Changing the battery and low rpm when starting the engine?

Loss of power in small engine?

• I bought a used skid steer recently, a Deere made in the early 80's. Has 3600 hours on the meter. Engine is a 2 cylinder 23 horse Onan engine (which is pretty much like a Briggs, Kohler or Honda 23 horse engine). It starts easily and goes to full rpm in neutral. When I put it in gear, the rpm's drop about 25%. When I'm in gear and moving, the rpms drop another 25~50%. I can stall it by turning or going up a slope. It's not using any oil. I've run it for 6 hours since changing the oil/filter, and the level hasn't moved from the full mark. It's not dirty looking either, still looks like honey. I tried to put a compression checking gauge on there, but was not able to make a snug fit. It read 0 psi when I turned it over on both cylinders. I put the gauge on a known good engine and it showed 70 psi. I put some Sea Foam down the throat of the carb with the engine running until it flooded. Then I let it sit for 10 minutes and started it up. It made alot of white smoke, but then it cleared. I repeated the process and it didn't make much white smoke. By now it was dark. It has two pancake type Briggs & Stratton mufflers. One of them had a blue glow of fire inside it when I looked at it when running. The other one had no flames. The exhaust pipe going to the muffler that had blue flames was starting to turn deep red. The other one was dark. Could the exhaust valve or seat be bad in the cylinder that has flames coming out the exhaust?

• Answer:

  If I were you I would change the fuel filter on it. If you had exhaust valve problems it would pop and snap and above all hardly run at all.