Matching carburetors for Kohler engine

[nbextermueller]

Sounds like you killed the battery. That helps when you leave any ignition on for an hour without running.

And yes, it needs to be fully wired to shut off. It's a Magnum because it has a magneto ignition which generates it own spark when running. Your battery is only for starting and lights.

 

[mtarsus]

The battery is fine. I jumped it using the battery. That's why I am concerned that the solenoid or switch have been blown.

 

[mtarsus]

I bought a new multimeter at HF, identical to the one I broke; it was a hefty cost to replace, $6 with tax. What a shame. I will. Never. Make. Such a COSTLY mistake again.

I also got a compression tester... Going to find out just how tired this little engine really is.

By this time tomorrow I'll have the deck on, get it cutting grass again. Usually after I fix these things I drag my feet with the final parts. The zip ties, engine shrouds, hood, etc. I just drive them around looking all hacked up and hicktrocious, taking an odd kind of pride in my accomplishment.

 

[aschumacher]

Mark, you actually paid for one of those meters! There are coupons all over for free ones, even some where you don't have to buy anything! A friend of mine takes the 9 volt battery out and chucks the rest. He gave me 6 of them a few months ago!
<font size="-2">If you want the free coupons, e-mail me. I'll sen some to you. A.</font>

 

[mtarsus]

Thank you sir. I will certainly keep that in mind!

I have not been able to install the deck as I intended (renovations on the house take priority), but I've reinstalled all of the engine shrouds, and hooked up the cables for the carb. The choke cable was very gritty and wouldn't move, so I straightened the end, pulled the cable out. Then I widened the jacket with a jewelry screwdriver, fit the tube from a can of liquid wrench and blasted it until there was no more brown coming out.

There are a couple of things I have discovered with the engine that are of new concern:

1) I found out why cylinder #2 was having issues. Somehow the plug had been nearly flattened. The gap was uneven and only a hair's width from contact. I fixed that and the idling issue went away..

2) It seems like the engine is set to rev way too high. You know how you can pull on the governor to open it all the way, and the engine will roar like it's about to explode? For some reason it is doing that when I have it at full throttle. I have to keep it at 2/3 to get what feels/sounds like a healthy RPM. I tried to adjust the governor, loosened the nut and turned the governor knob as far to the right as it would go (that's what I read online). But now when I start it, it's all wrong. The engine just roars like it's running away, and I have to kill it immediately. Any advice for this one?

 

[mtarsus]

Somehow I got confused. I intuitively turned it in the correct direction the first time. Then when I doubted myself, I turned it the wrong way and it won't start. I read about it in detail, and confirmed that I currently have it set the wrong way, I was right the first time....

I think I just need to adjust the throttle stop bolt that catches the tang on the cable linkage. I fiddled with it before, but it didn't seem right because I had to screw the bolt in all the way just to get it to touch the linkage at full throttle. Something's wonky, I need to read more.

I will post photos soon.

 

[jchamberlin]

Mark: It sounds like you're fiddling with the right things, now you just need to fiddle with them in the right way.

By-the-way, the governor adjustment is counter intuitive; it seems like you're turning it the wrong way until you understand how it all works. BTDT

 

[mtarsus]

I have the deck mostly on.... Had to use a torch to crack the nuts and remove the blades. Sharpened them with a file.

The stator is not working. I took it off, cleaned everything, sanded the rust off if the terminals, etc. I checked AC voltage coming directly from the output cables and it's not producing anything. Maybe 3 or 4 volts. I also confirmed this by checking the battery while running, and it is not charging.

However, the engine shutoff is working just fine.

Also, this thing eats gas!!! I'm only going to use it as a snowblower. I have a mower with a little Briggs 1-cyl that can do the whole lawn (1 acre) with 1 gallon.

By the way, do you guys know of any snowblowers that will fit this tractor without modification? I am going to look at a 42" craftsman today, but would like to know if any of you have had experience with this...

 

[mtarsus]

I got a 42" craftsman snowthrower, wheel weights and chains for $250!

I will have to drill a few holes in the Cubby to make it all fit, but I think it's going to work.

My only real worry is that snow blowing might ruin the hydro. Oh well, if it does, I'll just have to get my hands on a manual gearbox and install that next year.

 

[mtarsus]

http://s10.postimg.org/4tsrs2knt/cub_cadet.png

I am going to clean up the wheels tomorrow, also air the tires. I used it to mow the lawn today; the hydro seems sluggish, it doesn't move terribly fast. It could probably use a fluid change. Also, since adjusting the governor, I have also lost the ability to adjust the throttle. It just runs at the same RPM no matter what; this doesn't really cause a problem, it just bugs me knowing that it's not right.

http://s11.postimg.org/wmrkbshhv/42_craftsman_snowblower.png
Soon I will be cleaning this up with a wire wheel, then a can of rusto. Hopefully it will install in 1 day. It will take some finagling. I will have to drill some new holes, but I think it should work as long as I can find a way to maintain proper belt tension. This blower was made for a tractor with a pulley-engaged design, not an electric PTO. I am not sure if it will cause a big issue or not. Either way, I'll make it work. I am also worried that the attachment might just be too big for the tractor. The engine is a 20hp, plenty of power, but it is a small piece of equipment. I get the impression that the blower was made for a large garden tractor. I doubt it will make a huge difference, other than looking funny and maybe blowing the transmission.

