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Adding oil to cylinder and raising the compression psi reading 15 psi or 30% indicates worn or stuck rings. You have done a leak down test which indicated only a 15% loss, which is low. The bottom line is that this is a turd of a blower to begin with. You have done your due diligence. I...

First area to check is the drive belt and pulleys. Is everything in good shape and moving correctly. Then check between the deck frame and where the steering gear is for grass buildup. Take a screwdriver and air compressor blow gun and remove any debris.

First of all, Kohler Courage single cylinder engines, especially, are known to have starter issues, among other problems. So your starter may be borderline on working properly. Second (actually first), charge and load test your battery, and clean all terminals and make sure they are tight. Then...

A 13 year old thread about Dixie Choppers. Dixie Choppers had their “hey day” about 20 years ago. Since then they have gone out of business and been brought back to the market by another company. Too many other good brands of zero turn mowers to even mess with a Dixie Chopper.

10-12 hours of belt life is pathetic actually. You should get several years of life on that belt. You can order an OEM belt, however, I would check and recheck the deck. Something is most likely not right.

Sounds like the last few years you have experienced some health problems. Try to take things a little slower and take care of yourself. My knees and back are still doing really well. Never take your health for granted.

No, not at all.

Here we go again with the zero turn versus this stupid Cub Cadet steering wheel zero turn versus now subcompact tractors. I say get a zero turn and a small tractor in this case with 100 acres.

Star Tech- I have had enough of your snarky comments over the years. Clearly you don’t like me, and that is fine. Looking back on the post, I missed the model number. I made a mistake. You seem to love pointing out my mistakes and other people’s mistakes. You will not belittle and bully me any...

This mower was produced from 1985-1991, and is old. If you can change the hydraulic oil, do so. Probably worn out hydros.

Either drill out the pilot jet on aftermarket carburetor (tricky), or replace the gasket that goes on white plastic base and two tiny O-rings. Nikki carburetors are a pain, and everything has to be just right, or they will hydro lock the engine with fuel.

You gave type and code information, what about the model number?

Before testing, test the battery. 12.75 volts at rest, and also load test it.

Try cleaning the OEM carburetor and replacing the metering diaphragm before replacing it. Then if that doesn’t work, order an aftermarket carburetor based on the model number of the trimmer. Aftermarket two stroke carburetors can be more hit or miss versus a four stroke larger mower engine.

If the deck is engaged (blades are spinning), when you start the mower, then obviously the belt tension is good enough (tight) to do so. That means if the belt is routed correctly, the spindles and pulleys are all good, etc., then you have the WRONG size belt. Double check the belt size by going...

This is a poor design, no doubt. I am sure the spindles for the “fast attach” blades are more expensive, I know the “S” blades are more expensive. Also, it doesn’t look that secure. They tried to reinvent the wheel and failed. It reminds me of the John Deere “Easy Change” oil filter, that is...

Check the drive belt under the frame. Drop the deck to lowest setting and get down on your hands and knees with a flashlight. Was it moving forward and reverse and suddenly stopped moving?

Never heard of a GTV990 engine . Is it an Onan? Who makes it? Obviously you are installing the oil seal incorrectly, or have the wrong part.

I have never seen these on a mower, so had to look it up to understand. Looks like a poor design. Probably made to accommodate those people complaining about how hard it is to take off blades after they have been on for two years, have hit multiple objects, and have self tightened.

There is a metal connector about half way down the handle on the drive cable, that is your adjustment. Take 2 ten mm wrenches and loosen. Then twist connector apart to increase drive tension on belt. Play with it until the adjustment is where needed and then tighten.

I mow on 4” most of the year on fescue. Some people mow on 3.5” on fescue. Many people cut the grass too short regardless of the type of grass or time of year.

Wiring issues that are difficult, or sometimes impossible, are the worst. I had one on a Troy Bilt riding mower this year. Finally gave up and it needed a full harness replacement and wasn’t worth it for the cost of labor and new harness.

Typically the last couple of mows are cut a bit shorter. So in your case you can cut at 3.25” or 3”.

I have the funds, but probably won’t come visit you.

