Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): cub cadet idle issues, application engineer, cub cadet

Question
My cub cadet model 1100 will not idle at a constant rpm. It surges up and down. I cannot seem to get it adjusted. It also will shut off after it is run for awhile and gets hot. I can see that there is a idler rod attached to the carburetor and it surges back and fourth. What can i do to get it to idle at a constant rpm.

Answer
Hunting and surging is kind of a complex issue, it can be one single item, or a lot of little things that add up to the hunting and surging.

Did it do from new?  If so then perhaps the carb is defective-

The first thing i would do is hold that rod and see if it stops hunting and surging.  If it does, then you have a carb issue, if it doesn't stop, then its a gov problem.

A good carb cleaning or replacement MAY help, but I see this condition on brand new equipment.

I have played with hinting and surging issues when i was an application engineer and never found one real quick fix it.  It was always tweaking this and tweaking that to make it go away.  Most times however the carb was the culprit.

HTH