[jdeereletters]

Me and my daughter just got a John Deere 60 and are just getting started collecting lawn mowers. We have tore the tractor down and it seems to be in good shape. The only problem we have is we don't know what to do about the engine. It has a V60 in it but it needs an overhaul. What we were wondering is there a engine that people have put in these mowers that you can get parts for if you have to. I have called Small Engine Warehouse and they tell me that there is nothing that will fit. I am not looking for something perfect but, something that doesn't totally hack the tractor up either. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[woodpecker41]

SEW is correct there is nothing that will bolt in without modifications. Roger

 

[lgates110]

The problem is the deck clutch, it fits the end of the crankshaft, so the clutch or the shaft have to be modified to fit. If you don't plan to use the deck, an 8HP Briggs will fit without a lot of modification! ~~ Lowell

 

[j_thompson]

I just got a rebuild kit for my vh60 on the bay and I think the same seller offers a kit for the v60 as well. It had piston, rings, full gasket set, wrist pin, rod, and the clips. If the v60 is in good shape and can still take a standard piston they are really not that hard to rebuild. Good luck with it!

 

[jdeereletters]

Just throwing this out there. Could a 9 h.p. kawasaki out of a rear engine John Deere mower work. By work I mean is there enough room in the engine compartment on my 60 without extending the frame or hitting the grill hood or battery compartment. I know the shaft is not the right size and the holes won't line up but I will work around that if there is enough room in the compartment. The reason for asking is I think I can get a running engine for free. Thanks again for the help.

 

[woodpecker41]

The engine compartment is pretty small but with a torch, plasma cutter and welder almost anything is possible. At a tractor show in IL I saw a two cylinder opposed twin briggs in one these but it was never going to do anything but be a toy. Roger

 

[david_louw]

How much different is the 60's engine compartment and clutch set-up to the 56 and 57? Someone on here has done a full article on fitting a different engine to a 57.

 

[112buddha]

i dont think the crank size is the same.i found a motor that might work for my 70,will let you know soon.

 

[060]

Hey Guys,
I'm new here and if you take my knowledge and $1.50 to the local gas station you should be able to buy a cup of coffee. However, I'm in a similar situation am going to try replacing my engine with a
briggs,
Model Series 121S00 Professional Series™ - 8.75 Gross Torque/190cc
It's a bit underpowered. By my figures, it's 5.1something @ 3100 RPM. However, when the original VH60 was @ 3100 it seams to me it was at the same horsepower. Also, I think with the overhead valve I will be able to maintain a more constant HP and Torque. It has key start and appears to be the same shaft length and diameter. Any thoughts??? It's too late for me, I already have the engine on order. $400.00 from northern hydraulics.
Hope it works.
By the way, great site. Lots of useful info here

 

[jpopper]

I have one that I put a 14 twin Briggs in. It has a Model A hand clutch lever for the clutch/brake system now and also has model 100 running boards on it. I am planning on putting an electric clutch on it to run a snowblower with. I raised the grille and dash assy 4 inches and had to remove about 5 inches from the area right behind the engine. Battery is now located under carb behind the grille and has a plastic gas tank where the battery used to be.

 

[112buddha]

the motor i found didnt work.had a light flywheel and crank was too long.if you can find an 8 horse briggs from a 100,thats gonna be about the only near bolt in.

 

[060]

OK, I'm just saying that CC wise it's close, HP wise it's close and the shaft length and diameter are right on. Don't understand why it won't work, but I guess I'll find out in a few days when it comes to my door:-(

 

[112buddha]

with the clutch setup they have,it has to sit at the right depth in the frame also.the shaft may be the right length,but the block itself may not sit flush but be too low or high.that was the other problem with mine.too high,and couldnt get a bushing made that would work.

 

[jpopper]

The 100 has the engine mounting plate sitting on rubber mounts like the 70 has, not sure if the plate is the same as a 70. There may be a difference in height in the bracket compared to the 60 frame that may make it sit too high or too low also. No matter what engine you try to put in it, you will have some engineering to do to make it work.

