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For comparative purposes, you can consult a "productivity chart" from places like Exmark to see what kinds of differences you'll see by using various widths of cut at various speeds. http://www.exmark.co...s/Productivity/ If fuel use is really important to you, you'd be wise to consider replacing all of your current equipment with a single diesel-powered machine. I have forgotten the specifics since I moved about 2 years ago, but mowing my 4-5 acres around my old house took vastly different amounts of time and fuel depending on what equipment I used. For example (going from foggy memory): 1. Ford Diesel Utility tractor (~23 hp) with a 72" 3pt mower = little less than 4 hours, 3.5 gallons diesel fuel 2. Toro/WH 724Z gasoline zero turn with 60" mower and 24hp Onan = 2.5 hours, 8 gallons gasoline 3. Kubota 28hp diesel zero turn with 72" deck = less than 2 hours, 2.5 gallons diesel fuel. 4. John Deere LT133 w/ 38" deck and 13 hp Kohler = never finished in one sitting...estimate 6 hours and probably 6 gallons gas. I also mowed once with a C160H and 42" SD but don't remember how long it took. It seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r though and drank a bunch of fuel. Plus, the tractor was miserable to operate since it was so loud. None of the above counted trimming with the weedeater. With the Ford I still had a lot of trimming to do...like 2 hours worth. With the Toro and Kubota it went down to about 45 minutes and I only did it every other time...maybe even every third time. All things being equal, your 20 hp engine ought to use about 25% more fuel per hour than your 16 hp. I'd ignore the fact that the hydro "uses" any power since no matter what hunk of iron you're driving around will take energy to motivate. The cut width of the 48" mower is 20% smaller than the 60-incher, so I'd guess your fuel consumption between the two competing machines will be about the same as long as you're varying your speed on the 20-horse to match the conditions (the advantage of a hydro). To me, the reduction in mowing time would far outweigh the fuel cost. IMO. As an aside, my understanding from one of the guys who worked for WH back when the Onans were introduced was that the Onan 20 put out more torque than the Kohler M20 and Briggs of the time. As did the 16's and 18's. This made handling the 60" deck on the 520 a bit easier. Plus, Onans are known for running long lives in most applications and are incredibly smooth. It takes a specific amount of gasoline to produce 20hp. I'd suspect then that if you're running a 60" deck thru tall grass at a fast speed that ANY 20 hp engine will consume a lot of fuel. And they ought to be fairly close within brands. Theoretically, 20hp requires about a half a gallon per hour of gasoline if running at 100% efficiency. Assume about a 25% actual efficiency and you'll use - under full 20hp load - about 1.78 gallons per hour according to the back of my napkin. Nothing ever runs at 100% load for very long though. You should easily see from my data above why the Kubota was my favorite grass mower. I bought it used for cheap, mowed with it for a couple of years, and sold it when I moved for more than I paid intially. The trick is being a cash buyer in the dead of winter when everything's covered with snow! I guess the moral of my ramblings is that if you're going to have a big engine, you'd better have a big deck to make up for the fuel consumption. Get more done, have more fun, get a diesel! Steve

hi, it been a while since i posted. i got to looking around the last 6-8 months, got an idea, and started laying pieces in a pile for a project. here it is. i guess, you could call it a c-81. it has a c-81 hood and frame. a c-165 8 speed rear axle. a 701 flipped front axle and rear fenders from 1963 short frame. sawmill 8 inch fronts. 25 x 12 atv rears. dropped 6 inches in the front and 4 1/2 in the rear. engine is 18 vanguard. no pre 65 stuff will be modified or cut for this project. this project has a very limited budget. had to buy tubes for rears, and that was tough for me. i dont have money. i do have a welder, a cutting torch, a bunch of junk tractors, and alot of ambition. going to use what i got, and build me a hot rod. jimmy

It's my understanding that the guy with the Ford was actually able to drive fast enough to escape the destruction & he took the women with him...... that's why there were three Chevy guys standing in the pile of rubble with nothing but each other and a box of Twinkies. :handgestures-thumbup:

Martin's method works like a charm. I did one this weekend like that and it's almost scary how easy it is.

What ever the alphanumeric designation you ultimately decide to use Gary, I was thinking of something like this...http://www.wheelhors...triot-complete/ only with the Canadian flag maple leaf motif instead. Would definitely make it look pretty cool. :thumbs:

I just love Steve's posts, I'll start thinking about something, ponder on it for a week or two and finally ask the question, and BANG! he comes up with all the answers just like that! He even comes up the answers to the questions I havent thought of yet! And most of us never have to "call Bullsh!t"!! :ychain:

I have been looking on the e-net for along time and found nothing. The new ones an ebay lasted about 4 uses and the knob just twists, I now use a pliers. if there is is good replacement out there it sure would be great to know.

I like the 1250 but instead of the h 1250 zed.......cause you canadians say zed instead of z.....LOL

sounds like a 516H special

I think the smaller kohlers are non adjustable. My k181 is non adjustable . All of my big block kohlers are adjustable though(k241 and up)

Here are my rj35 pics, thanks for all the help on identifing the year.

On a machine like yours I would also swap out the old rubber fuel line, install a new fuel filter, and I always add a seperate in-line shutoff just before the fuel filter on mine. Makes future fuel filter swaps easier . While your doing the fuel lines you might as well replace the original fuel shutoff and rubber grommmit under the fuel tank. That screen on the original shutoff can be plugged up after 20+ years of use. Dont forget to make sure the set screws on the hubs are nice and tight (they are often overlooked). Yours probably has two setscrews per hub. Mike..........

Oh my GOD!!! That is amazing! Fantastic work, very well done.

I've had a few, and still have a bunch of rusty ones, here is some I have redid in the past few years. Not real rusty but beat bad and drilled full of holes broken rod in engine, here it had a brush paint job over the rust, I paid $25 for it. And how it looks now Another we fixed up this one is very rusty, we changed the frame it was almost rusted in half, motor seized tight, another $25 buy and how it looks today this is a rattle can job, but everything was redone mechanically on it. and now The last was this one, it was a parts tractor, but my daughter liked it so we redid it. and now