Are there any lawn mowers on the Australian market that do NOT have automatic speed governors? I want one without this troublesome accessory. I have a Rover with a B & S 375 Sprint motor that underspeeds and though I have sighted the owners manual though the kindness of someone on this site the manual is careful not to tell me how to fix this nuisance item. There is some kind of air vane involved and looking at the questions here a lot of other people have similar problems. Oh for an old Victa with a hand throttle.

Ken E, November 2007

In a word, no.
Having a mower without a governor would mean you would have to constantly adjust the throttle, as you do in a car, the load variations on a mower engine change very much very quickly. Without a governor the engine would race to dangerous levels as you emerge from tall grass to a clear area.
The air vane is connected directly to the carb to open and close the throttle, as the air flow drops (engine slowing) the throttle is opened and vice versa. Inside the engine casing is a small fly weight assembly that moves a shaft sticking out the side of the engine, this is connected to an arm and spring which is hooked on the other side of the vane to actually "tell" the vane how fast the engine is actually running. This is a pretty delicate setup and if anything gets bent,stuck, broken or too dirty it won't work at all.
A decent mechanic who knows the system can fix it in a few minutes and you won't even know you have a governor.
www.mowercomparison.com

Chris, November 2007