# Hand or foot start lever functionality in a riding lamnwmower?



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

Attention manufacturers! Can someone manufacture hand string or hand lever or foot lever started lawnmower tractors?

I am tired of dealing with bad batteries and lawnmower batteries are impossible to find where I live and those odd-shaped lawn tractor batteries are so expesive, often costing over $200 or €200! Adding shipping costs and Customs charges they become unaffordable. And what's worst they do not ship batteries to where I live. What can be done about it? 

Well, motorcycles have similar or even larger engines than lawnmower riding tractors and they do have a motorcycle engine kick start levers to start the engine with a foot. Why not manufacture riding lawnmower tractors with engine kick start levers that can be started by hand lever or a hand string and/or by foot so we don't have to deal with expensive and hard-to-find batteries? Or manufacture lawnmower tractors with an alternative mechanical start with hand/foot lever and/or hand string. With such a garden lawn mowing tractor we can use a universal small battery just for lawnmower lights or the battery can be optional to use.

How about this idea? Make your own research polls and if many enough consumers say yes, begin producing such lawnmower riding tractors that can be started mechanically or have a mechanical alternative start lever or string. And the hell good riddance with "rare collectable" batteries...

Please participate in the poll. Thank you.


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Never going to happen Bud..... OEM chassis manufacturers (Cub, JD, Troy Bilt, etc) build the mower. They "Spec" an engine configuration to the OEM engine manufacturers (Briggs, Kohler, Kawasaki) to go in their chassis. That would put the major burden of design, development, and retooling on the Engine OEM. They are not going bear that expense to sell 5,000 units a year with kick starters and anything above 15hp with a pull rope is almost a guarantee of future shoulder surgery. Briggs alone claims they build 10 million engines per year even though they are staggering through major financial problems at the moment, so they would just tell the chassis OEM "No thanks, you want it you build it"..... The chassis OEM would say "We can't afford that, never mind".

Cheapest place to buy batteries here in the U.S. is Walmart, so you can pick one up while you're grocery shopping for less than $40. Doesn't seem fair to the rest of the world, but estimates run that there are over 200 million lawn mowers in the U.S., so the market is slanted in our direction as a result like it or not. Sounds like you need want to consider an electric mower?? Might take all your toubles away, unless you've got more than 2 acres of grass to mow and 3 hours in an afternoon to do it, and you're not worried about the cost of a replacement lithium battery every 5-7 years.


----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

Bob Driver said:


> Never going to happen Bud..... OEM chassis manufacturers (Cub, JD, Troy Bilt, etc) build the mower. They "Spec" an engine configuration to the OEM engine manufacturers (Briggs, Kohler, Kawasaki) to go in their chassis. That would put the major burden of design, development, and retooling on the Engine OEM. They are not going bear that expense to sell 5,000 units a year with kick starters. Briggs alone claims they build 10 million engines per year, they would just tell the chassis OEM "No thanks, you want it you build it"..... The chassis OEM would say "We can't afford that, never mind".
> 
> Cheapest place to buy batteries here in the U.S. is Walmart, so you can pick one up while you're grocery shopping for less than $40. Doesn't seem fair to the rest of the world, but estimates run that there are over 200 million lawn mowers in the U.S., so the market is slanted in our direction as a result. Sounds like you need to go in the direction of an electric mower, might take all your concerns away, unless you've got more than 2 acres of grass to mow in an afternoon and you're not worried about the cost of a replacement lithium battery every 5-7 years.


Thanks Bud. Well, my field is sexy (about 3 acres) and my tractor sexy too (GT52XLS) imported from the U.S. into a remote island thousand miles away from any continent, so Walmart tells me off  They won't ship outside of the Greatest Country in the World and even if they did I would be eaten alive by shipping charges and Customs taxes. Your info and opinion is great to have. Regarding electric mower, do they manufacture electric riding mowers on battery power or corded? If it has to be corded I would need a cord of at least 600 ft. long and blade resistant.

I'm not going to give up yet and will keep on bugging different manufacturers of both motors and lawnmower chassis.

