On Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:08:56 GMT, aemeijers wrote:


GX IS the commercial grade. There is a more junior series of engines, but
they're called something other than GX.

Y'all got me curious enough to dig out the manuals for my 'power by
Honda' MTD push mower. The engine is a GCV190.

GoogleGoogleGoogle

It does appear to be their 'residential' grade, not the commercial one.
But it is shown as being the same one used as in their own expen$ive
Honda-branded mowers. At 3 hours per mowing cycle, and 20? mowings per
year, it already has at least 180 hours on it. It damn well better last
more than 300 hours without a major rebuild. No signs of smoking or hard
starting so far, knock on sheet metal.

Their GX line is indeed their commercial grade engine. The GC is the
dispose-a-motor. That is not to say that it is a low quality engine. I have
well in excess of 1000 hours on my CBC

http://www.neon-john.com/Generator/CBC/CBC_home.htm

And it still doesn't use a drop of Mobil-1 oil. I used to know the life specs
for both lines but I'd be afraid to quote anything from memory now.

From a maintenance perspective, the major difference is, once the GC wears
out, you throw it away. Since the whole engine is probably cheaper than a
rebuild kit for a GX of the same HP, no big deal.

The GC has several features of its own. Major among them are weight and
noise. The engine is very light weight compared to the GX counterpart. The
overhead cam with the timing belt drive is very quiet compared to the
cam-in-case design of the GX that uses pushrods. Noise, or lack thereof, was
a major consideration, as I originally designed this CBC for use in charging
my RV's batteries. Noise in a camp ground isn't very welcome.

The GC is good enough for anything a homeowner, small farmer or even casual
businessman (second job, that kind of stuff) will do. It'll probably out-last
whatever it's driving.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com -- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
WARNING: Do not use this hair dryer in the shower!