Followup, Six months with the new engine. I have used the tractor for cutting grass (54in deck) and snow throwing (451).
So far there are no negatives using the ECH23. The engine starts right up. It always takes 5 seconds or so to catch. I am not sure why, but it does this no matter the temperature outside or the temperature of the engine. It runs rough for 10 to 15 seconds, then it purr's like a kitten. I think this is when the fuel injection goes into closed loop operation using the oxygen sensor.
I do notice the extra torque when cutting grass. It never even came close to bogging down. As a matter of fact I don't think the governor has ever kicked in cutting grass.
Throwing snow is where I really see the difference. With the Magnum 18 I would get the governor kicking in all the time. It could handle almost anything, but it would have problems going through the end of the driveway where the city plow created a large mass of snow. With the new engine I can get through anything. We had 12 inches of very heavy snow this week. I got through the 3 foot high stuff at the end of the driveway easily. I am now more concerned with breaking the blower or belt verses running out of power.
A final benefit is gas usage. I have not measure this, but I think I use up to 50% less gas. Cutting our two acres used to use a tank of gas, now I can do it twice before refilling.
At the end of the day I would recommend the fuel injected motor as an upgrade. Plus, it was lots of fun doing the project.
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