M15???

[bds1984 1,500]

Last night I picked up a "M18" for a song because a mouse had chewed off one of the high tension wires. The motor has 370 hours on it which I know is nothing and I'm loving the remote mount oil filter. It came out of a 1546 Cub Cadet and has Magnum 15 decals on it but is a M18S on the ID tag. So what gives? Is it just a disguise and really an 18 hp engine?
I'm planning on putting it in my 520H roller for kicks....

Edited September 26, 2015 by bds1984
Pictures

[AMC RULES 37,196]

Sweet looking engine...  
looks like it's sposed to be there. 

[DennisThornton 4,771]

Well isn't that odd!
I'm following!

[boovuc 1,090]

If that is bolted down that really does look like it is suppose to be there from the factory. You wouldn't expect a "Non-Issue" with the exhaust going from different manufacturers!
I wonder if the shroud and the air cleaner cover didn't come off of a vertical shaft Mag?????

[Don1977 605]

My guess is that it's a bushing engine off a Craftsman.

[DennisThornton 4,771]

My guess is that it's a bushing engine off a Craftsman.

What's a "bushing engine"?

[bds1984 1,500]

The engine is bolted in. It runs quite well but I need a 5.5'' engine pulley. All I had was a 4'' one I installed to at least test out the hydraulics. Everything works but is a but slow because of the smaller pulley.

The engine came out of a cub cadet....

[Don1977 605]

My guess is that it's a bushing engine off a Craftsman.

What's a "bushing engine"?

Sears has used engines with bushings instead of ball bearings on the crank. JD and Cub has also used bushing engines on there on there tractors with drive shafts as there is any side loading.

[HorseHead1089 100]

My Sears has bearings on the crank, what model are you referring to?

[bds1984 1,500]

I believe many of the ''bushing engines'' Don1977 may be referring to are the engines on lesser tractors.... I've seen many of them, mostly on smaller HP engines and many vertical shaft engines; I'm not saying they don't exist on larger units. Judging from the manual I got from Kohler, this engine has ball bearings but a thrust bearing I am unsure of. Regardless, I got it for a good price and it runs great!!! I'm still curious as why it is labeled 15hp.

[DennisThornton 4,771]

Ok, "Bushed engine"  rather than one with bearings.  Understood now!
Thanks!

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,510]

Have heard of this happening. Say a tractor builder needed a 15hp 2-cylinder engine to meet market demands they would go to Kohler and they did not have one. It was not worth the expense to design and build a new engine to meet the spec so they would use a 18hp @ 3600 rpm and sell it as a 15hp @ say 3200 rpm and everyone was happy.

Garry

[Howie 899]

Had a Briggs district rep say that is what they did when someone needed one that they did not make. 

David

[diesel cowboy 263]

Like the others said Cub Cadet wanted a 15hp engine to fill their line so they used the M18 and just had Kohler make the 15hp decals for it.  That's why the model tag says M18.  They also did the same with their 14, 16 and 17 hp lawn tractors

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,253]

How was claiming it has less HP a selling feature? Strange....you would think that they would want to "brag" about every possible horsepower the motor could produce.
Mike......

[Howie 899]

Yes it was the mower people wanting a certain HP, why would be anyone's guess. Not worth it for the engine manufacturer to tool up
for a separate model I suppose.

David

[bds1984 1,500]

That would make a lot of sense as over the years that I've used many machines, of varying brands, that have a claimed 18HP engine under the hood and some have noticeably out performed others that have more "HP" per stickers on the engine but same size deck, ect. 

On a side note, has anyone ever had the starters act up on them?  I've been fortunate to not have a starter act up like this one.  It is hit or miss of whether or not the bendix engages and turns over the engine; the starter always spins, it just doesn't engage occasionally.  All the wiring system is brand new as of Saturday so I can rule that out.  Is it necessary to remove the starter occasionally to add lubrication to the moving parts on a starter?

[oldredrider 2,553]

Starters are subject to heat and dirt...all the time. An occasional cleaning and lube of the shaft is good insurance. 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,510]

Bendix drives do fail. If you hold the body of the drive you should be able to turn the gear one way but not the other. It may require more force than you can develop with your hands to make it slip.
When they fail this way the drive gear will engage the flywheel but won't drive it.

If the drive won't engage the flywheel but the motor runs it is dirt not allowing it to advance to the end of the starter shaft where it engages the flywheel.

This is hard to determine if you can't see the drive. The K-Series starters allow you to view the drive.

Garry

[bds1984 1,500]

The starter issue is fixed.  A little bit of Fluid Film and some elbow grease has cured it.  All I need now is an engine pulley from a 520H and it'll be set to work since the current 4" pulley setup turns slower, but it starts and runs well with 60PSI oil pressure at an idle so I cannot complain.  I had to make my own wiring harness so I removed the complete tractor harness and indicator light assembly.  Is that of any value to anyone?

I wont be able to use anything powered by a traditional Wheel Horse PTO as this is a "bushing" engine as I just discovered from a manual I downloaded; makes sense as this came from a Cub Cadet and they don't have the side load like our WH's do.  The crank is quite short so I don't have much room to put an electric clutch unless I can devise some sort of extension to bolt on the end of the crank.  Any thoughts?