I doubt a shop would want a 22 year old parts mower that didn't run. Most likely your engine was built by Tecumseh. If it was, it'll have an engine # 143.xxxxx. Post the engine # (and mower#?) and I can probably look up the equivalent TEC #. No guarantee it's available though. Chances are good though that there are a lot of other used engines out there that would bolt on. Maybe even a Briggs. The main things to check are the bolt pattern, shaft length & dia. & key type so that your blade adapter fits. Some people even re-drill the deck to take a different mounting patter. I don't think I'd do that unless a bit hard up. Old mower deck with extra holes is going to be weakened somewhat. A lot would depend on the deck condition. If the wheels were about to fall off, cracks etc. Your call.

Yes, many of the parts you can just drop the prefix and use the Sears /AYP # So, look at the hood sticker or in your manual for the Husq#. 532 18 08-08 becomes 180808 which is a common Sears belt for their secondary belt on the newer 48. OEP shows as a 5/8 X 89" The primary for these 174368 (Engine to deck)OEP shows 5/8 X 90. Best to get the oem if you can. Never tried aftermarket on these.

You're right. He didn't know anything about this engine and neither did I. Apparently while working on it a while back he had the flywheel cover off and his wife tossed in in the garbage. He promised me it did run and didn't smoke. So I gave him the benifit of the doubt I had and decided to make the drive. I took the 108 with me in the back of the pickup so I could see if I had the clearance to put the 12hp in. I turned it to check the compression and it "felt" good, I checked the mounting bolt pattern to make sure it matched up and it did. So for $40 I thought it wasn't too much of a risk and I bought it. Yesterday I put it on my engine stand, changed the oil, hooked er up to a battery and she ran absolutely flawless. Next step, remove my old engine and try to fit this one in, if it doesn't work, no biggy, I'll buy a flywheel cover and sell it as a good working 12hp vertical shaft engine.

Congratulations on the new X300. As closely as I can tell,you can get a bad machine from any brand...lawn tractor,car or ice cream maker. ANY manufactured product,whether man or machine assembled,could die out of the box,or run flawlessly for years. I,too,took delivery of an X300 this morning. I studied and conversed for weeks,trying to decide what to do. My decision was made because the JD sales guy was super,and I got one year same as cash from JD. ONLY time will tell if it was a good buy. On my street,there are 5 JD's,2 Craftsman,1 Cadet,1 Husky:ALL are working well. Please don't take this green vs orange vs red too seriously. For goodness sake,it's a lawnmower. Take care of it and it should be fine. Thanks to all of you,most of your posts were helpful,and I appreciate your thoughts.