Picked up another... Tecumseh 2-stroke 3hp

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Russell

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Apr 19, 2009
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I pick up those engines whenever I can. I prefer them with the diaphram carb. They seem to average about $90
 

boocher13

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Aug 13, 2013
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To resurrect a dead thread I also have a couple of these babies. Any info on how they compare power- wise to a China girl? I've been thinking of using one.
 

curtisfox

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Dec 29, 2008
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Here is a build going on or was stoped for another right now http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=43309
They are realy good engines had a couple snow blowers with them on. Most are float type carbs but have ideal serket (low speed jet) so fully ajustable.
There are two different engines made by Tecumesh one has a flat head and then there was a jacobson model with a round head witch had a lot more power.................Curt
 

boocher13

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Aug 13, 2013
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I have one of the round head models, it's older maybe 60's early 70's but I can't get it to run. It needed reed plates and it is missing a screw on the carb that is no longer available so I need to find a carb that will work on it. other than that everything looks good and its super light. Model is 1401e . 3hp ?
 

Russell

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Apr 19, 2009
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Could you post a picture of the engine. A carb that will work with it should be easy enough to come by.

I have one of the round head models, it's older maybe 60's early 70's but I can't get it to run. It needed reed plates and it is missing a screw on the carb that is no longer available so I need to find a carb that will work on it. other than that everything looks good and its super light. Model is 1401e . 3hp ?
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
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I don't have personal experience with the 2 stroke Tecumseh (do have two of the Jacobsens) but my guess is that it would be a well made engine which would out perform and outlast a china girl. I agree with Russel that some other carb will likely fit. You could probably take the carb to a small engine guy to see if he has anything used which would work in its place. I'd like to see more builds done with American made 2 strokes which originally were meant for snow blowers, edgers, etc. And don't forget lawn boy 2 stroke engines. We need to look closer to home for our donor engines. My Jacobsens are not all that much bigger than the China girls and are 147cc. As soon as you find a carb that will work for your Tecumseh and do a build it will encourage others to give it a shot. Russell used a lawn boy with great results!
SB
 

msrfan

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Sep 17, 2010
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I'm with you, SB, plenty of USA motors for these vintage bikes. I have a Clinton 2 stroke I've been saving for a project and there's a lot more out there. Briggs even has a beautiful 141cc electric start snow blower engine.
 

curtisfox

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Dec 29, 2008
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SB
the carbs that come with the jacobson are good enough for what you want and are going to do. They are just like a chain saw carb hi & low speed jets,full diofram that can be run at any angle. The regular Tecumseh carb that come on the newer snow blowers are prejeted float type with no ajustment. They can be replaced with just about anything that has the right port size. Some of the four stroke snow blowers have float type that have the hi & low speed jets and there is even a diafram carb on some, witch of corse need a pulse line from the intake. Just about any carb will work as long as its not to big or small, need to match the carb to the port size for best resalts.

msrfan love to see you do a Clinton. Do they have the carb on the bottom or a side port?...............Curt
 

msrfan

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Sep 17, 2010
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SB
the carbs that come with the jacobson are good enough for what you want and are going to do. They are just like a chain saw carb hi & low speed jets,full diofram that can be run at any angle. The regular Tecumseh carb that come on the newer snow blowers are prejeted float type with no ajustment. They can be replaced with just about anything that has the right port size. Some of the four stroke snow blowers have float type that have the hi & low speed jets and there is even a diafram carb on some, witch of corse need a pulse line from the intake. Just about any carb will work as long as its not to big or small, need to match the carb to the port size for best resalts.

msrfan love to see you do a Clinton. Do they have the carb on the bottom or a side port?...............Curt


HI curt. It looks like this one.

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83047
 

boocher13

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Aug 13, 2013
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OK so now I have 3 tecumseh. 2 model 1585 3.5 HP got both running briefly but both need a carb rebuild. I went to my local small engine supply shop and the kid wasn't very helpful regarding a replacement carb. This 1401e round top is crazy light and i would bet its at least 2hp.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
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northeastern Minnesota
Look for rebuild kits on line. That's how I finally found them for my Jacobsens. Rather than looking up the engine... get the information from the carb (model number) and go from there. The same carb was no doubt used on other things and is out there waiting for you to find it. Mine were like $15.00 for two kits. Good luck!
SB
 

boocher13

New Member
Aug 13, 2013
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manchester,ct
OK so I got another 3.5hp model 1711t running as well as my older 1401 they seem to have a lot of torque for their size. The carbs are working fine, next hurdle is how to adapt a motorcycle style throttle cable to this linkage. Max travel is about 1/4 of an inch. I was actually thinking of making a template for an intake manifold so I could fab a manifold and mount a dellorto but that might be asking for trouble especially considering how well they are running.