K341 Bogs Under Power / HELP !

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Guys I am having to come over to Red Square for some help with the K341 quiet line in my year 1975 CubCadet 1650. It is a Hydro. Cub Cadets seem to be more popular in North Carolina than WheelHorses, so I thought I would try one just to see what they are all about.

I have had to replace the front axle and wheels, replace the rubber iso-mounts, annd change the hydro fluid and filter just to get it to where I can sit on it and drive it. Now that I can, here is the problem I am needing help with;

When running under a load with the hydro fully or near fully engaged, the engine bogs down and loses power. To keep it running and powered up I have to pull back on the hydro lever. I have changed the air filter and spark plug. I have changed the carburator as the old one had a severely worn throttle shaft. Changing the carb made the engine run alot better, and made the problem not so severe. I have posted this same question on the CC site I am a member of, and the responses I am getting are related to a sticking valve. This may be all of just part of the problem as today before dark I was able to run it about 30 minutes with Marvel Myster Oil in the gas, and after 15 or 20 minutes the engine did begin to smooth out and the bogging was not as severe, although it was still there. At dark I shut the engine down and added more MMO to the gas. Tomorrow I will add MMO to the crankcase oil.

My question is; Is there something I am overlooking? Govenor adjustment perhaps? I really don't think its an electrical issue, but I could be wrong there. What do you guys think about this, and what would you do if you were me?

BTW, I will always like WH's better than any other LAGT. They are sleeker, and red, and I will always favor the manual PTO of the Horse verses the Electric PTO of other LAGT's such as CubCadet or John Deere.

Thank You,

Van

[CRE1992 135]

Seems to me that it is a valve issue or a issue related to the points, do you have the engine timed or gapped properly?

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

I have not done anything to the engine other than what I described above. Sorry to not get back to you before now. Work was crazy today. I will check in again shortly after dark.

[CRE1992 135]

I think it has to do with the points. When points are not adjusted properly an engine will run like crap.

[boovuc 1,090]

Hi Van,

When you are putting the engine under load, it is also gulping more fuel. When you changed the plug, did it look chalky white as in maybe running lean?

I would also ask, (and you may have already done this), when it is under full load and you sense the engine is bogging that you ramp up your choke just a little and see if it helps the matter or if it boggs down more.

Otherwise, a stuck valve or points/timing issues or a combo.

Good Luck!

[gwgdog66 23]

Sounds like the guys all gave very good advice. Someone here had a muffler that was plugged up causing a bogged down type condition.

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Thank you everybody for the advice on what to look for. I will take all this in considertion using the trusted divide and conquor method. An update for tonight is right before dark I drove it around for about 20 minutes on differing terrain. What stood out is the rougher the terrrrain, the worse the problem is. The bogging got progressively worse as I went from driving on asphalt to dirt road to a driving it across a field. I can see where any one of a combination of two or more of your suggestions are causing this. Probably the next thing I will check is the points and checking the key switch for loose wireing. Actually this is very challenging, and I'm kind of enjoying how its testing my troubleshooting ability. GWGDOG thank you for your suggestion regarding the plugged muffler, but that may be the last thing I check as I don't see where this would apply to my situation given what I noticed today.

I will be so happy to get this tractor finished mechanically, and working with a dozer blade on the front.

OK just for fun; One of my co-workers came in my office today and announced her WheelHorse 312-8 has a mower deck with some bad cracks in it. She is thinking the mowing deck is too far gone to repair. She knows I am crazy bout WheelHorses, and so I told her if her husband would be willing to sell it, I would like to be the next owner. Overall it has been well taken care of. And....... I have a nice 48 inch side discharge deck sitting under the shed that will mount right up to it. I literally could roll it off the trailer here at my house and be cutting grass in 30 minutes :)

[gwgdog66 23]

Let us know how things pan out for ya.

I did this once and it drove me nuts. Cold Beverage was involved. I had some old gas in the tank and put a full bottle of "Heet" and half a can of "Sea Foam" in the tank. I figured I would run it all out being there was a little over a gallon in it. It would start and idle just fine, and die after a few minutes when it was under load.

Once I Idled all of that mistreated old fuel out and cleaned the carb , and put fresh gas in it, it ran like a new machine.

Long story short don't over treat your fuel.

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

OK, last night I pulled the old points to give them a visual. They were not too bad, I have seen muchmuch worse. So since I did not have an extra set of Kohler points in my pocket, I pulled my 40 year old Craftsman points file out of the roll-around and gave those old contact points a nice little polishing. Then set the gap, and of course the engine started. Today after work I replaced the points cover and took it out for a test drive. Same problem. Reset the low speed and high speed screws on teh Wallbro carb and it got somewhat better, but definetly not problem cured. I am thinking the next thing to do is check the valve tappet clearances. I remember somewhere that on a Kohler engine when the valves get out of adjustment over time, instead of getting loose, they get tight. So now you know what is next on my divide and conquor method to get this thing fixed. I am sure the engine is long overdo for that anyway.

I am planning to change out the coil too. I have an extra one of those.

After reading this, is there any comments?

[can whlvr 991]

just a thought,do you know the fuel is good,bad fuel can give a host of problems,might be worth draining and put in fresh?

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Yes, it is brand new 89octaine BP gasoline. I didi put 2ozs of MMO in it to see if that would help loosen a stuck valve. Maybe I should drain that out and run a more conservative mix of gas and MMO to see if that changes anything. My gut feeling is it will not as the symptoms are the same as a lesser mixture.

Thank you for hanging in there with me regarding this. It is a little frustrating though, but I keep reminding myself its only nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts...............