Jacobsen HR15 w/ Perkins 4 cyl

[DAIRYMAN]

Hey guys,

Not sure if I amm really classified under "construction" , but I have an Engine rebuild question. I'm working on a Jacobsen HR15 mower with a 4 cylinder Perkins diesel. The engine "ate" a piston, so we decided to buy a rebuild kit. It is a dry sleeved engine, and after pulling the sleeves, we noticed that there are lines in the cylinder walls going straight up and down. Has anyone ever seen this before? It worries us a bit because we can tell someone has been into the engine before, and obviously not long ago. We just purchased this machine at an auction knowing that the engine was locked up.

Any help on the cylinder wall would be appreciated!

 

[McCaskey]

While I haven't needed to rebuild my Perkins (yet), I have a lot of repair experience on my HR15.

A few words of advice.

• Grease gun is your favorite tool on this machine. The rotor, rollers, idler wheels all have undersized bearings. Keep them greased or plan on replacing them every year.
• Make sure the cutter rotors rotate CCW, in other words, rotate opposite the drive wheels. Its easy to accidentally swap the hydraulic hoses.
• Replacing the fan belt is an all day job. Removing the main hydraulic pump and draining the system is laborious.
• Engine vibration will crack the exhaust manifold if the muffler gets dented when lifting the right cutter.
• When the cutters are lifted, check for bearing play at the drive belt end. That bearing can fail and still operate while hanging from the drive belt. Unfortunately that puts a lot of stress on the upper hydraulic motor.
• It can be a dangerous machine for non mechanical people (young adults) to operate. No safety or interlocks to prevent the machine from chasing you across the lawn. A 15 foot wide machine can be deadly at 8 mph. ALWAYS shutdown before dismount.
• When the mowers are lifted upright & locked, the machine is very top heavy and can tip over easily. Wear your seatbelt.
• Engage/Disengage the mowers only at engine idle. The hydraulic motors stop & start instantly while the rotors are still spinning. If they are spinning fast you'll burn up the belt real fast.