Cheap aftermarket carburetors

JDIH · Apr 8, 2023

I'd like to hear everyone's experience with the super cheap, obviously overseas built carbs that are available online. I have an old tractor that needs the carb rebuilt and looking around online, I can buy one of these carbs brand new cheaper than a gasket kit for the original carb. It's an old tractor that doesn't get used much so I'm not waging my livelihood on it if something goes wrong. But I also don't want to try to save some money if it's going to be a nightmare. Thanks for any comments and advice on the subject

NY 986 · Apr 8, 2023

Over 20 years ago I worked for Central Tractor and my experience was as long as corners were not cut the rebuilt units for the
most part were better than the new ones. I'd rebuild the old one as long as no problems exist such as cracks in the metal.
Disassemble your old one and inspect closely for cracks. I would not buy new and shiny just for that sake. When you want your
tractor you do not want to sit there disappointed or mad.

Loosehandle · Apr 8, 2023

Poor luck with one on a small engine.

grandpa Love · Apr 8, 2023

We have bought many Farmall cubs with no
carbs.... Granddad takes it off to fix,
loses it..... Anyway, we buy the $30 carbs
off Amazon. We have used more than a dozen. These work perfectly. I have
one on my main cultivator cub, going on 3
years , no issue. We tried the cheapest
Amazon carb on a Farmall B , no good.
Tried it on 3 different tractors. It just
couldn't be adjusted. We returned it. The
Ford N series carbs are decent. We have
used a couple. Most folks have 'carb
issues ' with 'china junk' when they slap
a carb on and wrongly assume that it will
fix every other issue the tractor has.

kopeck · Apr 8, 2023

I've had mixed results.

I bought two "middle grade" (ie not super cheap) carbs for K series Kohlers and those worked great. I pulled one apart and it used all the standard parts in a rebuild kit.

A cheap one a bought for an old wood chipper with a Tecumseh was garbage. I was able to steal enough parts out of it to get my OE one to work through.

I think it's a crap shoot.

K

560Dennis · Apr 8, 2023

Whats the issues with the present make and brand of carburetor? New carburetor might not resolve anything if the issue is something ,else .

Such as a vacuum leak or a sticking valve for example . Might be waste of time and money

Get back to us with what you do ,so we know if we helped you out.

CKain(MI) · Apr 8, 2023

The cheap ones I bought, worked but, not very adjustable!

Barts Dad · Apr 8, 2023

Put one from Amazon on my snow blower last fall, 7 hp Tecumseh Snow King. Works great. Just had to enrich the mixture screw a tad. Carb was $17.00. Gasket kit with float needle was $31.00.

jimg.allentown · Apr 8, 2023

I have had good results with the cheap carburetors on small engines like string trimmers, leaf blowers, and the
like. I had a bit of trouble with one I got for a Tecumseh engine - I think it was about 8hp. For the most part,
they seem to work fairly well.

DMartin9N-2N · Apr 8, 2023

Good morning, JDIH: I have a Deere model 212 lawn/garden tractor with Kohler engine.. I took the carb to local Deere store, they messed with it a little and charged $20.00 and said they couldn't fix it. They also apparently dropped the main mixture needle and bent the pointed tip. (In my humble opinion, they don't really have an interest in fixing the old, small stuff). I finally ordered a carb from Amazon, pretty cheap! I had to alter the linkage just a little to make the throttle connection, but it has worked fine for two summers or more. This one is OK with me.
.
Dennis M. in W. Tenn.
.

farmallboy15 · Apr 8, 2023

I bought one of the zenith knock offs from this website
for my Ford 3000. Ive had pretty good luck with it. A
couple minor issues with needle and seat if you dont turn
the fuel off, but that issue is across the board with even
the rebuild kits now a days. If I had the extra money
laying around, sure a name brand zenith would be nice
but for half the price, Im pretty happy with the knock off.
Much better than the POS Holley it replaced though!

DoubleR · Apr 8, 2023

I brought one from the site here years ago for my Farmall C for what it cost for a rebuild kit. I haven't touched it
and have had no problems with it. I got one on line for my 6 hp power washer for 8 bucks and free shipping. That was
about 5 years ago and so far so good.

Tim PloughNman Daley RIP · Apr 8, 2023

I don't know anything about Cheena made carbs for lawnmowers and such, but 99.98% of all stuff is now made there anyway. I have worked on the cheap ones but never bought,
would never buy one for my tractors or anyone else's I work on. Most parts are clones of clones and there is NO Quality Control. Never install a part right out of the
box. Do you think the 8 year old kid assembling it on the line in Beijing does any spec settings?

Tim Daley(MI)

RedMVa · Apr 8, 2023

I do a lot of small engine work, i almost use all cheap
carbs now unless customer has to have oem. Really the
only thing Ive run into is sometimes with a carb that fits
several engines theyll put a universal size jet and itll
be too big and over fuel some engines.

Have never had a problem with the tractor carbs Ive
used. When I first started using them , it was on my own
equipment, so I was doing my own test of them before
putting them on customers equipment. It cuts cost and
generally everybodys happy

Russ from MN · Apr 8, 2023

I have bought a couple for lawnmowers and had good luck with them.

chcase · Apr 8, 2023

I have only bought a few for small engines
and had mixed results. Prefer oem but can
see where a cheap one may work out for
alot of people

TomA in CA · Apr 8, 2023

The starting engine on my '39 D8 had a Zenith carburetor on it. Ir would only run fully choked. I had the carb off and in the shop
when the Oak wildfire hit. The shop burned to the ground. On the net I found a rebuilt replacement but they wanted $800. I ordered
a new aftermarket carb for a Jeep from Amazon for $92. It is a thing of beauty. It looks like it will fit in every way. When the
weather gets a little better I will put it on and let everyone know how it works out.

grandpa Love · Apr 8, 2023

Tim.... And yet the ' 8 year old kid's makes an awesome cell phone and computer?? I've bought the cheapest Amazon carb for a cub, dissembled it and compared it to an original. I discovered that it was good. Some times a predetermined mindset tells you China makes crap .......

timcasbolt · Apr 8, 2023

(quoted from post at 06:59:11 04/08/23) I'd like to hear everyone's experience with the super cheap, obviously overseas built carbs that are available online. I have an old tractor that needs the carb rebuilt and looking around online, I can buy one of these carbs brand new cheaper than a gasket kit for the original carb. It's an old tractor that doesn't get used much so I'm not waging my livelihood on it if something goes wrong. But I also don't want to try to save some money if it's going to be a nightmare. Thanks for any comments and advice on the subject

've installed two of them on k241's and two of them on k181's, with minimal problems. One of them required some tweaking in the linkage. Got them on ebay.

Goose · Apr 8, 2023

Haven't tried one on a tractor, but we have a garden tractor with an 18hp Briggs engine.

When the carb acted up, I tried two $20 after market carbs. Neither worked right. I sprung $90 for a new OEM and it worked great.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheap aftermarket carburetors

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