Cub Cadet Steering Wheel Zero-Turn

[5030]

HG spin on filters are insane priced. I wasn't aware they upgraded the covers, I cured my issue by flattening it on a large mill file as it's just a pressure die cast part. I'll keep that inversion procedure on my wife's sealed HG drives. I was hoping they had a lower bolt drain like the filtered units do.

 

[RandyT]

HG spin on filters are insane priced. I wasn't aware they upgraded the covers, I cured my issue by flattening it on a large mill file as it's just a pressure die cast part. I'll keep that inversion procedure on my wife's sealed HG drives. I was hoping they had a lower bolt drain like the filtered units do.

here is the kit

Amazon.com: Hydro-Gear 72274 Charge Kit Genuine Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Part : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com: Hydro-Gear 72274 Charge Kit Genuine Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Part : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

 

[Rdrcr]

Just what I read somewhere about service life but mine is past that and runs like a top, a guzzling top though. I do know the Kohler Courage on my wife's steering wheel RZT has a much smaller carb on it (rated at almost the same horsepower) as the Kawolski I have on the 60" tank. Not overly impressed with the Kohler. Pretty cheaply made engine. I was taken back by the lack of valve cover gaskets (none) and their recommendation of using black RTV as the gasket. It now has valve cover gaskets as I made them from Fel-Pro gasket material I had in the shop.

That to me is extremely cheap. The Kohler also is in the habit of blowing off a bit of oil smoke on startup. It don't have a lot of hours on it, maybe 200 max. Did a valve adjustment anyway, when I discovered the lack of valve cover gaskets.

Yeah, it seems that each manufacturer has a budget and quality line of engines.

I would have gone diesel if I had the option.

Mike

 

[5030]

Yeah, it seems that each manufacturer has a budget and quality line of engines.

I would have gone diesel if I had the option.

Mike

Way too expensive for my blood. A diesel adds thousands to the initial cost and if you maintain the gas motors properly, they should last a reasonable amount of time and gas is still less than an equal amount of diesel and finally, if a motor pukes, HF has a replacement available. I have a couple pred replacement engines and they seem to run just fine. One is on my pressure washer that replaced a puked Honda. Been on there 4 years now with just routine oil changes and and air filter cleanings. Original plug too. Starts first pull and purrs right along. Not as pretty as the Honda GS motor was but I'm not into looks, I'm into cost. The Pred cost me 99 bucks. The Honda GS retails for 300+. You can buy a Pred vertical twin, electric start engine for under a grand every day. A grand is a down payment on a Kohler or Kawasaki vertical V twin engine.

 

[RandyT]

Just what I read somewhere about service life but mine is past that and runs like a top, a guzzling top though. I do know the Kohler Courage on my wife's steering wheel RZT has a much smaller carb on it (rated at almost the same horsepower) as the Kawolski I have on the 60" tank. Not overly impressed with the Kohler. Pretty cheaply made engine. I was taken back by the lack of valve cover gaskets (none) and their recommendation of using black RTV as the gasket. It now has valve cover gaskets as I made them from Fel-Pro gasket material I had in the shop.

That to me is extremely cheap. The Kohler also is in the habit of blowing off a bit of oil smoke on startup. It don't have a lot of hours on it, maybe 200 max. Did a valve adjustment anyway, when I discovered the lack of valve cover gaskets.

Guess who else doesn't use gaskets and uses RTV instead. Briggs, Kawasaki, Polaris, Honda, And the smoke puff at startup on the Kohler is due to the oil seeping past the rings when parked, and then gets burned off at startup. Amounts to less than an ounce of oil over several hundred hours.

 

[5030]

Guess who else doesn't use gaskets and uses RTV instead. Briggs, Kawasaki, Polaris, Honda, And the smoke puff at startup on the Kohler is due to the oil seeping past the rings when parked, and then gets burned off at startup. Amounts to less than an ounce of oil over several hundred hours.

Interesting comment about the valve cover gaskets. My Kohler now has a set installed as I made a set from Fel-Pro gasket sheet. The Kawasaki on the tank has valve cover gaskets from the factory. Maybe the later ones don't.

Don't quite follow the oil puff thing as the rings aren't submerged in oil when the motor is shut down, the oil is in the sump area not laying on the rings which only receive oil when the motor is running, I presume from splash as I've never had it apart to find out. I realize they both have a pressurized oiling system but I've assumed it was mostly for the valve train. Neither one of them hold much oil. Like I said, if either puked, the replacement would be a Pred engine. I stay up on valve adjustments and oil and filter changes. I was kind of surprised by the amount of oil sludge sitting in the valve covers on the Kohler when I removed them this spring to set the overheads. I use Rotella straight weight in both of them and the oil and filters get changed every spring. Never saw a sludge issue before with my other engines. Wasn't a lot but it was still there. I'm tempted to add a little Nano-Borate to the oil. That stuff keeps my diesels squeaky clean underneath the valve covers. Even my Kubota mechanic remarked this time, how clean the overhead was on the M I just had in the shop for a valve adjustment and injector spray test. Over 1600 hours and just like factory inside and I never get the bronze coloration inside that multi grade lubricants like to impart on valve train components. My other one with over 6500 hours on it is the same deal. Perfectly clean under the valve cover and nothing on the inside of the valve cover either.

