I've been on a tricky 1 acre property for near 8yrs now. Nearly all the 4000sqm needs mowing, but there's a lot of trees, raised roots, decent slopes, kikuyu, Coffs harbour climate etc - haha so while I've maintained my health primarily using a 21" Honda HUT216 for most of those 8yrs in mid-Summer it can challenge you.
Hence many moons back @Norm & perhaps others had recommended a Deutscher - I'd considered but they rarely come up and the $6k+ new is a tad rick for me.
Snagged this one for $1200 though was a PITA to pickup from the boonies! Owner claimed largely unused for the past few years as he'd gotten a small tractor - ran well enough, cut ok with very blunt blades, SP seemed very good.
While these are reknowned as being tough as old boots, clearly needs a tad of TLC - so I'm looking to make it my project to have ready for assisting with SOME (not all) of my mowing next Summer.
Just seeking guidance on any tricks with these or stuff I should do?
In no particular order I've already flagged to attack: - Change engine oil (might put an oil flush through it?) - Change transmission gear oil (should I flush this at all? Or just run for a while till warmed up & then dump it? Any brand of 85W-140 better? I often use Penrite) - Change sparkplug - Change inline fuel filter - Remove bowl on carb & give quick clean - Replace airfilter (which looks partially broken to me? Yikes!) - Remove engine cover & blow out debris etc. - Grease/oil linkages, wheels etc - Remove & sharpen blades (did come with brand new set of blades as well) - Apply rust treatment & or repaint mower
The belts show a little wear, usable but likely need to be replaced in due course - not overly familiar with how to approach these as I've avoided using any belt driven gear.
Also have read some cautionary tales about the kickback on the recoil start of these - not sure if it's worth doing the valve clearances? Likely never done.
Mower will be stored in watertight & weatherproof shed
Last edited by N1KK0; 07/03/2402:11 PM. Reason: Photo link not working
Hi N1KKO, Yes those H660's are a beast but a fantastic piece of kit. Blades can be turned over or just sharpen them they will last a very long time. Seems like you are going to cover most of the maintenance on it. I assume it has a Briggs on it and they can be an absolute pig to start unless you are under 25 years of age. I have one here still that I have to set up with an electric start, I don't have a chance in hell of pull starting it
[quote=NormK]Hi N1KKO, Seems like you are going to cover most of the maintenance on it.[/quote]
Is there anything else you'd do? Do you think the valve clearance should be checked? I'm never sure how essential this is unless a mower is running particularly rough. I suspect it'll never have been done on this one (and to be honest my Honda HUT216 is certainly due for it as well).
If there's anything else you think I should hit or focus on I'd respect your opinion greatly? Do you think a full repaint is warranted or should I just slap some used sump oil on the underside + WD40 and keep dry in the shed?
[quote]I assume it has a Briggs on it and they can be an absolute pig to start unless you are under 25 years of age. I have one here still that I have to set up with an electric start, I don't have a chance in hell of pull starting it[/quote] Yup, Intek 10.5hp - hmmmm well should be ok I'm a pretty hardy 49 - but as mentioned I hear they're a bit of a bugger. Will be interesting to see.
Any particular brands of gear oil (mineral or full synthetic?), additives or tricks of the trade you'd try and use?
Not sure why but I'm having zero luck finding the manual on the B&S Intek 10.5hp engine. Tried the B&S site, but when I enter the 10 character code (which was tricky to get off the valve cover, as corroded but 90% sure it's correct) - gives me zero results, despite the fact that the site clearly recognises whats entered as it autofills it once I start popping it in: https://www.briggsandstratton.com/eu/en_gb/support/manuals.html#
10 character code is 015902 0113 E1
There's also this sticker (see attached on the rear of the engine but I don't think thats relevant, though have attached anyway).
Anyone have any ideas where I can get the manual for the B&S engine from?
FWIW - spent all day cleaning the mower up and lubing up the many joints.
Still unsure how is best to handle the corrosion on the panels & levers etc - painting would clearly be best but will be major pita. Maybe should just hit with a rust coverter?
