Slowly working my way through the mowers here, today I pulled out a Talon that had been sitting here a long time, I had started it when I got it with the drill because the pull start was broken. It started ok but the muffler was shot so I just pushed it into the corner. I put a Briggs muffler on it today and got it up and running. I then fitted another Talon pull starter on it and all was good but then I remember the Talon thing where they are heavy to start compared to the Briggs.They start ok but not suitable for the average woman to start, and they are not a big cc motor. Anybody have any idea why this is?.
One thing I have noticed is the blade carrier is quite heavy compared to most other mowers. I might pull it off again and weigh it just for kicks and giggles.
Ok so the Talon blade carrier with blades weighs 4 kg a Victa round and oval carriers with blades weigh the same at 2.5 kg so there is a bit of difference there. Can't see why this would make them heavier to pull over
Norm are these just hard to get up to speed or is it getting them pass the compression stroke?
I know many Shredder/Chippers can be a pain to get up ignition speed here due heavy flywheel effect of the shredder/chipper head disc. I might need several strong pulls just to get them spinning fast enough to even hit.
The 4 kg is around 8.8 lbs and 2.5 kg is 5.5 lbs. Either is a considerable weight to get spinning by a recoil starter.
Not related to the pull starter, but did you pull the hub caps off the back wheels to check what the inside was like.
On just about every one of those talons I see (they were 10 deep at the tip a few months ago), the back wheels are completely cheap plastic (which is bad enough), but then Talon made it so the hole the axle goes through is only supported by about 8 bits of plastic. If they made the supports completely solid, there wouldn't be an issue.
After a few years going round corners on the lawn, the back wheels simply fall off due to the plastic supports snapping through lateral forces.
Just thought I should check as the last thing you need is someone bringing it back angry that the wheel fell off after 1 mow.
Hi Tyler, no 2 of these Talons have the same type of wheels, they sort of look the same but on some of them the only way I could get the wheels off was to smash them and then get the grinder onto them and split what was left of the hub. Luckily on this one the wheels were in good condition, came off easily, clean the axles bit of grease and good to go
MF I have a number of Sanli Lawn Beetles here and I would not say the wheels on those were over engineered LOL. Any time I get a chance I take the grinder to them, cut them into 4 sections so they fit in the rubbish bin
That's what I do with the Lawn Beetle too Norm except I use a hand saw .
I can't say I have ever noticed the difference in starting a Talon compared with other Briggs motors, as long as you push the primer when the engine is cold they start first time,this one I had not started for a month.
I have done a couple, there isn't a significant difference, but there does feel to be slightly more pronounced compression stroke - they have all had 2 blades not 4.
I agree they start easy, but their idle never seems as smooth as a briggs - even after cleaning the carby and adjusting the idle mixture and checking governor
Max, from memory, the Talons have some numbers (maybe their bore and stroke measurements) cast into the block somewhere near the valve cover (below and right) or to the left where the dipstick tube goes into the block Unfortunately, I don't have a talon here at the moment to check
Found this photo to better describe the location, but on the photo its too small to read clearly (maybe looks like 65 x 47.8?) EDIT - these numbers might make sense as they equate to about a 159cc engine. But the ebay ad says it 143cc, which makes 'surefire 145' make sense.
I bet they're prone to getting a leg out of bed with all the work that little engine has to do just operating the mower! The sight of long grass must be enough to induce it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF I haven't seen one with a leg out of bed and I have had a few of them here. That doesn't mean they aren't prone to do it. With that heavier spinning blade carrier they may not be too bad at it. I didn't check the width of cut on this one but it could be a 20 inch
18 inch cutting width Talon and a 19 inch Talon from what can see.
Checked a few motors and I got the same as Tyler 65mmX48.7mm
I've put Briggs on Talon Mowers and Talon engines on Rover mowers if you compare 18 with 18 inch but one mower engine is the Talon and one is the Briggs ,I don't notice a difference.
Never done a starting load test on the mowers though .
I turned a couple of Talons into Briggs a few years ago, because the pull starts were damaged and I had plenty of Briggs bits. Used the Briggs fuel tank/carby and fitted a Briggs pull start top, bit of messing around but all worked fine in the end. One motor I have here is 64 x44.3 and the motor on the Hawk I can't read because I have fitted a Briggs long flat muffler on it and that covers the number Just checking that, it is a 19 inch not a 20
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