Guess what. Someone sent me this idea:






Applications Guide | Kineteco







www.springstarter.com





They sez: *"Kineteco are able to design a spring starter to your own configuration if your engine is not listed below."*

Interesting!


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

PicoAzores said:


> Thanks Bud. Well, my field is sexy (about 3 acres) and my tractor sexy too (GT52XLS) imported from the U.S. into a remote island thousand miles away from any continent, so Walmart tells me off  They won't ship outside of the Greatest Country in the World and even if they did I would be eaten alive by shipping charges and Customs taxes. Your info and opinion is great to have. Regarding electric mower, do they manufacture electric riding mowers on battery power or corded? If it has to be corded I would need a cord of at least 600 ft. long and blade resistant.
> 
> I'm not going to give up yet and will keep on bugging different manufacturers of both motors and lawnmower chassis.
> 
> ...


I hear you on the "remote island"..... Sorry if I offended you with the reality of the way the world-wide lawn mower market is geared, you'll have to cut me some slack, to be honest nobody even asked me when they set it up that way. Here's a 800 number to Kohler Customer Service, perhaps you can give them a call and get their thoughts on your idea (800) 456-4537. All gas powered mowers in California are banned from new sales after 2024, so Kohler has more to think about than coming up with a kick start engine, and they may be a little on the snarky side for your liking. In the mean time, here's a sample of what is the future over here, but they cost way more than a 12V UR1 replacement battery... How much is a Group 24 car battery (10"L x 7"W x 9"H, 600 amps) and 6' of 4ga battery cable over there?

60V Electric Mower


----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

"All gas powered mowers in California are banned from new sales after 2024" — that's good and bad news for some. Since Calfornia is on fire, grass will become unpopular among homeowners thus you won't need to buy lawn mowers, but Azores will always remain green due to high moisture.

Let me improve the Greenworks motto:* "Ultimate power, Better Than Gas, You've Got Yourselves a Hot Hot Hot Ass (TM)"* Hahaha. Sounds more like a short poem. I've heard those batteries love to ignite unexpectedly, but I hope PPL can still use them. If someone are able to offend me, I would be thankful 

Regarding the link to TRACTOR SUPPLY 60V Electric Mower, sadly, they won't let me into their site, because I am now outside the GCITW. How expensive are those? Around $5000 I see from Greenworkstools website. Are they coming to Europe? The island where I live belongs to Europe, just barely. It's a 4 hour flight from Boston.

I spotted a car battery that's a bit larger than the battery well in my mower, but I'm not handy enough to make that battery containment well by 2 inches deeper and by a half inch wider. The engine is on one side of the battery well and the steering wheel shaft is on the other end of it. Unless I give the battery a ride on my legs... Do you think a 12V 45Ah battery wouldn't break my mower engine? But how do I fit the bigger battery in there? It's like driving an oversized semi wheeler under a bridge.


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

PicoAzores said:


> "All gas powered mowers in California are banned from new sales after 2024" — that's good and bad news for some. Since Calfornia is on fire, grass will become unpopular among homeowners thus you won't need to buy lawn mowers, but Azores will always remain green due to high moisture.
> 
> Let me improve the Greenworks motto:* "Ultimate power, Better Than Gas, You've Got Yourselves a Hot Hot Hot Ass (TM)"* Hahaha. Sounds more like a short poem. I've heard those batteries love to ignite unexpectedly, but I hope PPL can still use them. If someone are able to offend me, I would be thankful
> 
> ...


That mower is $4,000 USD.... Don't know about Europe, but they had 3 of them sitting outside the Tractor Supply store yesterday. All kidding aside, consider an automotive battery. It's not going to hurt your starter, it's only going to draw the cranking amperage it needs, and it will last 5x longer than a standard UR1 mower battery. I've had one on my 27hp Kohler, 72" deck, Exmark zero turn for 4 years, but it has a ROPS bar on it where I mounted the battery tray. You can do some clever things mounting stuff to a lawn mower chassis with bungee straps and longer battery cables.....


