How many hours on a Garden Tractor

[mwood]

I see lots of people with their Diesel tractors talking about 4000 hours on their engines. This got me wondering...

"How many hours can one expect from a well maintained gas engine?"

I have a JD 216 with a Kohler 16 horse in it. At 1100 hours, this baby still run VERY strong. Very little smoke and no major problems. I know for a fact that no major engine work has ever been done to it.

What kind of hours do you all have on these good old workhorses?

 

[bontai_Joe]

I've got a 1978 Deere 316 with a single cylinder "K" series cast iron Kohler with an estimated 2000-2300 hours on it. I've replaced the carb so far, nothing else except oil and filters. I've get a 1980 Troy Bilt horse with 7 HP cast iron Kohler and approx. 1000 hours on it and the engine also has seen a new carb and nothing else.

 

[Molerj]

I wish I had an hour meter on the '78 Economy Power King tractor that I bought brand new. Kohler 14 hp K series engine. That machine has got alot of time on it. Gets used less than two hrs. a week on most occasions now & still runs good. Would be interesting to know just how many hrs. are on it.

 

[bontai_Joe]

Ron,
If you figure 2 hours a week for 30 weeks a year (lawn season in Ohio) times 26 years, equals 1,560 hours. Thats not shappy! If the oil got changed regular, those old "K" series Kohlers are real hard to kill.

 

[MarkLeininger]

I've got over 1200 hours on a 14 year old M18 Kohler twin in a Crafstman and it runs great. That fact has become more irrelevant with age as I get killed fixing little things that cost a ton of money. Like starters, electric parts, deck bearings, and other parts you can't fix yourself. I'm starting to think it doesn't really matter how long the engine goes because it's so cheap to rebuild it yourself compared to the cost and lost time from all the other things that end up going wrong.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

I wish they still made those. They had soooo many cool attachments! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[ducati996]

I still have an original single lunger Cub 125 12.5 hp Kohler...
It has never been rebuilt, maybe a head gasket or two and is now 35 years old....it had a busy life as a dedicated mower and snow removal machine...3,000 hours is a accurate guess..
I cannot kill it even when I tried too -

Duc

 

[OrangeGuy]

When I was in the business, the general rule of thumb for engine longevity was; 15 to 50 HP diesel-5000 hrs, similar water-cooled gas-2500 hrs and air-cooled gas 1250 hrs. These hours would be for well-maintained engines used under normal conditions.

OrangeGuy

 

[Schultz]

My dad mows greens on a golf course and the toro that they used had 3500hrs on the Briggs & Straton Vanguard when they replaced it with another vanguard. Don't know how many HP but it was a twin cylinder.

Tim

 

[slammer]

Hmmmm....I still have a 10 horse (B&S) Hahn Eclipse rider. Doing some quick math I can confidantly estimate the hours at well over 3000. They sure must not make em' like they used to.

Also for anyone interested....to go with the rider I also have a Hahn PM w/cast aluminum deck (still runs) and to complete the vintage set I recently bought a Hahn front tine tiller. All are older than dirt and still serve their intended purposes. I like to collect the old equipment but it sure takes up space. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Slam