 

[RandyT]

Interesting comment about the valve cover gaskets. My Kohler now has a set installed as I made a set from Fel-Pro gasket sheet. The Kawasaki on the tank has valve cover gaskets from the factory. Maybe the later ones don't.

Don't quite follow the oil puff thing as the rings aren't submerged in oil when the motor is shut down, the oil is in the sump area not laying on the rings which only receive oil when the motor is running, I presume from splash as I've never had it apart to find out. I realize they both have a pressurized oiling system but I've assumed it was mostly for the valve train. Neither one of them hold much oil. Like I said, if either puked, the replacement would be a Pred engine. I stay up on valve adjustments and oil and filter changes. I was kind of surprised by the amount of oil sludge sitting in the valve covers on the Kohler when I removed them this spring to set the overheads. I use Rotella straight weight in both of them and the oil and filters get changed every spring. Never saw a sludge issue before with my other engines. Wasn't a lot but it was still there. I'm tempted to add a little Nano-Borate to the oil. That stuff keeps my diesels squeaky clean underneath the valve covers. Even my Kubota mechanic remarked this time, how clean the overhead was on the M I just had in the shop for a valve adjustment and injector spray test. Over 1600 hours and just like factory inside and I never get the bronze coloration inside that multi grade lubricants like to impart on valve train components. My other one with over 6500 hours on it is the same deal. Perfectly clean under the valve cover and nothing on the inside of the valve cover either.

There is oil that will pool in the lower side of the cylinder when parked. Part of it drains from the rings, part from the piston. That oil seeps past the rings and gets burned on startup. Has always been a thing even back with the Command engine days. The smoking on startup has been discussed several times over the years in my Kohler update schools.

I have seen the Kawasaki's go from gasket, to RTV, and back to gaskets, and in some cases o ring seals on the valve covers. Some of the Kohler's use RTV for the sump to engine block sealing. The Polaris Ranger engine I had apart earlier this year uses RTV to seal the crankcase halves together. The Honda GC series engines used RTV for the valve cover, Briggs has primarily changed to RTV for the valve cover. The Kohler Courage valve cover has went from cork gasket, to RTV, Back to Gasket for some applications that had the muffler bolted to the valve cover, and RTV for the rest.

 

[5030]

Always nice to hear from someone with first hand knowledge.. I have another unrelated question about another Kohler engine, mainly the one on my Lincoln Weld and Power gas driven welder. it's a K241 vertical single cylinder (makes a beautiful sound when idling btw). I bought it new around 25 years ago. Don't have a gob of hours on it and I've maintained it carefully, using 30 weight detergent oil and new air filters as needed. never adjusted the valves or set the ponts (I have the 241 shop manual so when I do, I understand the procedure), but also will blow off a puff of oil smoke upon start up (I always warm it a bit before throttling it up to 3600 rpm to run the welder or genset. When I throttle it up, it will always blow off a puff of oil smoke and then is fine. Always done that since new. Is that inherent with those engines as well? It has to be one of the most pleasing sounding engines (at base idle) that I have ever heard. It's magneto ignition (no coil) and I replaced that troublesome fixed jet carb years ago as well. It would never pick up cleanly with the smog carb on it and it would stutter when the welder loaded the engine. With a real carb, those symptoms vanished. I set the maximum crank speed with a Stewart Warner mechanical tach to exactly 3600 rpm, no load speed and now it will almost hold that rpm at full load as well.

 

[RandyT]

@5030 Not as common with the Horizontal shaft engines as with the vertical shaft engines. Part of the smoke on start up could be related to the choking when cold, causing oil wash of the cylinder walls with the extra fuel. There will always be a small amount of oil residue present on the cylinder walls that can be ignited. Also the tolerance specs on those engines were pretty loose. Piston skirt clearance on a lot of new engines can be within a couple thousands whereas those old K series had a skirt clearance of .007-.010 . Some of that oil can be left after shutdown and ignited later, but could also be drawn in through the intake valve in some cases depending on how the breather system is set up. Years ago the breather vented to the atmosphere but later had to be vented into the carb to burn the oil vapor.

One of the better engines ever built. Could be rebuilt multiple times if needed, and could even be bored and sleeved if necessary.

 

[5030]

Mine is atmospheric vent. I've seen the other setup to the air cleaner base (in my shop manual) but mine isn't and it always deposits an oil film on the side of the engine too. I always enjoy the sound it makes when idling, don't sound like any other engine I've ever heard. I was told the sound comes from the internal balancer shaft but I don't really know, other than it's a pleasant sound and totally free of any valve noise too. Just sits there and thumps along.

Another item that will outlast me.