1980 Roper 16T

Quick update!

I gave it a shot of fresh fuel in the tank, laced the spray to it while starting and I got it to catch after a couple of tries. It still wasn't terribly happy at first but it went and that's good enough to ease my mind a little (for now), I also ordered a pair of Champion J19LM plugs for it (a few bucks cheaper than the RJs) and will pop them in as soon as they arrive which should be tomorrow!

Look up
Autolite Iridium Lawn & Garden Spark Plug
I have been Super happy with them in my briggs opposed.

Quick question.  Does your model have the aluminum or fibre nose cone?  I thought I saw you say aluminum?  I assumed that ony the ones with the lights on bottom were the aluminum ones.

Champion J19LM crosses into Autolite 458. I will order them on my next paycheck and give them a go, can't ever hurt to have spares anyhow and we had good luck with Autolites in my friends race car, thanks for the tip!

Well would you look at that... I just went outside and scratched the nose cone and it IS fiber! Sounded solid like aluminum when I tapped it before! Geeze I'm embarrassed! Lol. The lower half of the grille is definitely aluminum though, is that normal?

Brianator wrote:

Champion J19LM crosses into Autolite 458. I will order them on my next paycheck and give them a go, can't ever hurt to have spares anyhow and we had good luck with Autolites in my friends race car, thanks for the tip!

Well would you look at that... I just went outside and scratched the nose cone and it IS fiber! Sounded solid like aluminum when I tapped it before! Geeze I'm embarrassed! Lol. The lower half of the grille is definitely aluminum though, is that normal?

I love the irridum plugs.  Yep, that is totally normal with the nose cone on these.

This is the only one that I know of that is cast aluminum. Note the lights are in the middle not the top like ours.

Man that thing looks a fugly with the headlights down low don't you think!? Lol.


Another quick update:

The Champion J19LMs arrived today while I was at work and have been sitting outside so they're just as cold as everything else (just below freezing like the other day), I gapped them to 0.35", popped them in and wouldn't you know it the tractor fired up and was more manageable to keep running for it to warm up a bit and fully catch. Not perfect but much better so I think once I solve the difference in cylinder pressures it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

The plugs that came with it were NGK BR6S which, aren't even in the proper heat range for this engine (too cold) or a listed cross reference for it either... regardless of that I've never had good luck with NGKs in B&S engines and they were going to be ousted at some point even if they did work half decently.

Question for you all... does anyone have any experience with these pen style spark testers?


I forgot about it and just tried it tonight for the first time (only on the Roper) and find that the light is quite dim, there'd be no chance of seeing it in the daylight so was hoping someone here has a little feedback on that?

@Brianator that grill style grows on you over time.

Not familiar with that pen style spark tester.

It possible the valves on the one side be carbon build up?  If so, the better plug may self clean it giving it the onions some.  May also need to check valve clearance. (that sux on these engines as you have to pop the head off).  Like I mentioned 70 is still great for these, but a 30psi difference is quite a bit.

I dunno, 70psi seems pretty weak to me for any engine and yes 30psi difference is HUGE! 5-10% difference is not a real concern but 30%... not liking it! Lol.

I should be able to check the valve clearances by popping the breather covers off which are on top under the air cleaner no? I figured it would have a similar setup to a single slug L head in that way, there has to be a way to actually measure it when it's fully assembled.

It's very possible the valve(s)/head(s)/piston(s) are carboned up and causing that ruckus in which case a Seafoam treatment or 2 should help but I really need to check the valve clearances first.

What I really need to do is forget about it until after the Build Off but it's bugging me! Lol.


*EDIT* When I've been speaking of valve clearance I've been meaning about the valve STEM clearance which I know can grow loose or tight over time, I believe @MightyRaze is speaking of valve-head-clearence in which case yes I suppose I would have to remove the head unless I could get creative with perhaps some solder?

No I was talking about under the breathers.  To resolve any clearance with some grinding stems or new valves.  That's what I was talking about taking the head off.  I know you know all that.  

Fair enough!

I do have the proper B&S valve spring compressor and the original 11hp flathead from The Warhorse that I'm planning on trying some sneakiness on to see of it's at all possible to do some valve tip filing and polishing without removing the head. I might as well try and find out, that engine probably needs to be torn back down to get to the bottom of whatever is going on as it is!

It is nice to have a proper spring compressor.  Makes the job so much easier.

Just a little update for this rig:

I've been working on the snowblower for it, it's a 34" so was for the smaller Suburbans (Custom 10, SS12 ect.) which means the lift handle is short and strait up instead of longer and bent... it's manageable but a little awkward. The good news is I doubt that small blower could manage to choke out the 16hp Oppy even if I tried and really the 42" that's available would just be a little overkill for my needs anyhow but the lift rod for the 42" would be a big upgrade so if anyone happens to have one they don't need please PM me about it.

It did come with the chute control rod but no mounting hook/bracket so I need to make one of those (tomorrow hopefully) and it did not come with a clutch engagement rod or bracket so I fabbed those up today to look pretty original and it seems to work really well!

I've also serviced the blower so it's running pretty smooth but all the snow we got is gone so I can't even test it yet!

