Proper Garden Tractor RPM Range

[MikePA]

I just installed an inductive (wrap lead around spark plug wire) combination hour and RPM meter on my twin cylinder Wheel Horse garden tractor. I've set the meter up to count every other revolution.

The meter says the tractor idles at 3200 rpm and at full throttle it's about 6,000 rpm.

Does this sound correct? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Seems kinda high..like twice as high. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[hillslider]

It does seem high! Did you wrap the inductive wire on the coil lead by chance? Does the meter have different settings for cylinder count? 6000RPM on a 2 cylinder......seems like it would throw a rod high in the sky! Just my thoughts.

[slowrev]

Sounds like you are counting 2 times as many pulses as you should be. Is there a way to count half as many ? Could it be set on 2 stroke instead of 4 stroke ?
I believe 6K RPM would explode the engine, most are rated at 3600 max.

[frank_f15]

mike i don't know much about that kind of stuff but think that if that engine was running at 6000, i would hear it up here in n.y, at least for the few min. it ran before it self destructed. will be interested to see what u find.

[s1120]

I think you eather have the wrong tach, or on the wrong wire. Some of these gauges are set up for motors that fire on every rev., and some for every other rev. looks like you have to devide that by two. Most modern L&G motors run at 3600 at full speed.

[Slamfire]

Sounds like your tractor is firing every both cylinders each time one of them needs to. Used to happen in motorcycle engines. Pretty unsophisticated ignition system, but thats lawn tractors. How old is your horse?

[MikePA]

Here's the meter I've installed. It can be set to one of three options to count RPMs. I will try one of the other 2 settings. I thought I had picked the right one for a twin cylinder engine. My primary purpose was the hourmeter, but I thought it'd be interesting to see the rpms as well.

My WheelHorse is a Work Horse Model GT-1600 with a 16 hp B & S IC twin cylinder engine. We bought it new in 1984 and I'm in the process of cleaning it up. This past weekend I painted the rear fenders/seating area and the foot rest assemblies (which my wife proceeded to scratch as soon as the paint was dry [img]/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] ). I pulled the dash, such as it is, painted it (after masking off the decals which are not available anymore [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ) and installed this hour/RPM meter. Since I can't get the right color paint either, I'm painting it NH colors, gray and blue. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Next is the hood. Sanding, replacing the head lights and the head light bezels plus running a new wire to the head lights so they will work again. The decals on the hood were such a mess, I just removed them using PB Blaster's Decal Remover.

I also replaced the drive belt that goes from the engine back to the transmission. It was the original belt! Still worked fine, but as you might imagine, it was a bit cracked. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[slowrev]

Sounds like a nice rider Mike. Let us know how the tach thing turns out.

[larso1]

As Slamfire mentioned, my old 2-cylinder Norton motorcycle with a modern electronic ignition system (Boyer) fires both cylinders at the same (one wasted spark). That may be what your motor is doing.

As for the decals, there are a lot of people restoring older Wheel Horse models than yours, and they seem to be finding sources for the decals and paint spec. I just have my local paint center scan the original piece and they mix the color almost exactly. Do you visit the Yahoo Wheel Horse owners site? A lot of knowledgeable WH enthusiasts there.

Bill in CO

[MikePA]

Hi Bill,

<font color="blue"> As for the decals, there are a lot of people restoring older Wheel Horse models than yours, and they seem to be finding sources for the decals and paint spec. </font>
I found a guy on the internet that is making decals for Wheel Horse tractors, but mine is too new. He's concentrating on the older ones.

My Parts and Service Manual for the gray lists the Automotive Equivalent as 1982 Lincoln Light Pewter. Duplicolor didn't carry this. I thought about getting a place to mix it, but I needed something in a spray can. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] WheelHorse/Toro doesn't have the paint either. So, since I couldn't easily match the original, I decided to go with colors I could get at my local Ace Hardware store.

<font color="blue"> Do you visit the Yahoo Wheel Horse owners site? </font>
Yep. Nice resource.