The blade belt is in ok condition - but the gearbox belt is very much worse for wear, lots of cracks on the interior of the belt - needs to be replaced, The Deutscher manual advises it's part H09.
I'm always somewhat shocked when I buy other folks gear 2nd hand at how badly they treat things....kind of blows my mind as it's not that hard to do basic maintenance.
Hi N1KKO That is the way the world operates these days. As you know they still make the H660 and from memory they are about $5000 so if it was mine I would look after it
@NormK, yeah I don't understand it - get in arguments with clowns on Whirlpool forums who say they've changed their mower's oil twice in 20yrs, claim it runs great and on this flawed basis assert that anyone who does normal maintenance on their gear is naive. Go figure.
The HE660's RRP runs a tad under $6500 these days. So not cheap.
Any point trying to get a kevlar version of the drive belt (seems to be an A33)? Or just go with your bog standard rubber version?
Hi N1KKO, I just get my belts from ODK, whatever it is they supply. Drive belt might be "A" section, but I think the cutter belt should be a "B" section, without going outside to check
Any ideas on how to get the engine manual would be great - can't find anything online. Very odd that B&S don't have a work around for this.
PS. Agh....found something in the end : https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1022074/Briggs-And-Stratton-210000-Power-Built-Intek.html - looks like the right engine.
Only able to find as the part lookup on the B&S site accepted the model number I entered, despite not allowing it inj the manual look up. https://shop.briggsandstratton.com/pages/parts-lookup#/Briggs_%26_Stratton/215902-0113-E1/Cylinder%2c_Engine_Sump%2c_Operator%27s_Manual%2c_Warning_Label/2159020113E1/57050002/y
Ugh......spent HOURS cleaning and lubing the dirty old thing and went to start it this arvo, so that I could drain & replace the engine & gearbox oil. Did not even get close to starting it.
Think there's a major issue with the carb as when I pulled the sparkplug, thinking I'd flooded it and would dry it off - literally had petrol POUR out. Thats not good!
Very despressing - had to give up for the day, think something is out of place in the carb - had removed the bowl to clean out - the entire plastic section with the float attached to it had fallen off just leaving the brass section screwed up into the upper part, I'd slipped this back on and screwed the bowl back on - hoping it was all fine (had ensured the rubber seals were all in the right places) - but something is very off.
[quote=NormK]So you didn't see it running before you bought it?[/quote] No, I did. You have to give me a tiny bit of credit ;-)
As mentioned - I'm 99% certain I've either reassembled the carb with something not in the right place or maybe have broken a bit of the carb. I didn't want to do a complete clean of it, so as stated earlier took the bowl off, sprayed some carb cleaner on it, then took the fuel pipe off the side and shot a little compressed air in this hole to try and push out any crap that might have been in it.
The plastic section which has the float etc attached to it fell off, leaving just the brass jet screwed up into the top metal section. There were rubber seals all on this so I assumed it wasn't a big deal i/e I hadn't broken it, I placed it back in place - but it would fall off again, so I placed back on and assumed the fuel bowl KEPT it inplace when it was screwed back on as well.
Seems this isn't the case - am guessing I've either broken something - or the brass jet(?) needs to be unscrewed and thats meant to hold it in place.
100% my fault - as mentioned was a tad depressing as fuel all over the place and I was aching like crazy from doing all the other cleaning up of it - carbs & me are not a good pairing.
Will summon up the courage to take the engine cover off & unlink the carb later (taking photos of where all the connections go - learnt that one the hard way!).
So definitely runs - seen started from cold, no issues.
Sorry, but I wouldn't attempt to clean a carby without removing it, they need to be on the bench so you can strip it down and put it back together and ensure everything is working properly
Yes, I'll try and find the time this week to remove it and see if I've done any damage to it or if I can somehow get it back on properly configured. Silly mistake by me, was kicking myself for it as was quite backbreaking in the humidity here cleaning this thing up.
Hi N1KKO, I will keep my fingers crossed for you, I just hope that the compressed air has not blown something out, otherwise you could be looking for a new carby.
