Slowly working my way through the mowers here, today I pulled out a Talon that had been sitting here a long time, I had started it when I got it with the drill because the pull start was broken. It started ok but the muffler was shot so I just pushed it into the corner. I put a Briggs muffler on it today and got it up and running. I then fitted another Talon pull starter on it and all was good but then I remember the Talon thing where they are heavy to start compared to the Briggs.They start ok but not suitable for the average woman to start, and they are not a big cc motor. Anybody have any idea why this is?.
One thing I have noticed is the blade carrier is quite heavy compared to most other mowers. I might pull it off again and weigh it just for kicks and giggles.
Ok so the Talon blade carrier with blades weighs 4 kg a Victa round and oval carriers with blades weigh the same at 2.5 kg so there is a bit of difference there. Can't see why this would make them heavier to pull over
Norm are these just hard to get up to speed or is it getting them pass the compression stroke?
I know many Shredder/Chippers can be a pain to get up ignition speed here due heavy flywheel effect of the shredder/chipper head disc. I might need several strong pulls just to get them spinning fast enough to even hit.
The 4 kg is around 8.8 lbs and 2.5 kg is 5.5 lbs. Either is a considerable weight to get spinning by a recoil starter.
Not related to the pull starter, but did you pull the hub caps off the back wheels to check what the inside was like.
On just about every one of those talons I see (they were 10 deep at the tip a few months ago), the back wheels are completely cheap plastic (which is bad enough), but then Talon made it so the hole the axle goes through is only supported by about 8 bits of plastic. If they made the supports completely solid, there wouldn't be an issue.
After a few years going round corners on the lawn, the back wheels simply fall off due to the plastic supports snapping through lateral forces.
Just thought I should check as the last thing you need is someone bringing it back angry that the wheel fell off after 1 mow.
Hi Tyler, no 2 of these Talons have the same type of wheels, they sort of look the same but on some of them the only way I could get the wheels off was to smash them and then get the grinder onto them and split what was left of the hub. Luckily on this one the wheels were in good condition, came off easily, clean the axles bit of grease and good to go
MF I have a number of Sanli Lawn Beetles here and I would not say the wheels on those were over engineered LOL. Any time I get a chance I take the grinder to them, cut them into 4 sections so they fit in the rubbish bin
That's what I do with the Lawn Beetle too Norm except I use a hand saw .
I can't say I have ever noticed the difference in starting a Talon compared with other Briggs motors, as long as you push the primer when the engine is cold they start first time,this one I had not started for a month.
I have done a couple, there isn't a significant difference, but there does feel to be slightly more pronounced compression stroke - they have all had 2 blades not 4.
I agree they start easy, but their idle never seems as smooth as a briggs - even after cleaning the carby and adjusting the idle mixture and checking governor
Max, from memory, the Talons have some numbers (maybe their bore and stroke measurements) cast into the block somewhere near the valve cover (below and right) or to the left where the dipstick tube goes into the block Unfortunately, I don't have a talon here at the moment to check
Found this photo to better describe the location, but on the photo its too small to read clearly (maybe looks like 65 x 47.8?) EDIT - these numbers might make sense as they equate to about a 159cc engine. But the ebay ad says it 143cc, which makes 'surefire 145' make sense.
I bet they're prone to getting a leg out of bed with all the work that little engine has to do just operating the mower! The sight of long grass must be enough to induce it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF I haven't seen one with a leg out of bed and I have had a few of them here. That doesn't mean they aren't prone to do it. With that heavier spinning blade carrier they may not be too bad at it. I didn't check the width of cut on this one but it could be a 20 inch
18 inch cutting width Talon and a 19 inch Talon from what can see.
Checked a few motors and I got the same as Tyler 65mmX48.7mm
I've put Briggs on Talon Mowers and Talon engines on Rover mowers if you compare 18 with 18 inch but one mower engine is the Talon and one is the Briggs ,I don't notice a difference.
Never done a starting load test on the mowers though .
I turned a couple of Talons into Briggs a few years ago, because the pull starts were damaged and I had plenty of Briggs bits. Used the Briggs fuel tank/carby and fitted a Briggs pull start top, bit of messing around but all worked fine in the end. One motor I have here is 64 x44.3 and the motor on the Hawk I can't read because I have fitted a Briggs long flat muffler on it and that covers the number Just checking that, it is a 19 inch not a 20
I've never seen a Talon with a leg out, based on seeing about 20-30 at the tip and working on a few over the past few years. Biggest thing is no oil, followed by back wheels falling off, then buggered pull starts. I have heard they hammer down their valve seats and lose compression, but its difficult to tell this from no oil damage.
Some just need a carby clean - just like many 4 strokes thrown out
Yes MF It was a bit faded so I gave it a couple of coats of School Bus Yellow I had here, freshened it up. It isn't a Briggs under there the muffler was very noisy so I put a Briggs muffler on it. I had to run a 1/4 inch tap in the muffler bolt holes because the Talon is 6mm and I needed to use the Briggs bolts which are 1/4 inch. A big problem with the Talon is the dumb idea that they used to bolt the cowl /pull start on, they get tightened down and then you can't get them out, really bad design. And when it all gets too hard and you need to get to the carby this is all you have to do.
That's what I have felt like doing many times to a talon Norm - trying to adjust things like the governor with that bloody cowl in place. I now have a old piece of starter rope with 20 knots in the end as a handle. I warm the engine up, then remove the cowl and I wrap the rope around the starter cup and pull start it that way.
I don't have a starter handle on the rope as one time the end snagged up on the mesh flywheel cover, snatched the rope back in, wrapped it around and flung the handle round full bore until the handle hit something and broke
Tyler for starting all these mowers with the cowl removed I just use an electric drill with a socket on it to suit the nut. Cutting the cowl is not a good option
I try to avoid that drill start, just because I am always worried the socket will come off and either hit the flywheel and break it, or hit the flywheel and bounce off and hit me or something else.
Combined with the fact that my cheapy cordless drill won't spin the motor fast enough, and I am usually too lazy to drag out a extension cord to get electricity for the electric drill
I probably wouldn't mind doing on the Talons, as they have the cowling over everything, and the mesh over the entire flywheel
I would never cut the cowl, just looks too ugly. I was contemplating drilling a small hole that meant I could stick a screwdriver in to adjust the governor, but I didn't like that much either
Tyler ,the socket doesn't cause any problems, sometimes the socket stays on the motor and just spins happily away, sometimes it gets thrown off and just falls on the ground and sometimes it stays on the drill, certainly doesn't cause any grief. I have put JB Weld on the threads into the top of the motor for the 3 studs to prevent them from becoming a problem later, I haven't done this one because I didn't need to remove the steel cowl
Ok, then I might give it a go again. It just worried me that a fin would break off the flywheel, or if the socket stayed on the bolt, it may bounce off eventually.
I think using an electric drill to start a mower is slightly daft and fraught with potential problems. It only has to fall the right way and next thing you know, you have a fin knocked off the fan and who knows where that could lodge among the moving flywheel? A drill isn't a starter motor. Why not just sort the starter first before anything else?
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
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