Wards 16 HP gaden Tractor help

Gundawg · Nov 23, 2016

I have an old 16 HP B&S cast iron motor in a Wards garden tractor that was left by the previous property owners I got it running today but for some reason the governor seems to not be working properly it does not want to idle on its own it keeps over speeding regardless of throttle position I can hold the butterfly closed and it idles just fine but as soon as I let go it over speeds again. I am hoping to get it working properly. I put a rebuild kit in the carburetor and the engine sounds good if I could just stop it from speeding too fast. The tractor doesn't have a mower deck and I thought if I got it running good I might like to try to find a mower deck for it. I will post a couple pictures.

Mike

Maxify55 · Nov 24, 2016

YouTube is your friend

briggs governor - YouTube

Hope this helps

Gundawg · Nov 24, 2016

Thanks Maxify55 I found this info googling for some info last night I will post it here so if someone does a search it may help. I plan to try this procedure this morning. Some of this maybe confusing but it was from a forum and the guy had modified his governor arm so disregard that part of the info.

1.) back the idle stop screw out until the throttle plate can full close.

2.) Loosen the bolt/nut that holds the governor to the brass shaft coming out of the engine.

3.) use a pair of pliers to grasp the brass shaft and turn it fully clockwise until it stops.

4.) Pull the linkage arm away from the carburetor as far as it will go.

5.) Tighten the linkiage to the brass shaft.

You can then turn the idle screw inward until the throttle barely begins to open and the engine should run at idle speed. If you wish to have control of the engine speed, you will need a spring with the proper tension load pulling the linkage upward via another linkage that is movable so that when you wish to increase the engine speed, the spring will pull upwards on the current linkage arm so that it opens the throttle plate via the spring. you cannot hook a cable or rod directly to the current linkage and have the governor function as it should, the linkage must be pulled via a properly tensioned spring.

Gundawg · Nov 24, 2016

I did the procedure above and it worked it now idles but it is not real smooth transitioning from idle to full speed it sputters a little before going full speed not real bad but not real smooth either. I have tried adjusting the main jet screw and I can make it better but not as good as I think it should be. It is an old engine so this maybe as good as it gets maybe I will try and do a valve adjustment.

Mike