"restrorob" wrote in message
...

Srgnt Billko Wrote:
My old (1960-70) Sears Suburban, 12hp has been very slow to turn over
ever
since I first got it about 5 years ago. It usually starts but you'd
think
it hardly turned over once or twice very slowly. I replaced the
regular 12V
tractor battery with a car battery but it still turns over slow. It
has the
old belt drive starter and I also swapped it with another machine -
still
slow cranking. Any ideas as to how to get this sucker to spin over
better ?

Yep, The compression release is worn out on the camshaft, To fix it
replace the cam. I've owned 5 of these Suburbans and sold all but one
hydro drive machine to pull trailers, cars and boats around with. One
of these days I will pull the moter off and rebuild it and put the new
cam in, But for now it does start so I let it ride.

Good Luck

Bingo ! That makes sense. I've seen something about "compression release"
somewhere on the engine but didn't know how it works. The only experience I
had with cr was on a snowmobile 2 cycle engine 30 years ago and that had a
lever you pushed. I saw no such gizmo on the Sears so I assumed it was some
kinda magic inside. I have a few of them too - so maybe I'll look into
getting an estimate. I do like those old suckers, and like you, I do use it
as a tractor - pulling a disc harrow, moldboard plow, wagons of firewood,
etc.