Big Red Ranch King

Hey guys i got an old MTD Ranch King and i decided to make it into an offroader. Then my friend told me about this forum and it sounded cool so i signed up. So i started with taking off the deck and tuning it up but resently i have been have problems with my carb it started just only running when the choke is out and now i cant get it to start up at all now and i know i have spark so if you can help me out that would be great.

Sorry about the delay on the picture but here it is. My mower has a Briggs&Stratton 18 horse apposed twin on it. So if anyone knows any thing about those kind of carbs it would be nice if u could help me out.

Welcome to the forum:)

i dont know much about opposed engines but i would say try cleaning the carb real good. and i mean completley stripping the carb down and cleaning every little thing with parts cleaner. and also see what happens if you try to start it with the airfilter off

did you mean its only running with the choke open or closed?

My aunt has a ranch king that i use to mow her property every year but i think hers has a 14hp B&S

If you have spark and no fuel, if may be the fuel pump. I had to rebuild my pump to get my 85 opposed twin running. The $20 full carb rebuild kit includes a pump rebuild in it. Might not be a bad idea to all of it at once. Here's a link that may help also.
http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/briggs_opposed_twin_carb.asp

Yepper- as Jamus said - the carb needs to come off and be super cleaned or rebuilt - im going thru that with my 99 hydro murray that has a 17HP opposed twin- thing wouldnt run for crap.

I actually went to my local cub cadet dealer and got the carb rebuild kit- its like $20. Youll want to clean every lil port and opening ( dont oversize em- just clean em) in the carb- i have to mention its important to either make drawings or take pics of the carb setup BEFORE its pulled off - so you know how its setup.


I use spray carb cleaner and work on a clean flat surface , disassemble the carb from the top down and lay it out in the same order- clean each piece and set in in the same order - in the kit, theres a ton of gaskets - its important to pick the gasket that matches the one inside your carb ( a few will be extra) - twins are finicky about gaskets, if it isnt right, it wont run right. There will also be some extra pieces in this kit- its sorta a universal kit - just save the extra parts- y never know when youll need em.

Be careful with the fuel pump- theres 2 tiny springs and a mid size spring in there, plus 3 'gaskets' ( i rebuilt mine yesterday) - the kit has replacement springs.

While youre at it, you might as well put new fuel line, filter shut off valve and check the tank for debris - check the spark plugs as well.

just let everybody know this thing doesnt have a fuel pump it is gravity fed.Oh and maybe mtdmudder should check to see if theres fuel inside joke

Has to have a pump- if not attached to the carb- then its a remote pump - twins use too much fuel to be gravity fed. Every single one of my twins have pumps - and thats factory.

If it doesnt have one then thats the problem.

well its been running without one for quite awhile now i dont mean to say your wrong but i worked on one for a guy one time that didnt have a pump

Dice464 is right it is just gravity flow. I used to the same prolem that it would only run if the choke was on but then i cleaned the carb and it ran great. Untill i noticed it was leaking gas and i found out that my float wasnt turning off because the gas was going into where my oil is so i fixed that and that isnt as problem any more. I am getting gas i know that but gas isnt getting to the engine. thanks for the advice ill get a rebuil kit for the carb and see if that'll do the trick.

you may not even need a rebuild kit.. clean it insanley good.. i cleaned mine out with parts cleaner about 4 times before it was running good. s try that first and save money. but a rebuild kit would never hurt:)

If the gaskets are all dried out, then you'd need the kit- the ones in my ' 99 were in one piece but had seen better days. Heck the pump diaphram was all stretched out as well.

Youll need the motor numbers to get the carb kit - so write em down.

What year is the tractor? I have twins from 1986 to 1996 - my 86 has its factory carb pump blocked off, but theres a large pulse pump mounted to the 'firewall' because the tank is in the back - all the others have thiers molded into the carb. 2 are on MTD's - ones on the murray , 1 is on a craftsman and 2 dont run.

Ya my frend has one and i have a tranny for one and id don't think they're the best transmissions to use

MTD's only have a single speed trans - i figured since my stock mowing( all stock pulleys ) 97 mastercut flys like a banshee, i could mod my 91 ( av pic) to as well- no such luck , even with pulley swaps. I drilled n tapped it for grease fittings to keep the whine down , added lower profile tires on stock rims - locked the front axle - nada.

So im goin extreme- 18HP twin opposed, right angle gear box and straight rear axle with disc brakes and lots o lowering.

Thanks for a lol the advice but i made a mistake it does have a pump it is mounted right to the carb. I have cleaned the carb like four times but ill clean it again and see is that'll do the trick.

I dont know what year it is because i got it for free from my neighbor and i like the transmissions on the MTD because you have just as much power in reverse as you do in forwards. I really like that in the mud.

Check the oil, does it smell like gas?
If so the pump gaskets definatly need replacing, had the same problem with mine

Well guys thanks for the advice i bought a carb kit and this is the best ive ever seen this thing run.I took it out on a romp on saturdayand this is a pic of it. I know it is not muddy really at all but i only got to go for an half hour and it wasn't all soupy. So I hope to get out there a lot this week