Getting everything ready for winter, the lawn tractor is being a pain in the butt again. Didn't want to start, evidence of water in the fuel system AGAIN despite using water remover, ethanol-free fuel, and stabilizer.
After much peepeeing around, finally got it to start and go into the garage to replace some other parts -- voltage rectifier, clutch spring, etc. Meant to make a project video on it but ended up not.
Came across this engine on marketplace. Nearly identical to mine, same year and plant and everything. He said the PTO bearing seized, engine stopped and threw pushrods. For parts only, $100.
Heck, a replacement genuine carb is $200 and the knockoffs don't work worth a darn, plus my ignition coils have seen a few mice in their years.
Picked it up and began tearing into it. One pushrod bent, the others are straight but fell out.
Put the straight ones back in, spun it around, and the camshaft is still good. Direct-gear so I doubt it could skip teeth without very obvious indicators.
Decided to go for broke and pulled the heads off, knowing I'd need to buy new head gaskets. No slop in the connecting rods and the bores themself looks 
Despite being 10 months older than my engine, it overall looks to be in better shape. I think I just need to toss some new pushrods in (which i have spares of already) and she'll run better than my own. $50 for head gaskets sucks but isn't terrible
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Woke up this morning like "oh shit"
One thing I didn't check was the output shaft. Since the "design code" is different between these, what if it's more than just the stickers they put on it -- what if the John Deere flavor uses a different crankshaft to accommodate some special clutch they like to use?
At least it was a quick search to see I'm fine. 445577 and 44M777 both use the same crankshaft.
I was mildly concerned while spinning it by hand because there was this clunk noise in the crankcase but figured it was the governor or that thing that splashes oil around. Thankfully you can hear the same noise as this dude rotates his at 1:52.
Of course, beyond stickers the John Deere also uses a different air filter. Had to decide if I wanted to go out and buy a filter, or swap parts to continue using mine. I'd have to disassemble the carb to do that, so screw it, I'll just buy a filter. Maybe the JD top cover design is more mouse-resistant.
Now at this point, I need to start borrowing parts from my old engine. Valve cover bolts, spark plugs, throttle linkage, fuel pump... may as well swap my new voltage regulator, too. I was hoping this would come with the throttle linkage because it seemed like mine was being fussy and I know I had previously broken that cable in a fit of impatience. I really should get a new oil filter, too.
But of course, as I hit $200 in parts, I realize there's virtually identical entire tractors in running condition for $300 that have better tires and less rust, with a spare hydrostatic transmission to boot
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context