Odd location for a return hose on a 22 ton husky wood splitter .

[Whitespider]

The cylinders in horizontal shaft engines wear egg shaped too.Has to do with thrust loads...

Agreed... but in a vertical crankshaft engine (where the piston reciprocates horizontally) it is accelerated because the heat and lubrication problems inherent with them.


addendum; Oh... and I also agree with you about the Tecumseh engines, they've always been top performers for me. I'd choose a Tecumseh over a Briggs and Stratton any day of the week.

 

[Iska3]

Hey Spidy, What you say has some truth to it but one can not always go with a horizontal shaft engine. I have over just over 3,400 hours on my mower (15 HP Brigs Vertical Shaft) and it's used way more than my splitter. The mower does about 8 to 10 hours of lawn per week or maybe more, the snow blower was attached to it for 5 winters and started at temps well below zero. The lower bearings and seals are still holding up, starts all the time but smokes a little when first started so the oil rings might be bad.

Didn't you buy a Husky Mower last year? Does that engine have a horizontal Shaft? Just wondering..

Engine, not motor...

Over the years I've worn-out, and tossed, countless vertical shaft engines... I still have, and use, every horizontal I've ever owned (some of the equipment they were mounted to wore-out, so I've moved the engines to other equipment). The oldest horizontal I have is a 1968 Tecumseh 10 HP mounted to the little tractor I abuse the crap out'a... still starts in sub-zero temps and does not use or leak one drop oil. We have a horizontal engine powering a small generator at work we use on the job sites to run power tools that much older than that. My splitter has a horizontal Tecumseh 7 HP that dates sometime before 1980... it received a new head gasket a couple years ago, but nothing else has ever been done to it and it still doesn't use enough oil that I ever have to add between changes. Right now I have a 3.5 HP horizontal Briggs sitting in the shop off dads old pressure washer (the pump quit), I don't know how old it is but that washer was "Top-of-the-Line" for its day at 1200 PSI if that says anything about age... still runs like a top and has never had anything done to it.

Horizontal crankshaft small engines are more durable, last longer, make more power, run cooler, use less fuel, and are easier to maintain and repair. Vertical crankshaft small engines belong on lawn mowers... nothing else. Three really big issues with verticals is proper lubrication (especially the upper side of the cylinder/piston), uneven heat dissipation (especially the lower side of the cylinder/piston), and dirt/grit contamination of the lower crank bearing (all the dirt and crap settles right down on them). They start using oil because the cylinder gets egg shaped, and they start leaking oil because the lower bearing gets sloppy, the crank scores, the seal can't hold against the flopping crank and they leak. The damage to the cylinder and crank makes them too expensive to repair... you toss them and buy another. Chances are, if you keep clean fresh oil in a horizontal engine it will likely outlive you (clean, fresh oil means you'll need to change it often, even synthetic oils... if it's using oil you've waited too long between changes and it's too late, the damage is done). My old 1968 Tecumseh 10 HP gets used 3-5 times a week year-round, used hard year-round... the oil gets changed 5-6 times a year (and no, I don't use synthetic because it would still get just as dirty and contaminated, just as fast, and need changing just as often).

 

[Whitespider]

Well, I did say, in the post you quoted, “Vertical crankshaft small engines belong on lawn mowers... nothing else.” Vertical crankshaft small engines make perfect sense for some applications… like mowers.

Yeah, my Husky tractor has a vertical twin-cylinder Kohler on it, my JD lawn tractor also has a vertical Kohler that leaks oil and smokes bad… but to be fair, it’s 21-years-old. I have two other vertical small engines, both Briggs and Stratton… one brand-new on the push mower I just bought last month, and one on an old Magna Till Smith front-tine garden tiller that also leaks and smokes… but to be fair again, it’s older than the JD tractor.

When I bought the push mower last month I also bought a pressure washer at the same time… it had a Honda GCV190 on it. I got to looking a bit closer after bringing it home… NO Oil DRAIN PLUG!! The manual said to tip it upside-down and drain the oil through the fill tube. Anyway… I took it back and spent a few more dollars for a horizontal model with a Honda GC190, and an oil drain plug. That’ll teach me to never take the wife shopping power equipment… I bought the pressure washer she thought was “cute” to appeaser her because of the money I was spending. Now, I know the Honda “GC” engines are the “homeowner” line and not expected to last forever… but no oil drain plug ?? C’mon, even Honda must know better than that… but, at the same time, from what I’ve witnessed, most “homeowners” never change oil in small engines anyway. (By-the-way, the Briggs on the new push mower doesn't have a drain plug either... wtf???)

At last count I had 15 small air-cooled engines around here… that represents a considerable investment… I take care of them… I actually service them on a regular basis.