What caused this tiller engine to fail?

 

 Today I decided to see if the old tiller engine was repairable.   If it was I could fix it and have a back up engine ready to go in case something happens to the new one that was installed this spring.  I started by taking off the gas tank, and some brackets allowing me access to the head.  The bolts to the head were removed so the head gasket could be checked for damage.  Unfortunatly the head gasket was in good shape... there goes the easy fix.  

Next I removed the crankcase cover to see what was going on inside.  After removing the cover it was apparent what happend,  the connecting rod had broke and the piston was seized in the cylinder.  Pieces of the rod were all over the crank case.  

Now that I know that the engine is not repairable I plan on taking off all of the good parts and selling them on e-bay. With any repair you never know if a repair can be made until you dig in.  Sometimes you get lucky and it's an easy fix other times there is nothing you can do.  

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All photos taken by @suficientliving.