Cub 2146 Carb.

StarTech

Lawn Royalty
Top Poster Of Month
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Threads
78
Messages
10,233
If they just provide repair kits or individual repair parts these carburetors would be nice. I just had to replace a Kohler Keihin @ $303 just for the carburetor due to fact I can't get any internal parts for it from Kohler.
 
Last edited:

Rivets

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Threads
55
Messages
14,753
I know they are expensive and few people work on them. I’m lucky to have a Cummins Distributor in Wisconsin which I am able to call and get parts. Because most people won’t touch them I’ve gotten units from 100 miles away bring them in for service. About 10 years ago guy calls and offers me a free weekend at his resort in northern Wisconsin plus my labor rate if I would come and get the generator on his RV going. Boss said go for it, the next week packed up the wife on Thursday, drove 125 miles, and got a two bedroom cabin on the lake. Next day did a full tuneup on the unit and relaxed for two days. Guy covered our meals and drinks, paid for mileage and three and half hours labor, and the next five springs drove it to us for a tuneup. Everyone, including the wife, was happy.
 

Bingo

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 7, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
4
Hey folks, We are talking about a lawn mower not a 450 HP hot rod. I can get a Holly for that kind of money! I was a truck mechanic and still work on hotrods. $250 and up for a lawnmower carb to me is just insane! Are the rebuild kits just as bad or can you not get them?
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,702
As a person who works with their hands and does high precision work you of all people should know that precision COSTS MONEY just like speed does .
Onans are near the Rolls Royce of engines that have been fitted to mowers
You should also realize that the COST of doing a job is not dependent upon the end use but the amount of time & effort that goes into doing it.
The PRICE that a customer is willing to pay is what becomes determined by the end use .

When it comes to manufacturing the 2 big determinants in the cost is the precision & the volumes.
Holly make good carbs, millions of them and thousands of them are all based on the same bodies .
OTOH as far as the engine is concerned, a carb is a carb is a carb so no reason to fit the exact OEM carb to anything provided that you know what you are doing.
Unfortunately very few mechanics actually fully understand carburettors let alone Joe Public with a busted mower .

If Joe Public was willing to take their mowers to a carb specialist , most could sort them out with a substantially better carb that would give far less trouble than the factory fitted one but we come to the problem that the end use controls the price people will pay so rather than pay a specialist $ 200 to sort things out with a more common carb they will spend $ 5000 on a new mower . And your comment is exactly in line with this .
You would pay that money for a tuck or hot rod carb but not a mower carb yet the mower carb is doing the exact same job and providing more benefits to the customer than any Hot Rod ever will.
 

Rivets

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Threads
55
Messages
14,753
Carb kits for most Onan engine carbs run about $125.00, new carbs start around $300. I have found that most times crossing the MTD or other manufacturers numbers to Onan and buying through Cummins is cheaper than using the other manufacturers numbers. Even though they are $$$, I’d rather work on an Onan engine than just about every other manufacturer. Plus they have the best service manuals. Only time I hate them is when they are installed in the small back corner of an RV.
 

StarTech

Lawn Royalty
Top Poster Of Month
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Threads
78
Messages
10,233
Hey folks, We are talking about a lawn mower not a 450 HP hot rod. I can get a Holly for that kind of money! I was a truck mechanic and still work on hotrods. $250 and up for a lawnmower carb to me is just insane! Are the rebuild kits just as bad or can you not get them?
The particular I was having replace was needing a main jet which Kohler does not provide. But if it was just a simple rebuild then in this case there was a rebuild kit.

But if you think $303 is bad try replacing one the Kawasaki carburetor on a Z950R they are around $600. If it wasn't me getting a schedule 80 pipe to repair it that what it would have cost the customer.
 
Top