Replacement Engine

[Terry Guanella]

Need replacement engine for K181 Kohler for my 73 Cub Cadet. Please advise if you have had success in finding an engine that will fit and supply power to both the mower and drive. Thanks for your help

 

[Anonymous-0]

You might give Small Engine Warehouse Dunkirk,Indiana a try. They handle a lot of engines and parts.

 

[joe csuti]

Goto sew as d.beatty said(link below)look in repowering old equip for your mod# cub,check what they recommend & read any notes about same in listing.
cub

 

[Tom Arnold]

It's your tractor and you can do what you wish with it BUT... why not rebuild the existing Kohler? One of the easiest engines to rebuild and by doing so, you are keeping your tractor ORIGINAL. That makes your tractor worth MORE to a collector than if you alter it by putting a non-OEM engine in it.

And if you stick with the OEM engine, you won't have any issues with wiring, exhaust, choke, throttle, clearance, crankshaft centerline, crankshaft diameter/length/style and so forth. In some instances, re-powering a tractor is not as attractive as it sounds when you get into it.

 

[Kentb of SWMO]

Why do you not rebuild your K-181?

Kent

 

[Terry Guanella]

The engine is over 20 years old, I just figured it would be easier to put a new engine on it rather than do a complete rebuild. Plus I don’t have the equipment to grind values and turn cranks back to true. I’m not a collector I use this tractor to mower every week it is a tank. I love it.

I will certainly consider rebuilding the engine if it is easier than re-powering.

Thanks for you comment.

 

[Tom Arnold]

You underestimate the longevity of the might Kohler K engines. Twenty-years is nothing in the life of a K series. There are local machine shops that are fully capable of boring the block, turning the crank journal and performing a valve grind..... all for fairly reasonable money. Other owners do this all the time because the Kohler is one TUFF engine that can deliver massive amounts of torque and it is torque that matters most.

New parts are readily available from Sellers on e-bay in the form of kits that consist of a new piston, rings, con rod and gaskets and the price won't break your bank account. The Service Manual is available as a FREE download at Kohler dot com and it describes in detail the entire procedure. If tearing down an engine and putting it back together is not within your comfort zone, then just remove the engine from the tractor and hand it to the machine shop.

It doesn't matter if YOU are a collector or not. At some point, this tractor WILL pass from your hands and if you keep it "original", then it will bring far more money than if it gets re-powered and slightly butchered as a result of that process.

In my opinion, you will not spend more money to rebuild the existing engine than what the cost of a re-power engine will be. The difference here is that the OEM engine will bolt back in and hook up to all the existing items without an modifications. Re-powering often involves several modifications that MAY include cutting the hood or creating a new motor mounting system, fabricating an exhaust system from scratch, rewiring the tractor to accept an alternator type system if a start/gen system was used previously.

Sticking with the OEM engine prevents all those headaches and a properly rebuilt Kohler will outlast the re-power engine and it can be rebuilt once again.

 

[dhermesc]

If that is the original engine its a lot older than 20 years - more like 40 years. A rebuild could double that.

Machine shop work on those engines is pretty cheap - especially if you strip them yourself. Having valves ground, the bore honed and the crank polished should be around $50. If the bore needs to be over bored or the crank turned down a little more. Overhaul kits are in the $100 range with new piston, rod and seals & gaskets. It would be smart to do that work before buying your rebuild kit incase you have to buy an oversized piston or an undersized rod.

You won't find a replacement engine of any quality for triple the price of building it.

Small Engine Warehouse has an 11 HP Tecumseh replacement engine that will bolt right in for $685.

http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/product.asp?PN=OHM110-Cub102


That's why rebuilding them is so popular.

 

[jb9959]

I made the mistake buying a 11-hp Tecumseh from Engine Warehouse for my CC 72. The engine lasted 4-years and was not the engine quality of a Kohler. I found a 12-hp Kohler and changed out the Tecumseh. The Tecumseh cost $600. The Kohler cost $100 plus another $220 for overhaul.

Finally, I'm satisfied.

JB9959

 

[Anonymous-0]

jb9959 Engine Warehouse handles other engines besides Tecumseh. Myself I won't buy anything with a Tecumseh engine, they don't hold up and hard to get parts for. I have less problems and longer engine life out of B&S and Kohler. I find B&S and Kohler easier to get parts.

 

[oldtanker]

Last Kohler I did was less than 300 dollars. That included having the head shaved, vlaves ground, block bored and crank turned. Plus all Kohler parts! That was a K301 12HP.

Rick

 

[Terry Guanella]

It is actually the second engine; I replaced the first engine in the late 80’s because of a twisted crankshaft. After reading your responses I’ve decided to overhaul my old engine at a machine shop. Thank you all for your comments they were very helpful.