Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - a faster mower?

My idea is to cut the grass (I have about 4 hours cutting)- without catching it.
This being my plan then I don't see why I should have to put up with the slow pace of normal cutting.
As there is my less wear on the motor if I am not collecting the grass would it be possible to adjust the controls of the engine so it runs at its maximum - or even to soup it up? I would be happy if I had to run to keep up with it..
Maybe it would be better to have 2 machines -one for cutting normally and another souped up one for just cutting the grass when I don't want to catch it or it is too long to do so sensibly.....?

I doubt anyone will recommend speeding up a mower engine much past the manufacturers settings. The machine is designed for the average homeowner most of whom are not into jogging while cutting the lawn. There is also a liability issue. If you take out the neighbor's window or his kid with a stone, dog bone, golf ball, whatever that was left on the lawn, no one here will want a visit from his lawyer.

I don't have neighbours and would happily run behind the machine if it meant that I could do the job in 2 hours rather than 4.
My own service man actually slowed my machine down because that was the only way he could get it to work without cutting out
That was torture.Imagine you have 4/5 hours cutting ahead of you and then you have the whole process slowed further!
To my mind ,if the machine has a toop speed that is faster than the manufactuer settings and if it can run at that speed (without a catcher) without undue strain then that would be what I want.
I realise that with a small lawn it would not be particularly beneficial but I have a huge lawn with no neighbours and I have better things I would like to do with my life than follow behind a mower for hours at a stretch....

Sounds to me like you just need a bigger mower. I think my sisters 60" ZTR will mow 10-15 mph. Have a good one. Geo

I don't think a bigger mower would work as the lawn is divided into 5 smaller areas and there are lots of little walls and edges.
Also it isn't very level , which means that areas don't get reached.
Maybe one af the very smallest ride-on mowers would be OK

I don't see where you mentioned what mower you have but if you would give the details I am sure you would be provided with the optimum settings for the machine if they have been changed.

Even though an engine may be capable of providing more power, the mechanical limits of the rest of the mower are not designed to withstand it.

It sounds like you are using a walkbehind or self propelled. If so and you have that much to mow, a rider would make good cents ;)

I'd say it all depends on the type of mower...if it uses a belt for the drive, then you might be able to put a smaller pulley on the drive and shorter belt on it. I wouldn't count on it lasting though..speed up the gears, then you might get wear and overheating problems.

They do make the commercial type walk/ride behind mowers that go pretty darn quick. You know the type? With the little plate the guy stands on, not a real seat? Of course they prob cost more than a homeowner rider. Maybe if you found one used?

I don't see where you mentioned what mower you have but if you would give the details I am sure you would be provided with the optimum settings for the machine if they have been changed.

Even though an engine may be capable of providing more power, the mechanical limits of the rest of the mower are not designed to withstand it.

It sounds like you are using a walkbehind or self propelled. If so and you have that much to mow, a rider would make good cents ;)
I think it is a standard 4 or 4.5 b+strattton motor as I had to replace the one on my Masport Maxicut self propelled machine. (the engine siezed one day)

They do make the commercial type walk/ride behind mowers that go pretty darn quick. You know the type? With the little plate the guy stands on, not a real seat? Of course they prob cost more than a homeowner rider. Maybe if you found one used?
that sounds hilarious (like something out of Spartacus) but I would probably snap it up if I saw one!

I think one of those things they stand on is a Velke™ Sulky and it does make the mower like a Roman Chariot. Have a good one. Geo

Many years ago I had 5hp briggs with no throttle control and a lot of Zosia lawn which is a bad combo, I just tied a nylon cord onto the governor and extended it back to the push handle and whenever I got to the Zosia I just pulled on the cord, it'll work for you, however your mower won't last long. Have a good one. Geo

What is the brand of mower you have? Toro, Ariens,Troybilt?

You say you think it's a 4 or 4.5 hp Briggs?? If you don't want to go to a rider, The best bang for you'r buck is probably a 6 or 6.5 H.P walk behind.. With the extra power you can travel faster & stuff more grass into the mower.... Remember to keep the blade sharp like a razor... The real answer would be a small Zero-turn.. Have you done any research into them?? Roger

I don't recommend running an engine, especially on a push mower, more than 3600 rpm. Most are designed to operate at or near that rpm. You may be able to rev one up to 5000 rpm, but the parts are made and balanced with the fact that it won't exceed 3600 rpm in mind. If a blade breaks at 5000 rpm, it might be able to penetrate the deck and put an end to an otherwise beautiful day. The flywheel can do the same. A few pounds of aluminum in the flywheel can explode like a grenade if it happened to crack and come apart under the centrifugal force. The engine shroud probably couldn't contain the shrapnel at high enough rpm. I don't recommend trying it.

