new.................

[DFB FGXR6]

Ordered a couple of specific Stihl tools, which are designed to allow adjustment to the carburetor tuning screws, bypassing the limiter caps.

https://www.outbushman.com.au/produc...-5910-890-2314
https://www.outbushman.com.au/produc...-5910-890-4500



Also included was a bottle of Stihl press fluid, which is designed to make installing gromets, fuel lines and filters easier. I learnt about this via the video below (from the 43-min mark), the idea of using this over oil is that press fluid evaporates away and prevents the fitting from popping off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6khZwwZ2s&t=182s

https://www.outbushman.com.au/produc...ne-fitment-etc



I also decided to give this foam air filter oil a try. Normally, I'd just use 30 weight oil, but its a messy job. This would be useful for old 3.5 - 4.0hp side-valve Briggs engines, as well as the newer entry level OHV Briggs with the primer bulb (300E, 450E and 500E) which have oil-soaked foam filters.

https://www.outbushman.com.au/produc...-all-machinery