Archive through March 09, 2011

[dtanner]

Dennis F

I did have the piston to the shop and gave him a sheet that gave the fit for the piston, I just hope he followed the directions ,who know these days.

 

[nbartee]

Don,

I'm swapping a non-ported hydro for a ported one for hydraulics.

 

[dtanner]

Norm Bartee

Thats a great mod. I added front and rear ports on my 1512 . I got it from Arron at http://www.xtrememotorworks.com/ and I now have a hyd dump trailer and front ports for an angle snow plow . When i bought my 149 I was happy to have hydraulics on it. now with the ported pump there are all kinds of things you can do.

 

[dfrisk]

DON - Yes, I'd pull the piston and carefully run your fingers around the outside of the rings to see if they have rough spots or sharp edges scratching the bore. I "REALLY" don't like those 3-pc oil rings Kohler uses in all their ring sets now. The thin scraper rings tend to come out of the recess on the top & bottom of the expander they're supposed to latch into when you install the piston & rings. The older style 1-pc oil control rings were REALLY expensive but IMHO worked much better. And for the cost of OEM Kohler parts I think they should still be part of the set.

I'm going to "assume" you have the adjustable steel sleeve style ring compresser you tighten around the piston than tap the piston into the bore. Same thing I use. The tapered sleeve style made from hard anodized alum. work 100 times better but you need one for each .010" increase in piston diameter. Which means you'd need 24 of them just to do all standard bores plus all the available over-size bores for 7,8,10,12,14, & 16HP Kohlers. Lots of BIG Bucks!

Could do like someone helping SON rebuild a 351 Windsor Ford did. Son was installing pistons, rings, rods, and had all eight pistons assembled and sliding them into the engine. Someone who had too many adult beverages removed the rings from one piston for some stupid reason and Son installed it into the engine. Engine continued to smoke slightly and the one cylinder only ran up 100-120 PSI compression while the other seven ran up 150-160. They finally pulled the engine and installed the last set of rings they found when picking up tools. The engine was a real strong high 9 second, low 10.0 second car in a FOX body Mustang. It had a really wild cam, aftermarket heads, long tube equal length headers, BIG carburator, 800-850 CFM. It pulled hard up to 7000-7500 RPM which is high for a 351W.

 

[dtanner]

Dennis Frisk

Better safe than sorry I guess.I did buy a ring compressor tool. I will take it back out and see whats up. thanks

 

[dfrisk]

DON - That looks like the exact same ring compressor I use.

I'd pull the piston and see what's going on. If something has put scratches you can feel with a finger nail in the bore something is wrong.

 

[thoffman]

Check for more scratching in the compressor when you pull the piston out too.

 

[ryarbrough]

I have a chance to buy both of these 102's for $275. One running and one not. One has hydraulics and one has a sleeve hitch.
Thanks

 

[jbaker]

glad to here piston talk, I put the k301 that I did a piston and rings job on, into the 149.
I did not have time to let it run but I did fire it up for 1 minute.
Here is a pic of the 149 with the "new" motor and one of the motor that came out of it.

 

[thoffman]

The one with the sleeve hitch also has a spring assist. Buy 'um both and get one good runner with all the goodies and keep the other for parts.

 

[thoffman]

RY,
On closer inspection I don't see a hydro unit on those tractors? Which on do you think has it??

 

[tpennell]

RY, I agree with Tom, buy and yes you could make your money back. I am trying to get my hands on a 1450 local but cant seem to get in contact with owner.

Tim

 

[digger]

Rudy Y.
You NEED to email me within 12 hours!

And everyone else!
If you want to buy and sell, find the classifieds, as the next post that's even close, gets poofed and not edited, like the 2 I just did!

 

[tpennell]

I finally have 125 together and she does start right up but waiting for carb to come in. I am trashing the Walbro and agree with Charlie. They are junk, work but not what I want.

 

[glippert]

Jeff Baker - That's 140 pounds hanging off the back of my 782, about a foot behind the rear end. With my 280 pounds on the seat, I have pretty good traction! (The wheel weights are 40 pounds each, but I'm not using them this year (the picture is from last year), because the snowthrower is only 42" and the wheel weights make the tractor too wide to fit through the blown path.)

 

[rmay]

Evening! Any input from anyone regarding a small diesel engine versus a Kohler gas engine? I need to buy an engine for my 149 to power my snowthrower, a project slated for this summer. No engine in the 149 right now. Thoughts are appreciated!

 

[mgwin]

Roger,
I'm sure if you look hard enough you can find another 14HP Kohler to go back in it. The sponsors at the top of the page would be a good start. If you can't find anything there ask Charlie.

 

[rmay]

Thanks, Marty. I checked their inventory and didn't see anything. I'll check with Chris Westfall. Hoping to find one in MI.

 

[rmay]

By the way, how much can I bore a smaller engine out?

 

[jbaker]

Roger M if no one has a 14 hp you can use a k301 12 hp the 12 hp moves my qa36a with no problem.