Hi all and welcome!

Here are the pictures of the B&S 28N707 after it 'lost' its connecting rod. Note the new crankcase 'inspection window'. You can see the crankshaft connecting rod journal thru the inspection window. It looks a bit rough but actually this appeared to be only a surafce condition that could be polished out. There were no gouges or even fine grooves in it. I believe the aluminum connection rod took the brunt of the failure in this area because is much softer than the cast iron crankshaft.

You can see that the inspection window extends into the area near were the upper starter motor mounts are. The crankcase was distorted in this area by the force of the connection rod as it exited so that the starter motor was no longer in proper alignment and wound not turn even though the crankshaft could be turned with ease by hand.

Here is the connecting rod which is now (including the stub still connected to the piston) in five pieces! The two rod-to-cap bolts were quite loose as well. All that gouging on the journal surfaces was probably from the 'seizing' incident that preceeded the eventual destructon shown here.

And now, here is my brand new (although it sat in a box for 6 years before I bought it!) 28N707 installed, and running (look close) on my Craftsman lawn tractor. I hope I can now get another 9 years.