Hello, is there a general recommendation for deck size verses horse power? I have 8hp, 10hp and 12hp engines and a friend of mine has a 16 hp, all k series engines. My friend is going to need a deck for next season for the 16hp k341 and wants a bigger deck than the 42" that it came with. My Raider 12 has a 48" from when I got it and does well but the engine smokes bad and I plan to rebuild it along with the 8 and 10. I'm hoping to get at least one rebuilt this winter and match it up with a deck that won't bee too much for the power but as big as it will handle.
Another question, is it bad to mow in 3rd gear? I've been mowing in 3rd all year and at the beginning my 8 smoked on start up but would clear up after a while, now it smokes pretty bad to where I don't want to drive it. My 12 smoked pretty bad when I got it and the same goes for it, it needs a rebuild. It's way faster to mow in 3rd, just not sure if I'm beating on them too much.