I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the mower
starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it bogs and
stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass clumps...
nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be sure
tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan

"Harlan^Man" wrote in message
...
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the mower
starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it bogs and
stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass clumps...
nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be sure
tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan

Does this beast have it's normal power without the blades engaged or is it
running but underpowered ?

If it has normal power you probably have seized the bearings in one of the
spindles.

If it is underpowered it could be any number of problems with the motor.

Srgnt Billko wrote:

Harlan^Man wrote:
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the mower
starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it bogs and
stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass clumps...
nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be sure
tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan

Does this beast have it's normal power without the blades engaged or is it
running but underpowered ?

If it has normal power you probably have seized the bearings in one of the
spindles.

given the available information that's a pretty good diagnoses.




If it is underpowered it could be any number of problems with the motor.

Harlan^Man wrote:
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the mower
starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it bogs and
stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass clumps...
nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be sure
tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan



I had the same problem in my Murray tractor about the same vintage as
yours. It even had a hard time going up hills without sputtering and
stalling, even if the blades were engaged or not.
In my case, it was the carburetor. I had a mower shop rebuild it.

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To Email, remove the double zeroes after 'at'

Sounds to me like a problem with the throttle control. As the speed
decreases, its supposed to increase the throttle. This provides the
additional power needed. Without knowing what kind of carburetor you
have, I can only suggest clearing off the rods and springs on the sides
of the carb to be certain they are free. Wildly tightening the carb
adjustments probably won't help because something is wrong and needs to
be repaired.


Harlan^Man wrote:
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the mower
starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it bogs and
stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass clumps...
nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be sure
tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan

"Stubby" wrote in message
. ..
Sounds to me like a problem with the throttle control. As the speed
decreases, its supposed to increase the throttle.

I think you are refering to the "governor". Good point.



This provides the additional power needed. Without knowing what kind of
carburetor you have, I can only suggest clearing off the rods and springs
on the sides of the carb to be certain they are free. Wildly tightening
the carb adjustments probably won't help because something is wrong and
needs to be repaired.


Harlan^Man wrote:
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the
mower starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it
bogs and stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass
clumps... nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be
sure tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan

"Srgnt Billko" wrote in
:


"Stubby" wrote in message
. ..
Sounds to me like a problem with the throttle control. As the speed
decreases, its supposed to increase the throttle.

I think you are refering to the "governor". Good point.



This provides the additional power needed. Without knowing what kind
of carburetor you have, I can only suggest clearing off the rods and
springs on the sides of the carb to be certain they are free. Wildly
tightening the carb adjustments probably won't help because something
is wrong and needs to be repaired.


Harlan^Man wrote:
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the
sudden the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start
position the mower starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage
the blades, it bogs and stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys
for twigs or grass clumps... nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid
90's I reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To
be sure tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the
yard becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan



Thanks to all! I just took it outside and tried to have it climb my
driveway, it is a pretty high incline. The mower was VERY sluggish
climbing that hill, in the highest gear too!
So is the best option to rebuild the carb? or do ya'll think there is
something more seriously wrong.

The mower idles same as always, whether in Turtle or Rabbit (lol) so I
dunno, let me know and thanks for all the fast responses! If ya'll
think its the carb, I have a guy that can rebuild it for me this weekend
more than likely.

Thanks!
Harlan

Have you checked the fuel filter? rule of thumb: start cheap work up to
expensive. It no doubt needs a filter change anyhow.

"Eric in North Texas" wrote in message
oups.com...

Have you checked the fuel filter? rule of thumb: start cheap work up to
expensive. It no doubt needs a filter change anyhow.


Excellent plan of attack (start cheap ...)

But he did say "in high gear" as if he thought that was the more powerful
option.

"Harlan^Man" wrote in message
...
I have a problem, I was mowing the yard the other day, all of the sudden
the mower quits. When I put everything in normal start position the mower
starts fine, It runs great too, until you engage the blades, it bogs and
stalls. I have check the deck and pulleys for twigs or grass clumps...
nothing there.

The mower is a Lowes brand, 14hp Briggs 42 inch cut, early to mid 90's I
reckon.

I checked the gas cap to see if it was clogged, not a problem. To be sure
tried all this with the gas cap off too.


Any suggestions would be appreciated as my wife is ****ed about the yard
becoming a jungle.

Thanks!
Harlan

This may not be it but it might as you say it stalls when you engage the
power attachment. (Does it just cut out or does it lose power still running
but weak?) When this happened to me (cutting out) it was the switch under
my seat that went bad. It thought I was trying to engage the blades when my
buttocks was not on the seat. A way to check this is to bridge those
contacts and engage the blades. I was pretty sure of this recommendation
until I read the followup posts that indicate some other power loss issues.
Worth a look tho.
Tomes