Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Came across this deal today & it seems too good to resist, 15 HP for $249 + free shipping! My biggest concern is cold weather usage on my snow blower.
Anyone know if they have a primer bulb and how they perform in general? Please, no rants about Chinese knock offs, I too am worried about the wallmart effect.

Cheers

Don't sweat the Lifan engine.  It's one of the best coming out of China these days.  Lifan, Champion, LCT and Kipor are all well respected brands and from all accounts are getting very good reviews.  

As far as a primer bulb, neither of my Chinese engines have them.  Choke only.  They start easily enough in summer.  Not sure about winter conditions.  You could probably make yourself a primer but the problem would be feeding the carb.  I'd find an old skidoo plunger type primer that sucks fuel from the tank and route the output line into the carb throat.  You'd have to secure it there somehow.   Your biggest problem will be fabricating and installing a heat shroud to conduct warm air toward the carburetor.   That and the absence of an air filtration system are  the biggest differences between snow engines and others. 

The 15 must be a new addition as I can't remember them offereing a 15.  They have an 11 that comes up on sale from time to time at $249 and usually sells at $299. 

Their current listings on their website only go to 13hp. Their Worcester MA store has never displayed anything above a 13 so may be a store near you has bought a batch.  

If the 15hp is like the rest of the line which are Honda GX types and decent quality then it's probably fine.   None of that line have a primer and start like a Honda in cold weather with choke only so no problem.  I've used about 10 of the 6.5hp's and one 11hp and so far have had no problem with starting and have yet to order a part for any of them.  Those were all GX types.

If the 15 were non GX then I'd be a little cautious.  There is quite a bit of user info on the net about the 5 throuth 13 hp's an no problems I've seen.  Maybe you could google around for 15 info.

Lifan is a huge maker with many differnet quality models.  The GX types HF buys are Honda part compatible but noticable inferior on some of the external parts but durable enough.  No telling about the internals like crank, bearings or bore sleeve but they do seem to stand up from the net reports from long term users.  So far for me 3 years and zero problems.   

lve re-engined at least 6-7 engines on snowblower for customer now and have had nothing but great feedback. and l own three snowblowers myself, and l think its on the third season now which the motor l put on was a 6.5 honda clone from princess auto paid $100 for it. and its been flawless, not even one issue with it so far. as far the choke mine starts 2 pull everytime no matter how cold it is. and l put one on my brothers blower about five years ago and the only problem its had was l had to clean the carb and install a new needle and seat because it was a bit sticky this year. not bad for 5 years of reliable service.

Here is a link to the engine if anyone is interested.  They have the electric start model for 329.00 with free shipping


http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=202184119&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=202184119&ci_src=14110944&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D28X-_-202184119&locStoreNum=4101&marketID=34

Sorry, I goofed on the above post thinking Harbor Fright and GX types.  It's looking like these are Home Depot motors.  I have no idea about these or if they are GX types.  The specs don't mention roller bearings, low oil shutoff or cast bore.  They are probably not Honda GX clones or even GC.  I saw these before and figured HD would not order crap.   The last time I looked I could not find any users who had commented on the net.

niper99: Glad you posted your use and experience with those.  I've read negative comments about the HF 5's and 6.5's but they seemed uneasonable and a very low percentage compared to positive comments.   I put a few on old Ariens 10,000 models and they were fantastic. 

Trouts & Niper:

Did you use the engine without heat shrouds?  If so, no problems?  I'm wondering how they'd do in cold climate like northern Canada?

borat wrote:
I don't want to answer on their behalf, but the lack of a heat shroud was the only complaint I've had with a Lifan engine. Works great, but on a bitter night with snow swirling around, it tends to ice up. The thing won't throttle down with all the ice on the linkage. I've tried different things to protect the linkage from freezing up, from tin to coffee cans. Spray Silicone seems to work the best. It still ices up, but the ice doesn't stick nearly as bad. It would be nice if there was a decent Honda schematic to make a shroud that would work.

You have to capture the hot air being blown from across the engine head and route it to the carb.  It's probably a job best done in a warm environment because there will a great deal of trial and error fitting.   On my B&S engine, it looks fairly basic.  If it's simply a matter of keeping snow and ice off of the linkage of the carb, would it be possible to make a shroud out of old tire tube rubber and let it hang over the carb to keep snow from accumulating on the linkage? 

borat wrote:
The clone engine now sits on a back-up machine. I actually use a plow on my 4 wheeler as the primary snow mover, and have a restored Bolens as a my primary blower. I like the idea of the inner tube, but in looking at the linkage, any interference would impede their movement. Some of the springs are insanely long and thin. I don't know how I'd drape it over everything without it touching something. I was even contemplating drilling a hole in the back of the muffler to blow hot exhaust toward the carb.

I have a few military surplus ammo cans here, I think that one of those cut out would do the job nicely. I've tried soft tin, but it seems to be lacking in "robustness". The engine vibrations shake the snot out of it, it would flop around until it broke. This is the only problem that I've not beaten with this clone. All in all it's run perfectly and doesn't complain at all.

JohnnyBoyUpNorth:

 

COVER, ENGINE CONTROL (Honda Code 1877935).

This cover is used on the Honda HS55TA (T=track, A=America (A country south of you.)) HS55K1 version.

You could buy that and it should fit but you would have to check.  That cover is from a 1986 version of GX140.  You could go to boats.net and look at the newer model drawings to see what is currently used on a winter GX200.  Those should be mountable on the GX200 clone. 

 

BUT: Lifan does have some changes. 

Borat: This part addresses you also:

 

The following pictures are looking down on a new HF GX200 store model 66015.  There have been a few model changes of HF 6.5’s with and without model number changes.  For example the gas tank and air filter cover on this one is different than the prior 66015 they sold.  So a change with no part number change.  I was never clear on what changed in the roll from a 66014 to a 15.  I think it was EPA carb or Calf carb related but unsure.

 

The control picture is pretty much the parts which are under the gas tank and air cleaner and importantly the parts that are exposed.  They used to be fully exposed by now partly covered by the extended heater cover.  The rod in the control picture is at the bottom of parts which show in between the air filter and the gas tank in the no air box view.

 

The engine control cover is on top of the carb and under the air cleaner cover.  It extends to cover the exposed control components area.  That control picture is from the HF GX200 drawing.   The control mentioned for Honda applies to a HS55K1 snowblower. 

 

The control cover does not extend fully from the air cleaner to way under the gas tank but does go up to it and gives protection from snow.  On a bad day it would be possible to get snow on the controls under the gas tank but not happen often.   The cover is on the bottom of the air box and above the carb.  There might be some intended pickup of warm air from the cooling fins by the slight protrusion of the cover over the last of the fins but it’s not exactly evident that was intended. 

 

I’ve never had any trouble with the controls getting frozen but I have only had them around for short periods during the winter before being sold.  I have never had a problem with them but they get blown off after use and covered when not in use.

 

Johnny: You would not need much to make a cover for that area.  You might be able to make something that was held down by the air cleaner cover and went over to and rested on the lip of the gas tank.