"What is the speed these things should go?" AS fast as you can walk comfortably and still cut the grass. Not all of them are fixed speed. Most that are walk too slow for able bodied men as they don't want them too fast for women and us old codgers. Some have the option of different size pulleys, drive rollers, or other drive components. LB and Toro have mowers that adjust their speed automatically to you pace. "Personal Pace" mowers. Snapper did have an adjustable speed self propelled walk behind mower, don't know if they still make that or not. We have an older 3 speed gear shift Lawn Boy. Walt Conner

Just wanted to chime in, I've had a model 10323 since 98 or so and it ran pretty decent for many years though always had a lean surge most of you speak of but cutting through the grass it would power through well.. One thing I did last year was changed out the plug with an E3 plug from Lowes and that made a noticeable difference, not quite as bad but I knew it could run better. A couple of weeks ago the surge got worse, cleaned out the carb which looked pretty good but found the pilot jet (under the sticker) clogged, in the meanwhile I found this thread and went ahead picked up some bits at Hobbytown USA ($21) and did the jet bore out mod as mentioned and it is a totally different machine! As jarall described unleashing a monster, no friggin joke! It felt so good I wanted to cut the whole neighboorhood! This baby is good for another 20+ years the way its running, have another of the same model I acquired when I found out 2 strokes were no more. Would be nice if they would bring 2 strokes back with a simple fuel injection, there is 2 stroke technology supposedly that is cleaner than existing 4 strokes, or how about a small clean diesel? I know I'm dreamin, I wont need another lawn mower for the rest of my life, dont think this thing is breakable.

The company I work for has fleet of I/C powered forklifts. In 1989 & '90, we switched from diesel engines to LPG fueled engines (which are gasoline engines converted to propane). A few years later, the company selected a "test group" of forklifts to run in an extended oil change evaluation. The test was conducted in alliance with an "oil testing laboratory". The lab had to agree to use the same test procedure on "our" oil samples for the duration of the test. We did not know how long we would be testing. Our previous oil change interval was "Every 750 hours" (using the OEM hourmeter). This interval was in place when we ran diesel and gasoline powered I/C 'lifts. We wanted to determine how long we could safely run the oil between changes without harming the engine. The guidelines for the test were pretty simple on our part, the forklifts in the test group would not have their oil changed "Until further notice". Instead, we were only to "top off" the oil level when we drew an oil sample for the lab every 750 hours. Our 'lifts operate 24/7 with an average daily run time of 18 hours per 'lift, so we were pulling an oil sample about every 6 weeks (where this would have been an "oil change" prior to the test). The lab reported the test results of each sample to our corporate headqurters. Corporate only told us whether or not, to continue the testing of each 'lift, based on the report. At about 20 months into the test, we submitted a sample to the lab that had 10,000 (ten thousand) hours on it. Corporate headqurters informed us at that time to remove that 'lift from the test and change the oil based on the lab report that the oil "was degrading" and it's continued use was not recommended. We were instructed place the unit on a "tentative" 3000 hour oil change interval until the testing was ended on all 'lifts. By 24 months since the onset of the test, the oil in all the 'lifts had reached the 10,000 hour mark. The lab reports on a 10,000 hour old sample was very near the same for all 'lifts. The company ordered each 'lift that was part of the test to be placed on the same "tentative" 3000 hour oil change interval until further notice. It took the company almost a year from the end date of the testing to make all the changes to the inspection forms (for our PMs) and put the new standard of 3000 hours between oil and filter changes into effect. Our 'lifts remain in service at the "large distribution centers" for about 6 years (from the "new vehicle in service" date) at which time they will have accumulated from about 30,000 to 36,000 hours. At that time they are transferred out to "small town" locations where they may only get 2 to 4 hours run time per day. On these 'lifts we change the oil annually by the calender instead of going by the hourmeter. When a 'lift reaches 12 years old, it is sold on the public market. We have yet to "wear out" an engine. In fact, the only engine failure our location has had was due to the forklift operator continuing to run the 'lift after the water pump/alternator belt broke. We periodically check compression on our engines (24 month intervals) and I see engines near the 36,000 hour mark with 160 to 170 P.S.I. readings on all cylinders. Each owner of any equipment must decide what kind of oil change interval they want to use for their machines. I think it is safe to say that most of us can change the oil in our L&G equipment annually without worrying "if I'm doing it enough". I prefer to change the oil at the end of the season. I don't want that "contaminated" oil just sitting there in contact with the works of the engine for 6 months. I drop the oil (and filter where applicable), put in the fresh oil and run the engine for about 10 minutes (to make sure I get the oil "hot", gets rid of the moisture from the cold start up) before putting the machine away for the "off season". I feel that the fresh oil clings better to the engine parts than the old oil for the duration of storage. No matter what the "Oil experts" may say, some of us will continue with our own practices. For the people who lament that we are changing the oil "too often", well......there are some people out there who "never change their oil", so don't their habits offset the overall consumption average??

Just to clarify, the driving belt pulley IS your PTO. At the very least you will want to take the mower deck belt of the pulley, or you could remove the entire mower deck. As other have said, the pulley ratio's affect the RPM of the driven device, but the power remains the same. If the wide open throttle RPM of your engine is 3600 (it probably is) then that is the number you need to work with to determine the pulley ratio. No problem with more HP. Going too fast or slow will mean you are not putting of 60 cycles per second Hertz, Hz) AC. The quickest way to determine if you are close is a clock with a second hand. Test it against a known good watch and adjust accordingly. You do want to be pretty close. I want to do something similar, but even the generator head will be more than I really can handle.