SO I replaced the engine my old Troybilt Horse today. The old Tecumsah is 41 years old and quite tired. Put one of the $100 6.5 hp Harborfreight Predator engines on. Easy swapout . Only difference is that you need a 5/16-24x 1-1/2" bolt for the reversing wheel on the end of the motor shaft. Started right up on the first pull and definitely has more power than the old engine. I need to pull the low oil sensor as it will shut the engine off at times. I could have rebuilt the existing engine but for the price the HF engine is hard to beat. I can buy 2 or 3 for the price of the rebuild. I have one spare now and I am going to grab at least one more this weekend. So if you have one of these tillers grab one or two of these engines as spares.
Tools Troybilt Horse Replacement Engine
- Thread starter mecoastie
- Start date
BornFree
Came This Far
You can just disconnect the wire from the oil sensor if you wish. It is not well designed if it acts up under working conditions with a full oil level. You could try overfilling the oil just a tad bit, but not much. I assume that it acts up when the engine is tilted past a certain degree. If the sensor is facing the front of the tiller then the oil will move away from it when the tiller digs deep, and the engine is tilted back. This is definitely not an application where the engine remains level.
Shooter
Veteran Member
mine has the Kohler motor, 8 hp.its about 35 years old, and still doing really good
I would never go with anything from Harbor freight, Im a retired mechanic. but I do some work at home now. these things are crap. from one to the next the measurements are off. I hate them, get a quality motor and not have to need a spare, like you said, the old one lasted 41 years,
I would never go with anything from Harbor freight, Im a retired mechanic. but I do some work at home now. these things are crap. from one to the next the measurements are off. I hate them, get a quality motor and not have to need a spare, like you said, the old one lasted 41 years,
We replaced our old Koehler 7 HP engine (cast iron block), when it threw a rod at 38 yesrs old. Pissed me off, as it had been maintained meticulously, and there wasn't a hint of warning. IIRC, we put a Honda engine on... it onl y lasted 3 years!
I found a 9 hp Robin Subaru engibe on eBay... someone must have gotten a salvage load of them... brand new in a box that showed a lot of water exposure, and there was some corrosion on the aluminum on the engine. $300... and the best $300 we'd ever spent. I liked it so well, I promptly bought a spare... hubby stole it to out on the bedding chopper. If I had the cash, I'd have bought half a dozen more. Those engines are over 12 years old, still start first pull (I had to have an electric start on the Honda) and run like a dream.
Summerthyme
I found a 9 hp Robin Subaru engibe on eBay... someone must have gotten a salvage load of them... brand new in a box that showed a lot of water exposure, and there was some corrosion on the aluminum on the engine. $300... and the best $300 we'd ever spent. I liked it so well, I promptly bought a spare... hubby stole it to out on the bedding chopper. If I had the cash, I'd have bought half a dozen more. Those engines are over 12 years old, still start first pull (I had to have an electric start on the Honda) and run like a dream.
Summerthyme