Why Get A Tecumseh Powered Mower?

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Thanks for watching. So why didn't more consumers buy a Tecumseh powered mower? Well here's what I think.

This video is meant as entertainment, always practice safety.

[covishen]

Up until Tecumseh stopped building small engines, they were the engine of choice for snow blowers, at one time reaching 80%, My first lawn mower was a Craftsman with a Tecumseh engine. As a teenager, I abused the hell out of that engine, and it came back for more, until I sold it when I left for college, pre 1990. LOL

[watermanone]

Nice video. I have no issues with the Tecumseh engines. They were tough. Like most engines they were abused and old gas left in them like the one you just fixed. The only issue is that they had plastic emulsion tubes that could get brittle and break. I have replace several emulsion tubes over the years. If you keep them clean and tuned up, they will last a very long time. Thanks

[johnnyo]

I love my old Toro 22 inch recycler with the Tecumseh 6.5 hp engine. It was ten years old when i bought it for $45 cash. With the help of you tube videos I replaced the carb for under twenty bucks. The mower is now over 20 years old going strong, does not burn oil, starts on first pull and cust close to one acre weekly. GREAT engine and you only have be a little handy. Thanks awesome video!!

[TecumsehRulesbcserk]

You might not see much of these engines where your at, but over here in the west I see tons of these things still in use. I grew up with one of these mowers and I am still using it to this day. Briggs was great when they were still making their quantum flat head engines, but I stopped trusting them after they stopped production of engines here in the U.S. and started using cheap foreign labor to build them instead. With the cheap Fisher Price plastic carburetors and paper thin engine blocks I knew their engines weren’t built to last anymore. That is the reason why I haven’t bought a new mower, because I know they’re not gonna live as long as this Tecumseh.

[therandomman]

I'm definitely a fan of the exhaust and carb on the same side, there is no ambiguity on which side to flip it on to. None of the "oil in the exhaust or gas in the air filter" deal

[lawrencecarroll]

I've flipped several Tecumseh powered Toros over the past few years and find them relatively easy to work on and the engines seems to be "bullet proof". Good video.

[gbpf]

I work on many small engines and still find the Tecumseh easy to work on and very reliable.

[dpbeardslee]

I've got a Toro Recycler that's very similar to the one in the video. I've had it for 17 years, and recently the transmission gave up the ghost. I opted to replace the transmission and associated parts largely BECAUSE of the Tecumseh motor. Not because it's a Tecumseh, but because it's 195 cc, and it still runs great. Most of the new mowers I was looking at had 150 cc motors, and I was reminded of an old gear-head saying - there's no substitute for cubic inches. Anyway, the mower is still going strong and I'm hopeful that I'll get another 17 years out of it. Come to think of it, at my age, I hope I get another 17 years out of me! ;-)

[frankvucolo]

Depending what part of the country you are from. If you had a snow blower, you were very familiar with Tecumseh. Their Snow King was on many snow blowers. And they were solid engines. That might help explain why the carb and exhaust are on the same side (cold weather use.) I would definitely take a Tecumseh over a Briggs or Kohler. You are spot on about consumer demand strongly favoring lower price. Most who buy cannot discern the difference. And the manufacturers and retailers know this only too well. People will actually buy a lawn tractor with a plastic carb and plastic transmission on price point, oblivious to the fact that they will spend far more in dollars, time and frustration in the long run. My advice is to look for Honda and Kawasaki equipped power equipment. It usually only comes on better made stuff. The higher up front price pain will wear off, you will be proud of your equipment and it will serve you well over the 20+ year lifetime for a consumer.

[AnthemBassMan]

I’ve always preferred Tecumseh engines over Briggs. Tecumseh used an oil pump along with splash lube as opposed to splash lube only. The one downside was that Tecumseh carbs were a lot more finicky than a Briggs if it got a little dirty. When we were kids back in the mid 70’s, we always tried to find a Tecumseh for our go-karts and mini bikes. They also seemed to have a bit more torque than the same HP rated Briggs.

