Tractor Sizing What effect does HP have on residential lawn tractors?
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kenmac
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In the race car world we had a saying.. There is no replacement, for displacement !
Egon
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Why are V-twins considered better engines?
Gary Fowler
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More cylinders you have the smoother the engine runs and the less power fluxuation you have. Less vibration usually equate to a longer lasting engine.
Gary Fowler
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I wouldn't want a rider mower with less than 20 HP especially if you will be mowing on hills. You might be able to run a 50+ inch mower with 17HP but it is not going to handle climbing a hill and mowing with 17 HP, something is going to slow way down, either blade speed or forward speed OR both.
Without splitting hairs here, it is really that the singles in the later Kohler and especially Briggs lines have more failures. Briggs deals with their head gaskets failing which leads to lack of lube engine destruction if not caught. Compression release issues. Carb issues. The twins have much less repeatable mechanical failures, though the carbs are more likely to have issues than a Kohler or Kawasaki twin. In Kohler's defense, that have made some changes in their later singles which will help. The Toro you have has a Powermore engine I think, maybe a Lifan if it is a Toro branded engine. Their twins seem reliable. Common maintenance parts for these are different, so shop ahead.
DK35vince
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Yet my 1978 Wheel Horse with a single cylinder Kohler (10 HP K241as) still runs like a top to this day.
Been a very reliable, trouble free engine.
Richard
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Here's my comments but I've violated your restrictions.
We now have here at the farm several tractors. Used to be one... just one. It's an IH 444 (don't know power, let's say 40 hp) and it has a 5' rotary cutter behind it. There are times when using this combo that you have to be in low range, 1st gear to cut a field and it takes a lonnnnnnnnnnng time to cut. Heck it might take 45 minutes just to make a circle around the field.
Fed up with that, I bought another tractor (so I don't have to rely on someone elses machine). Now we have something like 125 HP and a 15' mower instead of a 5' mower.
NOW, I can cut in low range, 4th gear which greatly helps my ground speed and of course, cutting at 15' width verses 5 alone cuts the time way down. So now, you have both a wider AND faster cut simply because I have more power.
20 years ago, it might have taken me literally all summer to cut the farm one time (casually cutting on weekends) Now, I can casually cut it but finish over a weekend or, if I want to get down & get busy, I could knock it out in a single (long) day.
Why on earth my wife's father & uncle stayed married to that 444 and used a 5' mower is way beyond me.