11hp briggs flatty would be fine for an offroad mower, but how well would it turn a mowing deck?

I know an 11hp briggs flatty would be fine for an offroad mower, but how well would it turn a mowing deck? I have an 03 MTD hydro with a 42" deck. If the 11hp would turn the blades and not bog down in grass I would like to use it. Stock motor is a 17hp twin which needs rebuilt, and I'd rather use the twin in toys than mowing. So, is 11hp enough for a hydro tranny and 42" cutting deck?

I think that'd be pushing it and would take twice as long.

if i was thinking of doing a swap like that id put the 11hp on there and try it out this spring because its very simple to run one of those motors with no wiring just to test it out
i mow my lawn with a 25hp v-twin so all i know is i have enough power lol

Jordan wrote:

if i was thinking of doing a swap like that id put the 11hp on there and try it out this spring because its very simple to run one of those motors with no wiring just to test it out
i mow my lawn with a 25hp v-twin so all i know is i have enough power lol

I mow with a 42" with a 15 HP briggs flatt and a manual transmission and it sucks sometimes. I'd think a hydro would sap more power than a manual. I agree it's worth a try, but I think the OP wouldn't like the results.

Thanks for the responses guys. I could swap this 11hp onto my murray ATM(all terrain mower) and use the 16.5 ohv for mowing. But I plan on swapping to 25's on the murray. Up in tire size and down in power usually doesn't work well.

i think youll be surprised if you use that 11hp on the ATM i had an 11hp briggs turning 25 12.5 12 kenda bear claws and it never had a problem turning them in the mud it had a 3 inch engine and 3 inch tranny pulley so its not like i had gearing on my side at all either

i mow my lawn and a few otheres with a 18 hp kohler ohv and it dose al right.


ps. I would rather have a briggs

Most my tractors run 11/12HP motors - average size deck is 38" - with a couple 42" - they mow perfectly fine.

I did try running my kleen kut with a 45" ( ish- has two large blades and one small one) that came with a non running 18HP with a 14.5HP OHV motor- thing would barely get out of its own way and deck stopped alot.

I think I have my musical motors plan worked out, though it means "wasting" a good twin. I'll rebuild the 17hp twin that's on the mower, keep the 16.5OHV on the murray, and convert the 14hp twin to run horizontal shaft on my gravely 2-wheeler. I've read that the opposed twins are easier to convert from vertical shaft to horizontal shaft. One nice thing is no counterbalance to contend with.