leeave96 487 #1 Posted April 29, 2013 I've got some Kohler engine questions hopefully someone can help school me on. All of my questions relate to the single cylinder K series engines. Any help with this info would be much appreciated.<br /><br />1. Did all of these engines have balance gears in them from the 8 hp thru the 16 hp? If not what years had them?<br /><br />2. We're the 16 hp engines typically 12 or 13 fin engines?<br /><br />3. I see a lot of posts for 12 and 16 hp tractors, but it seems like not that much for 14 hp models. I know WH sold a ton of 12 hp tractors, but did they sell more 16 hp tractors than 14 hp?<br /><br />4. What years were the engines used with the isolators/engine cradle? Was this something WH did in response to Cub Cadet and other makes?<br /><br />Thanks!!!!!<br />Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevasaurus 22,197 #2 Posted April 29, 2013 (edited) Here is a pretty cool link to Kohler "K" engines. This will answer many of your questions. All of the manuals http://www.kohlerengines.com/manuals/landing.htm Edited April 29, 2013 by stevasaurus 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkPalmer 80 #3 Posted April 29, 2013 The 8 HP K181 never (as far as I know) had balance gears installed, there really is no room for them in that little block. 10 HP-16 HP “big blocks†can have them or not, depending on the engine spec number, that meaning if the original equipment manufacturer the engine was supplied to wanted them used in the engine or not, it wasn’t year specific. Most tractor manufacturers wanted them, to help smooth the big single cylinder engines out a bit. By contrast a manufacturer using a Kohler K series on a cement mixer wouldn’t care if the engine vibrated a little, and could save some money by spec’ing engines without balancers. Around the mid 70’s there was a big push among tractor makers to smooth out and quiet down their machines. I don’t know if Wheel Horse was following anyone else’s lead on the rubberized engine mounts, but it is very likely. -Mark- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fordiesel69 188 #4 Posted April 29, 2013 In addition, what really bothers me is that people cannot agree the balance gears are needed / not needed. To this day I am still in the air on what to do. 1.) Rip them out while you can, or they will beak. 2.) Don't take them out, they are needed to keep the rotating assmble in balance. K181s never had them per the research I have done, and per the manual. 10-16HP its it or miss. For wheel horse, I have noticed belt drive starter models almost never had them. Gear drive starter model most likey had them, but not always. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkPalmer 80 #5 Posted April 29, 2013 A big part of the reason the balance gears came to be was the “horsepower race†in garden tractors. As opposed twins started being used on some larger garden tractors, is was quickly noticed how much smoother they operated than a single. Tractor manufacturers asked if they could get that same sort of smoothness from the singles to spare the expense of using a twin for smaller HP machines. Along came the balance gears and rubberized engine mounts for the singles, John Deere’s 200 series tractors is where the biggest push for this to happen with Kohler came in the “Q†Quietline K series engines. If you listen to a Deere 212 throttled up next to the older 112 model you really see and feel the difference of all the garbage installed to smooth the tractors out and quiet them down. They didn’t quite reach the smoothness of a twin, but the improvements helped keep the K singles around for a couple more decades. Do you need to have the balance gears? No, they can be removed with no ill consequences other than a slight bit more vibration at slower engine speeds. Should you remove them due to failure paranoia? Myself I wouldn’t go in and do it without reason to believe they have a problem, as in noise. (Ye olde not-broke-don't-fix-it theory.) I have them in my K301, and don’t give them a second thought. If they haven’t blown apart yet after all this time, they won’t likely do so without warning. -Mark- 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aremai4_27 0 #6 Posted May 2, 2013 Kohler has a technician training program that has a study guide that's free online. The study guide is more geared towards Command series engines, but it still has a lot of useful information that applies to any small engine. http://www.kohlerengines.com/dealers/certification.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites