For the love of a 520

[Ed Kennell 42,122]

1 hour ago, stegs said:

Sometimes a carb surge

The Onans must have a clean carb.   It took 3 carb cleanings to get mine to stop surging.   Now it gets a regular Sea Foam cocktail...no more surging.

 

1 hour ago, stegs said:

Cant wait to see it mow with the 48" deck

I dedicated mine to winter use.   Burning all that fuel creates too much heat to use it for mowing and the cab stays on year round.

 

1 hour ago, stegs said:

. To plow, i run it at roughly 3k

Mine sounds the happiest at 3200 and it never runs out of power when plowing.

[stegs 327]

26 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

The Onans must have a clean carb.   It took 3 carb cleanings to get mine to stop surging.   Now it gets a regular Sea Foam cocktail...no more surging.

 

I dedicated mine to winter use.   Burning all that fuel creates too much heat to use it for mowing and the cab stays on year round.

 

Mine sounds the happiest at 3200 and it never runs out of power when plowing.

 

I did 2 carb cleanings so far, maybe another is in order. It only happens at WOT, anything 3k and less its perfect.

 

I run mine also around 3k to work. It has plenty of power and runs good. Anything more than it wants to surge

 

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

4 minutes ago, stegs said:

Anything more

 

Someone recently posted HP and Torque curves for various engines.  Those curves typically flatten or start going down once past 2800-3000 RPM, so why would one even want to run any higher?  Seems to me all that would get you is higher fuel consumption?

 

[Snoopy11 5,718]

3 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Someone recently posted HP and Torque curves for various engines.  Those curves typically flatten or start going down once past 2800-3000 RPM, so why would one even want to run any higher?  Seems to me all that would get you is higher fuel consumption?

 

I'll throw my cents-sense in here...

 

This is just a perception... take it with a grain of cow-manure...

 

Blade-tip speed for machines using mowing decks/tillers, and the like.

 

If you run 3 grand, as opposed to 3,600... there is a good difference in blade tip speed.

 

I have noticed this on several of my machines.

 

Don

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

18 minutes ago, Snoopy11 said:

Blade-tip speed

 

Yeah, there is that...   I guess the question would be then if the extra fuel consumption is worth a better 'quality of cut'.

 

Q: How many MPH is the blade tip traveling?  ( good luck with that one!   )

A: I don't expect an answer.

 

Under 200 MPH.

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Snoopy11 5,718]

1 minute ago, Jeff-C175 said:

How many MPH is the blade tip traveling?

UHHHH.... 

 

I'm off to ask Ms. Googlee...

 

BUT I can tell you that I think part of it depends on pulley sizes on the deck which, in many cases, are different per application...

 

Don

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

3 minutes ago, Snoopy11 said:

UHHHH.... 

 

I'm off to ask Ms. Googlee...

 

BUT I can tell you that I think part of it depends on pulley sizes on the deck which, in many cases, are different per application...

 

Don

 

 

 

Yes, of course.  RPM of the DECK spindle is dependent on pulley sizes fur sure.

And the length of the blade is important too because for a longer blade to maintain the same TIP SPEED you need to slow it down a little.

Then there's this thing called "CLIP RATE".  A ZT with a high tip speed can zoom around and get the same CLIP RATE as a GT with a slower tip speed and ground speed.

 

[Snoopy11 5,718]

10 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Under 200 MPH

Yah-man. I can tell you one thing for sure though... the pulley sizes on my zero turn, as opposed to my other mower are VERY different.

 

Smaller pulleys on the zero turn deck... bigger pulley on the motor. YOU CAN TELL THAT THE BLADES ARE FRICKIN' FLYING...

 

Bigger pulleys on the commercial deck... same size pulley on engine. MUCH slower blade rotation.

 

Just a layman's observation.

 

THERFORE...

 

If I really wanted more blade speed... I COULD just change pulleys and vouch for a smaller belt... rather than increase RPMS.

 

However, when you don't have a lot of horsepower anyway... this is not the best idea on the planet... thus... why people increase rpms to have an acceptable blade speed rather than swap pulleys.

 

I think pulley size is proportional to the horsepower that your motor can produce... and thus there is a fine line between RPM and blade speed that you notice as soon as you start mowing with a machine.

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,718]

Just now, Snoopy11 said:

Bigger pulleys

Here is the other thing I notice.

 

With the bigger pulleys on the mowing deck... it doesn't bog down as much in high grass or leaf piles.

 

I might be delusional here... but it is something that I have personally noted.