Use carburetor spray and a wire wheel on drill to remove RTV on head and valve cover. A John Deere Z225 has a single cylinder Briggs that does not require removing engine for head gaskets. However, the Z425 has a twin cylinder engine mounted sideways that does require engine removal. Just...

Use OEM Kawasaki ignition coils.

I run nothing but 87 octane 10% ethanol, and never have fuel related problems. One of the most over hyped controversies is ethanol in fuel for small engines.

Sounds like belt tension is not tight enough. Whether you go 5 minutes from your house, or one hour, you are going to have to get mower there, or have picked up. Lots of people with no truck or trailer have this issue. If you can’t figure it out, going to have to get it fixed. Have someone sit...

Concrete cutoff saws are exposed to dusty conditions. First thing I would do is a compression test, and visual check of piston, rings, and cylinder.

Springs won’t really help either. Most riding mowers, and zero turn mowers, ride like lumber wagons unless you have a suspension seat. I am not sure if you can get a suspension seat for this Husqvarna mower, but it is worth looking into. Suspension seats are real game changers when it comes to...

None of this is making sense. Can you send a couple of pictures of the deck underneath and the right hand side of deck?

Talk about worn camshaft lobes! That is ridiculous. As you said, how did the engine even run?

Noco battery charger has repair mode for sulfated batteries. It pulse charges from around 14 volts to 16.5 volts to burn off sulfates on lead in battery. Some other off brand chargers have this feature also. I have two chargers that will sometimes bring back a battery. Normally only works on...

Sounds like belt has been recently replaced. How good is the belt tension?

You have replaced a lot of parts. Try diagnosing the issue instead of throwing parts at it. List the problems and symptoms of the mower, then research online the possible causes of these symptoms. This focuses your efforts towards the possible solutions.

Ultrasonic cleaners work really well. I usually manually clean the jets and emulsion tube while the carburetor is cooking in the ultrasonic cleaner.

Remove a spark plug and install a piston stop, or take good nylon rope and stuff it into the spark plug hole until full. This will keep engine from turning so you can torque the PTO bolt properly.

The shop charged you $1500 to say they can’t fix it, or it would be $1500 to fix it?

Good luck with all that. Sarcasm.

Try removing the jet from the three aftermarket carburetors, and installing into the OEM Walbro, and seeing if that works. Unless the jet in the Walbro cannot be removed because the head of jet is stripped. The OEM carburetor can be ultrasonically cleaned with jet installed and it should run...

Possible causes: Belt worn and needs to be replaced. Gearbox worn and not engaging. Wheel plastic gears worn and not engaging. Cable hanging up and needs to be lubricated.

Only mowing for 20 minutes tells me you don’t have a big lawn. If it has a mulch plate on where the side discharge opening should be, remove the mulch plate. Maybe the deck baffles needed to make mulching work properly are missing or damaged. You will never be happy with the cut quality...

You can use a metal oil drain plug if you don’t want to buy another rubber extension one. The advantage the rubber extension drain has is that lessens the mess of oil. Should be a standard mower oil drain plug you can buy. You can check drain plug size with micrometer if you have one.

Unheard of that kind of hours. I have never heard of any small engine going over 1/2 that amount of hours. I am not saying it isn’t true, just that it is an exceptionally long amount of hours.

With regular maintenance and not running it low on oil, around 2000 hours. You are reaching the end of the engine’s life most likely without rebuilding it or replacing. Keep an eye on the oil and top off as needed. Kohler Command is a great engine.

It is hard to say without actually working on the trimmer. Try lubricating the throttle cable. You may need to open the throttle plastic cover up and see if anything is hanging up inside.

The cost of everything, across the board, has gone sky high since the pandemic. How the average person with a few kids is making it in today’s economy is tough. I believe a lot of people are swimming in debt.

How many hours on mower? Is this your mower you have had for many years, or working on for someone else? Check each idler pulley and spindle for slop and play, check tensioner arm for slop and play, check the plane of the belt by getting down at eye level and looking across the deck at pulleys...

What is “full throttle?” Do you have a tachometer or basing speed by ear? 3600 RPMs is max for a small engine. Self-propelled mowers typically run best at about 3250 RPMs.

Pull out this crappy filter, throw in trash, install a gravity fed red pancake fuel filter.