Thread: HP vs Ft Lbs

It was about 6 years ago that I last bought a lawn mower.
It was 6 HP. I needed to replace it so I went to Home Despise.
Picked out a Lawn Boy that is rated at 6.5
Took it home, cut the grass, then read the book. Way in the back of the engine specs it says, 3.5 HP with 6.5 ft lbs of torque.
Went to Lowe's, same thing, all were rated in torque not HP.
So what gives, are all rated in torque instead of HP now?
I feel I was misled and got cheated out of 3 HP.

First it was non fat Half and Half, now they're messing with my power equipment.

I noticed that the last time I was in Sears.

Familiar Horsepower Rating No Longer Standard - washingtonpost.com

Originally Posted by Dom D'Agostino

I noticed that the last time I was in Sears.

Familiar Horsepower Rating No Longer Standard - washingtonpost.com

That's an interesting article. It appears they've just found a new way to lie to the consumer. I mean, 3 horsepower? Who are they kidding? Three horses can pull a stump out of the ground, or a couple of logs up a steep grade or a sled load of rocks up a hill. Can your lawnmower do that?
Matter of fact, if you had just one horse, you wouldn't even need a lawn mower.

Harley Davidson started doing this years ago to sell their under powered motorcycles.

I understand the feeling of being cheated but ratings wise, torque is a more useful standard for work engines. HP is great for how quickly something is done but not how much force it provides. Torque is the real measure of heavy duty engines, pulling power, etc.
Did your 6.5 look any bigger than the old 3.5 hp that it replaced?

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

I understand the feeling of being cheated but ratings wise, torque is a more useful standard for work engines. HP is great for how quickly something is done but not how much force it provides. Torque is the real measure of heavy duty engines, pulling power, etc.
Did your 6.5 look any bigger than the old 3.5 hp that it replaced?

So how do you explane my 1/2 gallon of ice cream only having 1.75 qts?

Were you snacking on the way home from the store?

HP is a function of speed and torque. You can multiply torque through a gearbox, but the HP remains the same. What you are interested in is the torque produced at the speed you are using it - or, by definition, HP.

(My apologies to everyone for being an Engineer, but every once in a while I need to let it out.)

Originally Posted by David Wood

HP is a function of speed and torque. You can multiply torque through a gearbox, but the HP remains the same. What you are interested in is the torque produced at the speed you are using it - or, by definition, HP.

(My apologies to everyone for being an Engineer, but every once in a while I need to let it out.)

In other words, I still got screwed out of .25qts of ice cream .

Originally Posted by Vern Heiler

In other words, I still got screwed out of .25qts of ice cream .

Buy Blue Bell ice cream they still give you a full half gallon!

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Buy Blue Bell ice cream they still give you a full half gallon!

Yeah but that's only a Yankee 1/2 gallon. Your 10 gallon hat is only about 8.8 gallons at the Calgary stampede.

So how much HP does a real horse put out? What did they use to guage HP, a Clydesdale or a Shetland pony?

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Buy Blue Bell ice cream they still give you a full half gallon!

I saw a container of ice cream in the grocery store the other day. It stated "25% more!" Of course, this still did not equal a half gallon.

The best rating would be one which gave both the HP curve and the torque curve, and then add a tach so you could keep that mower at the RPM which gave the greatest HP and torque for regular mowing, or adjust for greater torque when you hit that patch of tall, thick, grass which would otherwise bog down the fast spinning (high RPM), but low torque, blade.

Add a tach to any given lawn mower and that is the one which will sell the most, and for more money too - that will get the 'man' in 'man'power revvin' up ... I can just see two neighbors out there on an otherwise quiet Saturday morning revving up their lawn mowers in competition with each other ...

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

The best rating would be one which gave both the HP curve and the torque curve, and then add a tach so you could keep that mower at the RPM which gave the greatest HP and torque for regular mowing, or adjust for greater torque when you hit that patch of tall, thick, grass which would otherwise bog down the fast spinning (high RPM), but low torque, blade.

Add a tach to any given lawn mower and that is the one which will sell the most, and for more money too - that will get the 'man' in 'man'power revvin' up ... I can just see two neighbors out there on an otherwise quiet Saturday morning revving up their lawn mowers in competition with each other ...

I'm thinkin' just pay someone to mow the yard is the best deal.

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

I'm thinkin' just pay someone to mow the yard is the best deal.

I've been doing that for the past 25 years. The last time I mowed our yard was in Gainesville in 1985.

That way the lawn gets taken care of and we (my wife and I) get to do what we want to do.

rick stay away from Canada, they messed with us long ago with the dam metric system. we now try and compete with the americans on the price of gas but we have litres now not gallons and almost the same price per. and they like us to think we going faster than we used to kilometers vs miles. it is still the same distance but just seems further faster...

Originally Posted by Vern Heiler

So how do you explane my 1/2 gallon of ice cream only having 1.75 qts?

I think it was Sealtest many years ago who introduuced the 1.75 quart product as (true story) "space saving package"

Vern and Leigh,

A lot of the ice cream in CA is 1.5qts. I see that some of those companies are bringing back selected flavors with 1.75qt packaging and labeling it 25% more. Other packaging is also tweaked for pure deception. Remember cereal packaging: Do they really think we believe that the contents may have settled 2" during shipping?

Wish they sold Blue Bell in Washington State, I've heard only good things about it.

Originally Posted by Jim Hintz

Wish they sold Blue Bell in Washington State, I've heard only good things about it.

They sell "Blue Bunny" in NC - and it comes in 1.5qts .

Originally Posted by Vern Heiler

They sell "Blue Bunny" in NC - and it comes in 1.5qts .

We have both Blue Bunny and Blue Bell. Blue Bunny is not even in the same class with Blue Bell, plus you get more!

I seem to remember that regulations were enacted so that outboard motors had to display the HP at the prop, rather than from the crank as before. So, when I bought my Johnson 48, it would've been sold previously as a Johnson 50. Easier to change a number than an engine I guess.

The other bogus rating is when buying stereo equipment. I am sure glad that kid down the street doesn't really have a 500 watt amplifier in his nitrous powered rice-burner. As it is, he can't hear the rattles in his lowered suspension because of the noise.

Yes, I realize that inspections are slow, gotta go out and do some marketing now!

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

We have both Blue Bunny and Blue Bell. Blue Bunny is not even in the same class with Blue Bell, plus you get more!

They shouldn't even be sold in the same store!

Very Sincerely,
Bruce Thompson
Professional Connoisseur of Fine Ice Creams.