Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): small engine starting on work bench, work bench, mower deck

Question
Have a number of small engines 3.5-18 hp and they are not on mowers etc  can they be bolted to work bench to start and run ? Do they need blades attached or some type of load on them? Hope to some day have repairs to do for others and feel these older engines are a good starting point. Thank you for your time.  Any diags. or online resources would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks Terry

Answer
For the smaller, push/walk behind mower engines, the 3.5 hp you do need a blade or a cast flywheel.  The blade acts as part of the flywheel on smaller engines with aluminum flywheels.  However, small cast iron flywheels are very hard to find.  I'd recommend finding an old mower deck to test the smaller push mower engines.

As for the larger engines or any tiller or snowblower engine, they can be mounted to the table and ran with no problems, other than vibrating everything off the table.

Here's a good link:

http://www.cpdonline.com/692509.pdf

Lots of links out there you just have to search.
Let me know if this helps.
Eric