OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Engines Tecumseh H60 Engine Restoration

I recently took delivery of a dismantled Tecumseh H60 engine that powered an Ariens rotary hoe. The engine has a camshaft PTO in addition to the usual crankshaft driven PTO.

I was assured all the parts were in the box. Yes, they were, but not in a condition to recondition and reassemble.

Here is the con-rod assembled on the bench, but as you can see, it is not ready to work because it is broken into several pieces.



The little end is still on the gudgeon pin in the piston.



The governor was also in the box, but part of it's mechanism is broken.




All the other parts are present, but by no means ready for reassembly! A challenging restoration job will be needed using hard to source OEM and aftermarket parts. I'll keep you posted as I am keen to make this rare engine run again.

Is the crank case punctured? Looks like something violent went on in there.

Surprisingly the crankcase isn't damaged. There is only a small score mark. See the red circle in picture of the crankcase.


The bore is only lightly scored where the broken con-rod scraped the cylinder wall. See the red circle in the picture of the cylinder bore.


However, the bottom of the piston skirt is damaged, but none of the rings are broken even though they are loose and worn.

G'day LRT,
In case you weren't aware of this, the purpose of the 'second PTO' off the camshaft end was to give a 'reverse rotation' drive - that could be used for a very simple 'power reverse', without mucking about with gear trains.

It drove to a second groove on the main gearbox drive pulley, using an 'idler pulley tensioned V-belt' as a clutch.

Thanks Gadge - good to have a full explanation. I realised the PTO was for a reverse function because this feature was the main reason why the owner wants this engine restored. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known.

Hi LRT,

Do you have the spec number so that we can see if we have the parts available. We have a bit of old Tecumseh stock available but require part numbers.

Thanks Bruce for your kind offer. I have already been able to source and order most of the major parts, but I may well need other bits and pieces that you may have in stock. I'll let you know the spec number on Monday when I'm back in the workshop.

The state of the carby's throttle butterfly and the home made air filter suggests abrasive ingestion and abrasive wear failure as the likely cause of engine failure.



However, adhesive wear failure due to metal transfer from insufficient lubrication is evident on the crankshaft main journal. Despite this damage, the crankshaft still runs true on the magneto and PTO journals.

Hi Bruce, the number stamped into the cowl is as follows: H60-75379K SER-6112D