[brucecoleman]

I had a few old Craftsman mowers from the 80’s. All came equipped with Tecumseh engines. The only problem I ever had was with the self propelled system. The most common problem was that debris would collect between the metal drive gear and the plastic gear on the wheel. This ate up the plastic gear making frequent wheel replacement necessary. No engine problems at all.

[zachzebra]

I had an older craftsman 21 inch walk behind with front wheel drive and it had a Tecumseh engine just like this one. Mine ran at a higher RPM. (About 3600) despite the mower not being in the greatest shape, it still ran fairly well and I used it until one of the rear wheels broke off it's shaft. I also have a snow blower with a Tecumseh snow king engine that also runs well too. (Despite being fairly hard to start.) Tecumseh engines in my opinion are really good engines.

[antonioalvarez]

Humble experience, this machine has a great engine, the Briggs, Honda and Kohler from the year 2018-2022 are torn to pieces in the junkyard, with valve problems, pistons and rings that wear out easily, bad AUTO CHOKE ARM, low-quality plastics, metals that rust easily, etc. Precisely this machine that you are showing was made in March 2006 and is in perfect condition. Two days ago, I sold a machine identical to this to a yardman for $200, because this gentleman taught me a lot about this engine. This engine only needs to be serviced and the carbon in the compression chamber cleaned from time to time. I have never seen a Tecumseh with a defective piston or worn rings. This machine shown in this video is the example of Tecumseh's durability.

[richardmorse]

I had a Toro mower with front wheel drive and a Tecumseh engine for 18 years with no issues. I did follow all maintenance procedures to the letter especially oil changes, spark plug changes, new air filters and under deck cleaning. It was a single speed mower and so nice to use. I think I gave up on it when parts of the deck started breaking but up to the end it was a gem 💎!

[nathanr]

My dad's had his 22" Toro with a Tecumseh identical to this mower and it's never had any problems. Got it in 2001. Runs really good!

[Trackhoe]

I have same exact mower with this engine and will have it forever I absolutely love this lil gem

[bikingcruze]

I like when you mentioned that the Briggs carby primer was a separate piece from carb and was mounted on the air cleaner body that is true for high chance of failure as the plastic air cleaner body (why would they use flimsy plastic on an engine part?!) would no longer provide sufficient sealing for the paper gasket. My workaround for that issue was to copy the gasket form on cork gasket material, cut that out and fit that as a replacement gasket and that makes a better seal and no failure priming to again! Worked on my neighbor’s units! I find that both Briggs and Tecumseh types and they’re fun to work on. I kinda like Tecumseh’s carby/primer assembly more though, less complicated and easier to repair with no fuss! I practiced on trash-picked units to acquire more experience with them (broke a few of ‘em but grant extra parts though and lessons learned of how to do it carefully and not break something on next tear down; same with Weedwhackers) and now more of my neighbors (after constantly watching me work on equipment from my backyard as their engines quit while they were tryin’ to cut their own lawns) come to me for their mower and whacker woes! Me personally, prefer to care for my equipment by keeping oil changed and topped as well as checking that the air cleaner is free of blockage, spark plugs and sharp blades. Maintenance goes a really long way for equipment long life!😅

[kevincolonel]

I bought this same mower used with the high wheels fifteen years ago. The Tecumseh engine gave me pause because I have always favored the Briggs, but I can only say good things about the Tecumseh. It has more than enough power to take down grass up to my knees. I did replace the carburetor, but that was not expensive. I expect to have it for a long time.

[brianking]

You know I am a diehard Briggs fan . I like the older Tecumseh engines with the black round primer and the bigger Tecumseh engines. The engine in this video is not bad but the carburetor is harder to remove and has rubber o rings in it .

[AverageJoeHotRodShow]

Had a lot of em over the years. The Tecumseh in my family snowblower made it 42 years before knocking. They run well and are tough, but I always found the governors finicky and I always wished they had a crossflow head.