T 3-15 engine swap

[Alexhasson]

thanks for the kind words.

so an update.

I have some gardening to do but the topsoil doesn't deliver until Monday so i just went and ran it through the motions. used to loader on teh dirt and rocks and used the backhoe on some firewood bucks i haven't split yet.

everything worked great. I'm very happy. If there is any power loss then i couldn't notice it. maybe my worn out Kohler in it's hay day had more power but i'm pretty happy with this replacement engine. if I get 5 years out of it i'll be happy, that's cause I now day dream of finding a diesel that will fit.

couple pictures here, I relocated the key switch to wear i could reach it from the seat. I just made the cable extra long so i could move it anywhere. I thought about making it a magnetic mount. I also haven't hooked up the throttle cable yet, but the engine is equipped with the brackets for a cable so that should be easy. I also cut out the head light upright. the upright is on an angle the straightens out. I plan on reversing the angle so the engien doesn't hit the upright. the headlights will be in roughly the same place when finished.





one last note: I thought i had serious issues when I first got on it and drove it around, it stalled and i couldn't restart it.... out of gas. no kidding, I thought of everything except gas. easy fix though. I was smiling like an idiot.

 

[pontiac58]

one last note: I thought i had serious issues when I first got on it and drove it around, it stalled and i couldn't restart it.... out of gas. no kidding, I thought of everything except gas. easy fix though. I was smiling like an idiot.

Im glad im not the only one that does that.:drink:

 

[Alexhasson]

finally got my top soil delivery and got to test out teh new engine. everything went great it is at least equal to the old engine and certainly better that it starts up in 1 second as compared to the old kohler that needed too much help.

 

[Terrasteve]

A Job well done Sir! Glad everything worked out for you. How many horsepower is the new motor?

 

[Alexhasson]

well Predator engines don't advertise horse power, it's 420cc. safely between 13-14hp. certainly not weaker then the old 14hp kohler. and the main difference with the lack of engine mass and no heavy fly wheel is the low idle operation. It appears that the old kohler had one advantage. if you put it in low idle it wouldn't stall if you tried to drive it or move the bucket. this engine doesn't have the mass for low idle operation. medium or high speed however theres no stopping it. I currently only ruin low idle when it's sitting waiting on me. which is also kind of a poor mans parknig brake, put it on low idle and if it tries to drive off it can't

although there are some dune buggy go cart sites that sell all kinds of upgrades for the engine claiming they can make it 20hp. I quick google search brings up lots of web traffic on upgrading these engines.

 

[Buggs67]

FWIW.
Ii just put a Predator engine on my snowthrower to replace the old Tecumseh. Friends who had the generator with the same engine had instructions to run at part throttle for 3 hrs, then change the oil. SO I followed that procedure with my engine. The oil looked like metal flake paint. I also used full synthetic to refill. Cheap insurance.

In my research for the HF engine it appears that the common failures might be due to lubrication and poor brake-in.
Good luck.

 

[Alexhasson]

FWIW.
Ii just put a Predator engine on my snowthrower to replace the old Tecumseh. Friends who had the generator with the same engine had instructions to run at part throttle for 3 hrs, then change the oil. SO I followed that procedure with my engine. The oil looked like metal flake paint. I also used full synthetic to refill. Cheap insurance.

In my research for the HF engine it appears that the common failures might be due to lubrication and poor brake-in.
Good luck.

hey , thanks a lot.

i did a 20 minute low idle break in and only ran it for about an hour the other day. I'll change the oil before next use and see what it looks like. I do have the 1 year warranty so lets hope that covers for me for my mistakes on the break in.

 

[Alexhasson]

ok so i made a semi important discovery. the exhaust from the new engine blows on the passenger side lift cylinder when the bucket is at a certain height. so it's not hitting it all the time but i didn't like it either way. so i relocated the muffler.

built the manifold adapter from some scrap.


it raises and rotates the muffler. so now it blows out the front into open space.

 

[parluskq]

Awesome thread! i am getting ready to do the exact same thing and this will save me a ton of time. I am just deciding on which engine first

 

[parluskq]

does this engine run counter clockwise or clockwise?