Not sure if the images came out. Perhaps you can follow the links to see the images... I am not sure how to get hosted images to display on the forum.

 

[mtarsus]

I have decided to use the deck lever to lift/lower the snowblower. I will attach the cable with a clamp, it will work perfectly. I will also have to fabricate a couple of small steel plates to use as spacers for the brackets that hold the belt system under the mower. Perhaps now would be a good time to learn to weld.....

For the mean time, I can use an angle grinder to cut the pieces I need, and then just fit them into place. I believe that the snowblower will fit surprisingly well onto the mower.

 

[jchamberlin]

Mark: Are you OK?

 

[mtarsus]

Haha, yes, I am quite alright. It seems that what started as a little side project has turned into a full hobby. I'm now buried $600 into this little mower, plus ~20 hours of labor. I've become fond of it and enjoy seeing things as they come together.

 

[kostendorf]

Mark, I have one just like yours I took off a craftsman suburban. I've got the subframe and I think all the parts if you need pictures. Wish you was closer.

 

[mtarsus]

Keith, thank you for the offer. The snowthrower that I purchased came with a bunch of hardware. If anything, I'll be needing some advice for how to set it up... I've taken some measurements, this tractor is going to need significant modification to fit the blower assembly. I will not alter something unless there is a way for me to revert it to stock if I want to put the deck back on. That said, I'll have to remove the lift linkage and probably have to bolt on a couple of cross members to use as screwmounts. As I said before, it needs finagling.

Jeremiah, thanks for the advice and help. Once I got started with this project, I was soon hooked. It's a lot of fun. I plan to install a new stator and wire a flood light on the hood, like the ones you see on police cars. I usually snowblow at 4/5am before work, it would be helpful.

 

[mtarsus]

I removed the deck and lift assembly yesterday, and began to measure/evaluate the situation for the blower assembly to fit. It appears that I will have to find a smaller belt to fit off the PTO to the drive pulley on the blower; it has to sit closer to the PTO so that I can mount it onto the frame without cutting into the foot rests/brake lever.

The lift linkage/assembly came out easily enough. I had to lift the rear of the tractor about 1', support it on jack stands. Working on these little tractors isn't really difficult, everything is right there for you to access and it is all assembled in a very simple, intuitive manner. It does get a little tedious, though, when you need to reach into a tight space.

 

[mtarsus]

The hydro is definitely messed up. It just keeps getting slower and slower. I took the rear end off, tipped it upside down over an old paint tray and left it in the driveway. What came out was black tar. A quick call to hydro-gear revealed that 10w40 dino is all it needs. Funny, I thought it would need actual hydraulic fluid.... Unless the gearbox is one of those "sealed for life" setups that has a separate cavity full of hydro fluid.

I hope changing the oil will make all the difference, otherwise I'll be cutting a hole into the fender to fit the shifter for a manual gearbox -- something I kind of want to do anyway, because I hate and distrust any form of automatic transmission. Every car I've ever owned has had 3 pedals, and the same mentality kind of extends to lawn equipment.

The wheels are completely adhered to the axle like tree roots. I couldn't even get them off with a torch and gear puller. Is there some trick to getting those things to come off?

 

[mtarsus]

I did my best to clean up the transmission without getting any debris into the opening for the oil fill. Used a can of that foaming engine spray, cost $2.50 at The Wall; worked decently, considering I didn't bother to scrape away the 1/2" layer of filth that completely covered the tranny, and which reminded me of the mossy growth that you find on rocks in a stagnant pond.

After that, I reinstalled the whole kit and kaboodle, though it was an onerous task, due to the wheels refusing to come off -- I had to raise the back end of the mower using a service jack, then support it with stands, elevate the jack with bricks and then raise it even higher. Then I had to let the air out of the left tire so it would squeeze under the frame. What followed was an hour and a half of awful tedium and indignant cussing as I lie on my back, fumbling to reattach everything, bits of dirt and grime falling into my eyes. It was also getting dark and the mosquitoes were relentless.

Finally, under the bright light of a halogen work lamp, I filled the reservoir, worked the bubbles out of the hydro, and everything was ready for a test run. Since it was 12am, I decided to let the neighbors sleep, and let it wait til tomorrow.

Instead, I spent the next hour fixing a leaf blower that I picked up on CL for $20. Replaced the fuel lines, sprayed out the carb, and tested it by letting it putter on full choke for a few seconds.

I love fixing things.

 

[mtarsus]

I started it up and the tranny is working at low speed. However, I wasn't able to fully test it because the tension pulley near the PTO isn't wound, so there's a lot of belt slap.

 

[mtarsus]

I also found that the arm for adjusting speed/direction was out of whack. It would go like hell in reverse but only creep forward. I adjusted it so that it will give a nicetop speed, yet provide adequate reverse speed.