Kohler 10 hp low power when deck is engaged

[ptagmyer 57]

On my wheel horse c-100 the kohler 10 hp engine has low power when deck is engaged and kinda wants to stall seems to much load on engine.  It drives find. deck and mule drive spin freely. all new fuel lines, fuel filter, carb cleaned,new jump connection seat switch, and new spark plug. Doesnt smoke much only on start up and a little choke and throttle need to be used to start. Could it be low compression?

[bc.gold 3,406]

Spindle bearing seizing up, possibly wrapped tight with dried grass or twine.

[ptagmyer 57]

@bcgold Thanks that isnt it i have tried two different decks on it didnt help

[bc.gold 3,406]

When was the last time the valve clearances were adjusted..

 

Does the engine have the most power when it's first started up and still cold, loosing power after the engine has warmed up are good indicators that the valves need adjusting.

[ptagmyer 57]

not sure just got the tractor, thanks again @bcgold i will have to look into this because I covered all the basics

[ScottCT 15]

I stumbled upon this searching for clues for my own similar problem. Last Fall my 310 had very similar symptoms and it would start smoking too. The engine had puffed a little oil since I picked it up a few years ago so I knew rings weren't great but this was kind of sudden and got worse very quickly. I replaced the fuel pump thinking it may be going bad after I tested it with clear fuel lines and there seemed to be more air bubbles than there should have been. That accomplished nothing so I decided to pull the engine. I purchased a prime rebuild kit with the intent on just tightening up the engine. The internals looked pretty good except the rings and minor scoring on the piston. The valve clearance was good so I left them alone. I only honed the cylinder and replaced the piston and rings. I finally got around to putting the engine back in the tractor last week and I seem the have an epic fail. The engine smoked like crazy when I started it which seemed normal since their was lots of oil in the cylinder and on the piston from assembly. But although it cleared up some it seemed to have a cycle of repeated puffing which may just mean the rings need to seat but seems excessive to me. The other issue I have now is a "wrap" in the engine which I can only assume is coming from the rod since I didn't have any other moving parts apart. The video I attached is right after initially starting it. Any feedback would be appreciated 

Edited May 25, 2020 by ScottCT

[squonk 43,820]

You may have put the rod in backwards or put the rod cap on backwards. I haven't seen as Kohler  yet with any amount of hours that didn't need to be bored. Ring gaps may be wrong causing the smoke

[ScottCT 15]

I will admit to trying to do a cheap repair to it but although I didn't check the cylinder because I don't have an inside diameter micrometer the new piston and the old one measured very close and everything fit nice and snug when I assembled it. The original piston and rings didn't smoke after initially starting it each time until it developed this hot low power condition. I was very careful to check the orientation of the rod however. The rod and cap orientation are correct and the oil hole in the cap is correct.