 

Don

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

3 minutes ago, Snoopy11 said:

people increase rpms to have an acceptable blade speed rather than swap pulleys.

 

Sure...

 

But to get the same CLIP RATE, one could just not be in such a hurry to get done and set the ground speed a little slower.

 

The TIP SPEED of course DOES make a difference though for sure, perhaps even a bigger difference than clip rate.  Never really experimented much, just wanted to get done!  

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Snoopy11 5,718]

Just now, Jeff-C175 said:

one could just not be in such a hurry to get done and set the ground speed a little slower.

HAHAHAHAHA

 

Yeah... you could do that.

 

Who was that who said... its not how fast you mow... it's how well you mow fast?

 

Truth is... to go fast while you mow... you have to have the power to back it up... power to run smaller pulleys on the deck, bigger pulley on the engine, and run 3,600... while flying at 10 MPH.

 

Power is the key to speed, both forward speed of the machine, and blade speed respectively.

 

Don

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

But, we digress...

 

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Ed Kennell 42,122]

30 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

How many MPH is the blade tip traveling? 

At 3200 RPM and 3/4 forward motion,  the blade tips on my blade are traveling at 3 MPH.

 

Unless  I'm in a hard turn...then the leading tip is traveling at 3.02 MPH.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Ed Kennell

[Snoopy11 5,718]

3 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

we digress...

So much for winning my wings... yet another thread de-rail-roaded...

 

Bring in the SWAT police...

 

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,718]

3 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

blade tips on my blade are traveling at 3 MPH

 

I could run faster with a pair of scissors...

 

Don

[Snoopy11 5,718]

7 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

At 3200 RPM and 3/4 forward motion,  the blade tips on my blade are traveling at 3 MPH.

 

Unless  I'm in a hard turn...then the leading tip is traveling at 3.02 MPH.

Hmm...

 

Sounds like you are mowing with one of these:

 

Don

[Ed Kennell 42,122]

 

8 minutes ago, Snoopy11 said:

Sounds like you are mowing

MOWING,   I thought 520s were only used in the winter and we were talking about the tip speed on my 54" plow blade.

 

Some will claim all air cooled engines should only be operated at max RPM for proper cooling.       My 520 is only used for winter duty, so cooling is not a problem.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Ed Kennell

[Snoopy11 5,718]

2 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

MOWING,   I thought 520s were only used in the winter and we were talking about the tip speed on my 54" plow blade.

Someone didn't get the memo... either you or I...

 

 

Don

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

17 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

Some will claim all air cooled engines should only be operated at max RPM for proper cooling

 

I've heard that also, but don't really think you would see much difference between 3000 and 3600.

And 'sling blade' lubricated engines... heard the same about that, max RPM or you won't get enough lube... also doubtful there's much diff there either.

 

(one of my top ten faves of all time, and BB Thornton's best work ever)

Edited February 14, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Snoopy11 5,718]

2 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

I've heard that also, but don't really think you would see much difference between 3000 and 3600.

And 'sling blade' lubricated engines... heard the same about that, max RPM or you won't get enough lube... also doubtful there's much diff there either.

Yep, Jeff is on the money there.

 

That cam is slinging oil from here to hell and back inside that engine... even as low as 1 grand.

 

You want proof of that, you ask? Fine... put on one of these and take the oil fill cap off while your engine is idling:

 

 

Don

[Horse Newbie 7,395]

9 hours ago, stegs said:

Overall , right now im at a 7/10 . I like it alot

Sorta like any relationship…

9 hours ago, stegs said:

can/might go wrong

Better to have loved a 520 and lost…

than never have loved a 520 at all

[Horse Newbie 7,395]

6 hours ago, Snoopy11 said:

you run 3 grand, as opposed to 3,600... there is a good difference in blade tip speed.

So you’re saying run it at max rpm while mowing ?

[TJ5208 1,841]

1 minute ago, Horse Newbie said:

So you’re saying run it at max rpm while mowing ?

I run my machines at Full throttle all the time because if you don't it could cause overheating because these are air cooled engines so you're taking air away from the engine which cools it.

[TJ5208 1,841]

2 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

So you’re saying run it at max rpm while mowing ?

And also help prevent carbon buildup.

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

11 minutes ago, TJ Salyers said:

I run my machines at Full throttle all the time because if you don't it could cause overheating because these are air cooled engines so you're taking air away from the engine which cools it.

 

Do you think it makes more heat the faster you run it?

 

Do you think there would be a difference between 3000 and 3600 RPM?