What is the brand of mower you have? Toro, Ariens,Troybilt?

it is a massport maxicut with a 4hp b+stratton engine

You say you think it's a 4 or 4.5 hp Briggs?? If you don't want to go to a rider, The best bang for you'r buck is probably a 6 or 6.5 H.P walk behind.. With the extra power you can travel faster & stuff more grass into the mower.... Remember to keep the blade sharp like a razor... The real answer would be a small Zero-turn.. Have you done any research into them?? Roger
I had the idea of getting the most powerful motor possible behind a walk behind mower when I bought it but I didn't see anything above 4 or 4.5 hp as I recall.
Maybe in the States you have more choice.

I don't think I could even fit a more powerful motor into this chassis now if I tried to.
Do you know who would make a
6 or 6.5 H.P walk behind?
Maybe I could get one after all ....

4 hp is a bit underpowered unless you mow your grass every week. Yes, Briggs & Stratton does make a 6.5 hp engine. But you have to be careful when buying a lawnmower with a B&S engine as Briggs no longer rates their lawnmower engines in horsepower. They rate them in foot pounds of torque. It does make it confusing when the Briggs engine has a big "6.5" on top and a Kohler says "5.5". Kohler is showing horsepower and Briggs is showing torque. The 6.5 torque is about 4 horsepower, so the Kohler is more powerful. Why Briggs does this is beyond me. Few people know what torque is, but everyone knows horsepower.
Now, if you want a fsater mower, you want to be looking into changing things in the transmision area. Problem is there are no smaller pullies or different gear ratios available. Only stock replacements.

The problem with hp ratings is that they have always been at 3600rpm, the engines maximum speed. Mowers now run much slower due to blade tip speed regulations so the mower that was labeled 6.5 hp might actually be producing 4. Some bright light figured this out and decided his quality of life was diminished due to misleading advertising. The class action suit was dismissed but the engine manufacturers took notice.
They know that consumers want numbers to compare so they went with engine displacement (in metric because the numbers are bigger) or torque, neither of which consumers understand as indy points out. However, the masses have the numbers they want.

The biggest problem with horsepower ratings was that the industry refused to adopt an industry standard. Horsepower could (and still can) be measured in different ways as long as the manufactures state which method was used.
Method #1: Tested with no air filter and no muffler. This method gives the highest horsepower.
Method #2: Tested with air filter, no muffler. Still a higher result.
Method #3: Tested with no air filter, with muffler installed.
Lower horsepower.
Method#4: Tested as sold with air filter and muffler installed.
Lowest horsepower test.
So engine make A uses test #1 and engine maker B uses test #3. Both test out at 5 hp. Which one has more power? Engine maker B. Engine maker A will loose 1/4-3/4 hp when the air filter & muffler are installed.

That's interesting:rolleyes:.

It doesn't make any sense that the manufacturer is able to to use a modified configuration from that which it's sold for use to sell the engine by.

There are some additional modifications you could do to raise the horsepower, but you wouldn't find on the engine for everyday use.

That's the first I'd heard of that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but yoy are currently using a walk behind self propelled mower and want to cut faster than the self propelled feature goes? Cheap solution is to not engage the self propelled feature and push it as fast as you like.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but yoy are currently using a walk behind self propelled mower and want to cut faster than the self propelled feature goes? Cheap solution is to not engage the self propelled feature and push it as fast as you like.
that would work for sure .Now all I need is a self propelled feature on myself......... (maybe I could try it with a very light machine or even one of those without an engine at all)

Would this mower speed things up for you? Is self propelled, has a 33" cut and although expensive compared to the typical 21" cut, not out of the world in price:

Walk-Behind Mowers by Cub Cadet (http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_14101_162710_33830_-1_600000_33831)

These used to be Troy-Bilts back when GardenWay owned Troy-Bilt, but I noticed that MTD started painting them "yellow" just a couple of years ago. My point being that this basic model has a good long history behind it.

Would this mower speed things up for you? Is self propelled, has a 33" cut and although expensive compared to the typical 21" cut, not out of the world in price:

Walk-Behind Mowers by Cub Cadet (http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_14101_162710_33830_-1_600000_33831)

These used to be Troy-Bilts back when GardenWay owned Troy-Bilt, but I noticed that MTD started painting them "yellow" just a couple of years ago. My point being that this basic model has a good long history behind it.

thanks.Thats food for thought -and a little research.I only came across mowers up to 21" and thought you had to get a ride on mower after that

Or a 28" ride on...
Honda (UK) - Lawn and Garden (http://ww1.honda.co.uk/power/garden/detail.html?code=HF1211S)

Honda riders are no longer sold in America to my understanding. Snapper has some in that size range though.