 

[woodpecker41]

Thomas the other difference is the mounting plate on a 60 has a upward bend on the side opposite the cylinder head (back side). Tecumseh engines had a flat spot on their bases to allow for that. I don't think the Briggs will have that. You can probably modify the base or the mounting plate or both to make it fit. Also will that Briggs run without a blade on it? In other words does it have a heavy flywheel. Roger

 

[woodpecker41]

Thomas if you can get your money back return that motor. I just looked it up and It is for walk behind mowers which means it has a light flywheel. It will never start in the application you are trying to use it for. If you have a push lawn mower take the blade off and see if you can start it. Be careful you don't break your wrist or hurt you shoulder. That will make you see the problem. Roger

 

[Jloch]

Tecumseh, I think is the way to stay, easy install with only slight modifications required. Here are a few pics. of my 70 with a 12 horse Tecumseh out of a older sears lawn tractor that is reconditioned.The only problem is still the 1" crankshaft that would be a easy fix. I do not use any PTO equipment with this tractor.

 

[060]

OK, so I sent this in E-mail form to another member who asked for it,and posted it in another area here, but I want to post it here also because I don't want to see any of you throw this tractor away because of a motor. My engine install is complete, and it appears to be running great. The engine is a special order Briggs from northern hydraulics. Roger, you are right, it is a light flywheel but it does start and run fine. Glad I didn't return it, you had me worried but by the time I read your coments it was too late to go back. In life sometimes you just need to dive into the unknown head first. Don't get me wrong, had I read your coments before I bought I wouldn't have baught. But now I am really happy I got the motor I did. I think the rotating mass of the drive pulley must be enough because I am seeing no issues at idle or PTO engagement. However a heavy flywheel is available for the engine if you don't want to use the light one. Well it's not actually for this engine but it will fit this engine and line up with the electric start. It's just a flywheel off of another Briggs with electric start. I found my engine by going to the Briggs and Stratton web site and searching their vertical shaft engines until I found one that matched the shaft length and diameter of the old one (7/8"shaft 3/5/32 length). A few other things that are a must for me but may not be for someone else are electric start, HP and torque. You see, I live in MN and will be blowing snow with this as well as mowing grass so I wanted to ensure I bought enough power. That said, without turning up the RPM, It’s a touch under powered for blowing snow. A smaller engine would have been fine for mowing the lawn or pulling around a little garden trailer but you need this one or bigger if you’re going to blow snow. I will be turning it up to 3400. If my numbers are right, when I do that it will almost identically match the HP and Torque of the original motor. Though it works fine the way it is too. I just have a need to tinker It does blow snow just fine in low range, 2nd gear the way it sits. The tractor is a bit light for blowing snow too so I get some wheel spin even with the chains. That said we did just have the biggest snow storm in 15 years here in MN and I'm basing it off of that. I'm planning on adding weight between the wheels just forward of the rear axle. As far as engine installation goes, it really is no big deal. However, you have to use your head and be a bit creative or it will never work. Patients help too. The positives are you can use the original gas tank and you don't have to cut the frame to install the engine. However, you will have to re-do the wiring harness (easy), cut the PTO break carrier slightly so the engine will fit, cut the grill slightly so the throttle linkage will work, bend the throttle arm @ 90 degrees so you don't have to cut so much of the grill, buy a new longer throttle cable ($8 @ ace hardware), turn down the drive pulley as to lengthen the flange so it doesn't rub on the motor when spinning and drill motor mount holes. Also you will have to re-locate the oil filler, remove the gas tank that came with the engine, remove the engine stop that came with the engine (designed for a push mower), move the battery carrier back as far as you can and probably a few other things that I can't remember off the top. These are a few things I learned along the way. I really enjoyed doing this project and would love to help anyone keep this little old John Deere running. If you have questions, Please E-mail me [email protected] . If anyone on this forum tries the heavier flywheel please let me know if it is an improvement. Its $50 and I'm not sure if I should spend the money or not based on how well it runs right now. Also, please let me know if any of you figure out something that I didn't so that I my further improve this tractor. I apologize about spelling and grammatical errors in this text. I’m a motor head not an English major.