I'm hoping to have it 100% percent complete tomorrow with all the parts I made painted and will post pics when it's all done!

I got it finished today but there's still not enough snow to test it...

Here's the bracket I made for the chute control rod (some tweaking still required)...


...and the snowblower clutch engagement lever I made from scratch! I tried to make it stock appearing (from a distance).


I had a length of 3/8" round stock, a 3/8" threaded plastic knob and was going to bend the end over and pin it through the lever but I noticed I had a rod end to use as well! It was 5/16"NF so I drilled it out and tapped it 3/8", threaded the rod to match and that's was that!


Here's the bracket I made for it and that's it, she's all done!

I just need to add some weight to the rear and or wheel weights and it's ready to test after the next real snowfall!

Nice job!  I got a snow "plow" a several years back for my ST and I had to make the pivot rod.  Nice thing about these tractors is the ease in making your own replacement parts.  I used an eye bolt for my rod guide. :-)  I'm using a longer one now, so I do not need the flimsy bracket too.

Pic at our old rent house when I was refurbishing the snow blade.  This side is the simple rod I created for the pivot.





I'm kind of partial to the Sears/Ropers.

You did a pretty nice job there yourself fella I like it!

I'm really loving the Suburban platform so far, it just feels so comfortable to drive and the steering is superb! I've wanted one for awhile and glad I found mine in Roper form!

I got a little bit of work done to this unit today!

First thing I did was change the oil. The oil that came in it was pretty black and nasty so I drained and refilled it with 5w30 a few weeks ago to help flush it out, today it came out just as black and nasty so I'll probably run it for a hour or 2 then change it again hoping it comes out a bit cleaner. This time I filled it with 10w30 and added a touch of Lucas Oil Stabilizer to hopefully quiet it down a touch... it did make a minor difference but not a whole lot.

I added a elbow to the oil drain pipe to make future oil changes easier and installed a bolt in an existing threaded hole behind the belt guard to help stop the snowblower belt from rubbing the panel behind it when it's disengaged, maybe there's actually supposed to be something there?  If you look close you can see where the belt was touching but the bolt seems to be helping with that!


I pulled the MF split wheel weights off my Bolens G10 (to install the Bolens cast weights I scored) and put the MF weights on along with the homemade weight box (in case more weight is needed). I don't have tire chains for it and would rather not have to track a set down, I was able to climb a small incline in my snow covered yard with no tire spin so it should be good!


The rear light lens is missing so I ordered a Grote 45412 from Amazon the same one I found for @MightyRaze but probably won't get it until after Christmas which is no big deal.


I forgot to post this a couple weeks ago but I found and ordered a new fuel tank cap w/fuel level gauge that fits and works perfectly!


There's still not enough snow to test the blower out of course but I'm sure that will change soon enough!


That's all for now!

We got a few inches of snow (4-6") so I FINALLY got to try out the snowblower and it did amazingly! Couldn't be happier with it!

It also doesn't look like I'll need tire chains because it didn't give me too hard of a time, a little weight in the box, lose a little air pressure and it should be perfect!

I'm very glad my hard work is paying off!

Quick update for this rig!

We got a decent helping of fat, wet snow and the snowblower didn't struggle or even attempt to clog it's working awesome! I even carved the banks back on my road as I like to do (narrow road), that was the true test!


It definitely needed more weight in the rear so I tossed a 2/3 full bucket of automotive wheel weights in the rear box and that helped ALOT!  I'll still air down the tires a few pounds each though.

The new rear light came in already! Unfortunately the lens was SO tight on the base that no matter how gentle I was to try and remove it the  thing still broke! *sigh* A little Seal-All and it's on for now, I ordered another...

I also lucked into a 16T this week. My uncle bought it new with several attachments.  My dad bought it this week and gave it to me.  It's rough.  It hasn't ran in 2 years.

That's awesome man welcome to the club (and the forum)! Feel free to start your own thread on it, we love pics around here!

I'm loving mine that's for sure, she was working snow duty twice this weekend and I'm surprised how light and easy the steering feels even with the snowblower on the front. It's such a good tractor and I'm glad I got it!

I have a bit of an update for this rig!

After a little tweaking and personal touches on it I've installed the electric 3 point hitch!

I'd like to build several attachments for it but the first I'm tackling is a crane for moving things like implements, mower decks, small engines and other smaller/awkward items. I got a start on it today and should have it operational tomorrow, please don't judge too harshly as it's only mocked up, incomplete and I'm trying to use what I have laying around. The handles off my scrap snowblower just happen to have the right bends and length I was looking for to move mower decks.

I'm not looking to lift lots weight maybe around 100lbs, the pallet forks I want to build should be good for 200+. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have pictures with stuff hanging from it!

It worked! I just did enough to make it functional to test it and make sure the concept is good so for right now it stays as it is and I'll revisit it in the future.

It was able to lift smaller implements like these discs without complaint...


... but it wasn't terribly happy with that monster Sears mower deck, it struggled a bit and wouldn't go full lift but it still got it about a foot of the ground!

The front end got light but I was still able to steer so I'm claiming success. I've wanted a 3 point for a long time and it's going to be fun building other attachments for it!