Minimum HP?

[gearhead1937]

Hello all. New member here. I have an old Attex (not sure of the model) with a worn out JLO 295. It runs, but only has 75lbs. of compression. Speed is not a issue. I have some woods behind my house, a few hills, a crick, and some mud. I live in the middle of town and want something quieter than the 2 stroke. With that in mind I'm going to switch to a 4 stroke. $ is not there for a Vangaurd. I found a 14hp on ebay (new) for about $180 plus shipping. Is this going to be enough? I know 16-18 would probably be better, but $180 is cheap. Thanks in advance.


Adam
Southeast Iowa

[Mike]

14 HP would power the Attex fine. If you were getting into some serious swamps and mud I would say go for something a little more powerful but for $180 that's hard to beat. If you decide that you want to upgrade in the future you can probably get most of your money back out of the motor anyway so I would go for it.

[gearhead1937]

Thanks for the reply. I figured it would be ok, but wanted a second opinion. I'm pretty sure for $180 it will probably be an aluminum bore and might not last that long... Hopefully it will make it until I can find a nice twin cylinder Vangaurd or Kohler. Again thanks for the info. I'm sure I'll have more questions once the swap begins. Clutch springs, weights, etc.


Adam
Southeast Iowa

[LarryW]

14hp should be fine even in serious mud or hill climbing. More is better but I would say 14 would get you anywhere you want to go. If you run tracks that may be another story.......

For comparison I had a honda us90 atc. Bald balloon tires. It would pull people in a sled no problemm. Sometime low hp is key to traction. Wont break the tires loose. My 16hp honda clone attex will spin 6 goodyear rawhide terras when the load/pull is to much for traction.

[Noel Woods]

The 14 hp motor will be a good/economical first motor. After installing it and a new clutch, I'd start saving my pennies. Larry mentioned the 16 hp Honda clone. That's a great engine and I have two in other equipment that I run hard, and they have held up very well to commercial work. 2 horses may not seem like much, but if you add hills, swampy trails, bigger tires, etc the hp gain will be very noticeable.