----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

Bob Driver said:


> That mower is $4,000 USD.... Don't know about Europe, but they had 3 of them sitting outside the Tractor Supply store yesterday. All kidding aside, consider an automotive battery. It's not going to hurt your starter, it's only going to draw the cranking amperage it needs, and it will last 5x longer than a standard UR1 mower battery. I've had one on my 27hp Kohler, 72" deck, Exmark zero turn for 4 years, but it has a ROPS bar on it where I mounted the battery tray. You can do some clever things mounting stuff to a lawn mower chassis with bungee straps and longer battery cables.....


Thanks Buddy for the nose up encouragement. I will do my best to fit a larger battery into that space if all all else fails. All I wanted to hear that someone (you) did it, so it's doable.

At $4000 that Greenworks Pro mower is peanuts (although $3000 for its battery alone would be my best ed. guess) in comparison to what prices are coughed up by European lawn mower dealerships:

That's only a 37" stamped deck for a whopping: €6193.95 (about $6500): Rider Husqvarna R214TC

Tractors of this size I remember back in 2014 in the U.S. were selling for about $1600 if I'm not mistaken, but this one is a whopping $5500 for a 42" stamped deck: Trator de Jardim Husqvarna TC242T

I bought my Huskvarna GT52XLS in 2014 for $3500.

Getting replacement parfts, batteries, etc. for these lawn mowers are difficult indeed.


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

PicoAzores said:


> Thanks Buddy for the nose up encouragement. I will do my best to fit a larger battery into that space if all all else fails. All I wanted to hear that someone (you) did it, so it's doable.
> 
> At $4000 that Greenworks Pro mower is peanuts (although $3000 for its battery alone would be my best ed. guess) in comparison to what prices are coughed up by European lawn mower dealerships:
> 
> ...


Sorry Bud.... Everything is way more expensive now with "Putin's Price Increase", at least that's we're being told over here. American ingenuity..... How do you think Jed Clampett made it from the Ozarks to Beverly Hills in this?


----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

I had one of the many manufacturers of both rider mowers and engines (whom I contacted yesterday) reply that they are going to manufacture lever-starting riding mowers. I hope they (Poulan) will really do it.


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

PicoAzores said:


> I had one of the many manufacturers of both rider mowers and engines (whom I contacted yesterday) reply that they are going to manufacture lever-starting riding mowers.


Yep.... Joe Biden told us last week the economy was going to get much better in 2023 because he had inflation under control. I'll believe it when I see it, but it's always nice to dream


----------



## Fotoguzzi (Jan 12, 2020)




----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

Don't forget the brick!


----------



## ck3510hb (Sep 12, 2016)

Look on line for some pictures of JD 4010/4020 (example). When folks got tired of fighting the factory battery placemeny they hung a metal box on the side near the starter. On your GT you may need to cut any hillside with batter side uphill, Safety first. Good luck


----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

Troy-Bilt replied to my suggestion:

"Hi Tom. Thank you for reaching out to us with your suggestion – we think it is a great idea and will be sure to share with the appropriate individuals on our team! Currently, we do not offer any products like that in our lineup, but we will consider this in the future. We appreciate the feedback and welcome any other thoughts you may have down the road to help us build better products. Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you. Thanks!"


----------



## PicoAzores (Nov 17, 2021)

*Karl Browne <[email protected]>*
Tue, Jan 3, 2:23 PM (3 days ago)



to me, Kineteco


Hello Tom,

Thank you for your below enquiry, it is very much appreciated.

From doing a bit of research, it would suggest that the Husqvarna GT52XLS is fitted with a 726cc Kawasaki FR651V engine. Based on the engine capacity alone, I believe we could offer a spring starter that would be powerful enough to start this engine, we do not have the specific details of the starter for the engine type. Also, from looking at the drawings that I could find of this engine, it is my belief that it would be a struggle to fit even our smallest starter to this engine. I would be happy to investigate this further, but would require for you to provide me further information on the engine electric starter, including measurements, as well as how it sits on the engine.

I look forward to your further response.

Kindest regards

Karl

Hatraco UK Ltd

Mob: +44 (0) 7500 220925 

============================================================================

MY COMMENT: This is a reply from Hatraco UK Ltd. via Springstarter.com to my inquiry regarding SMS/SMR | Kineteco
I have to try to do this.


----------

