Greetings, I was on the tractor forum a few days ago looking for an answer to a hard starting issue with my Cub Cadet. It has a new Briggs Intek sgl. cylinder OHV 21 hp engine. I purchased the tractor for $650.00 with the understanding the engine had 6 hours on it. I ran it for 3 hours which was 2 weeks mowing. When I got it out last week it quit running after 10-15 mins. I was able to determine from the forum that this was most likely a valve adjustment problem. The engine was cranking very hard, but would turn over normally with the spark plug out. The mower shop wouldn't offer help, as the owner said he sold it for a customer. Walt2002 had offered some useful advice to other members having similar problems, and I noticed he had offered his e-mail address to help someone out. I took a shot at e-mailing him for some advice on how to adjust the valves. He was most generous with a prompt and detailed reply, and also a copy of an old posting. Despite having a bent pushrod, the valve tappet stem cap was loose in the valve cover. I was able to follow Walt's step by step instructions and I'm glad to say my tractor's running like a top. I just wanted to give a shout out to Walt2002 and to the tractor forum. I'm glad I found the helpful information on your forum, and I'm most grateful to Walt. Maybe I'll be able to offer some useful advice to someone else on one of the gardenweb's forums to pay it forward. Thanks!