Briggs opposed throttle hookup help wanted.

Hi I know this is old but I have opposed twin 18. I just Hooked my throttle cable straight to the carb bypassing the governor obviously to increase the speed and what not. The issue is the exhaust went glowing red and the motor would want to die at higher speeds until I would go to half choke or so and it gained zero speed which was weird to me. This set up is on a Montgomery ward with a variable speed so maybe that’s the issue?

If you only bypassed the governor and not removed it completely it's at risk of grenadiing inside in the engine and causing internal damage. Post a pic of what you've done so we can see.

As for having to use the choke, that tells me that you probably have to enrich the fuel mixture, have you done any other mods like a carb or exhaust on it? If so you'll definitely need to increase fuel.

What model of MW you running? Is it a MTD built tunnel chassis/squarebody style? Post a pic if you're unsure. The VariDrive belts are probably slipping, does the engine sound like it's revving higher?

Lol it definitely idles higher 
Not sure if my pictures sent
I’m honestly not sure what model it is, but what I did was is unhook the rod from the governor and just hooked the throttle cable straight to the carb just in case it had issues I could put it back easily, I also loosened the bolt on the governor arm which may have been a mistake because now I have it put back together and it doesn’t work haha
Sloppy set up but I wanted to see, and I do believe you’re right the belts gotta be slipping to not get any more speed out of it. It’s pulley swapped 7” front and back.

Resetting the governor isn't hard, you need to do is hook it all back up how it was, loosen the bolt/nut, hold the throttle at full (engine off obviously) then turn the rod as far as it will go in the same direction the throttle takes the rod then retighten the bolt/nut.

I'm going to make you your own thread for this (which can be renamed at any time to your liking) so we don't get too much chatter in this specific thread, I feel there will be some back and forth happening! Lol.

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If you've pulley swapped it then yes I'm not surprised you're having belt slip issues, I have and I am as well! The original belts are 11/16 wide which aren't readily available in different lengths, I did a pulley swap with original belts because I did a trans swap too and it worked great at first but now it's slipping bad so I'm getting back into it to hopefully solve it, I  unlike most people actually like the VariDrive!

Oh sweet okay, how can you tell if the belts slipping. Mine would stretch and fall off so Iswapped the idler to a tensioner and now I have no issues at regular speeds but maybe it couldn’t hold up to the higher rpm? Also I am thinking about getting rid of the varispeed and moving to trans, how did that go for you? Lol and do you think I should put the governor back in ?
I’m getting like 15 with the governor but I would like to get 30 so I figured governor bypass would be the way

On mine... it worked great at first! After a couple of weeks it started slipping in the high "gears" first (6th and 7th), I'd lose speed going up hills but if I pushed the clutch in then dumped it, it would grab and pick back up again for a second. If you can park into a tree or something solid and not spin the tires in high "gear" then that's a great indicator of a slipping belt right there! The belts should feel pretty taught, you'll need to shut it down in low "gear", feel them then drive it and shut it down in high "gear" and check again. If there's too much slack you'll get slip and a larger idler may not cure it on it's own, it didn't for me.

To be honest it hasn't gone great YET but I'm sure I'll sort it out! Read all of page 8 of The Warhorse to see the current frustration and how I'm hoping to solve the belt slip issue then go back to page 6 to see the start of the MST/VariDrive combo I built, there's alot of info there, some of which may help.

Even without the governor you're not likely to reach 30mph, I'd say 20 at best. If you have a certain rear end you can regear it for more speed and it's not that hard to do, the more you can share the better. Post pics of your tractor, model number plate if possible, engine, trans, trans number plate if possible, throttle hookup, governor ect. What size pulleys are you using, tire size, any other info/mods you've done ect ect, it all plays a role!

Yes I'd hook the governor back up for now to be on the safe side, you can do serious damage to the engine if the components inside come apart which they're highly likely to do over 4000rpm. A trans swap is definitely the easiest way to get what you're after and there's many good ones that will bolt right right in!

Yeah I’ll try to look at the belt slippage that’s a good idea, I’ll have to check all of that info out because no one else seems to like the varidrive . Hopefully my pictures send this time but it’s stock tires, 7” pulley front and back. These others guys are saying you can leave the governor in all day so idk lol. The one pic is governor on then off. I’ll read your pages but I’m thinking just go to 5speed peerless transaxle and run one belt 7 in the front 4 in the back

Holy cow!  That is HOT.  Either really lean or possible blockage in the muffler?  You can leave the governor in if you are not revving over 3600, 4k max.  Above that you are asking for trouble leaving it.

Wow, she's warm. Running without the air filter will lean it out but not that much I don't think. I would put the air filter back on and make sure the fins on the engine or the shrouds aren't plugged with a rat's nest or something. Running that hot it's only a matter of time before you drop a valve seat, or lock up the engine. Does the engine surge at all?

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Wow, she's warm. Running without the air filter will lean it out but not that much I don't think. I would put the air filter back on and make sure the fins on the engine or the shrouds aren't plugged with a rat's nest or something. Running that hot it's only a matter of time before you drop a valve seat, or lock up the engine. Does the engine surge at all?

Oh yeah lol

Wow that's hot! You'll definitely neee more fuel flow to safely run ungoverned by either rejetting the existing carb or replacing it with something that can deliver more fuel.

Your tractor is a MTD built tunnel chassis same as the one I linked you to, be ready to have to use a jackshaft in place of the VariDrive pulley and 2 belts or lower the trans in the chassis plus have to build your own clutch. The trans is tucked up in the chassis for the VariDrive so it may not be possible to run a belt strait to the engine, I personally don't have line of sight from the engine pulley to trans pulley.

I got the governor hooked back up but when I loosened the arm and turn the flat head screw for the governor shaft it only turns maybe a 16th” which seems weird to me. And when I go up or down with the throttle it only allows the butterfly in the carb to go from wide open to barley closing

I'm sure you already know. If I remember right.

Adjusting governor on the opposed, set throttle wide open, loosen gov arm screw, turn the shaft all the way left (counterclockwise, doesn't move much) then tighten the gov arm back up. Gov arm should be able to move back and forth when complete.

Yeah the governor side everything moves fine without the throttle, but if I hook the throttle up and try to use it it almost barley moves the butterfly

With the engine off push/pull on the governor arm to see the full travel of the throttle, when it's not running and you use the throttle controls it's normal to see it be able to close the butterfly completely but not open it all the way. When the engine is runing the governor is always trying to achieve full throttle, the throttle control is what limits it.

If you can't get it working properly as is then something hasn't been hooked back as it was stock.

Okay, with the engine off it will stay wide open and only close about an 1/8th of the way it’s supported too. And I’m like 99% sure it’s all back to stock. But I will look at it again and see