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I ain't been in for a while because 3 years ago I moved into a rental that came with lawn service, and at the same time my daughter and her hubby needed lawn mowers. I suspect that will change as I need to move again in July. But my son needed a mower for his job, so I told him to keep an eye out. He said "Right, like that'll happen". About a week later he, once again, was proven wrong. My son works at the local Animal Welfare League, and their cordless electric needs batteries.

It's a Toro 22". 2009, with a Kohler motor. The pull rope was broken, and upon further inspection, the drive belt had been thrown. The blade looked like it had been mis-sharpened a long time ago. Fixed the rope, and it started first pull. Not bad for 11 years old. The blade looked like it had been ground on both sides. I did the best I could to put an edge on it without loosing balance. Total investment is a scrap of Delrin rod 5/8" diameter, and some para-cord, both "in stock" in my shop. Cleaned up nice.

Before;




And After;



When I move, I'll probably buy a new one, but it's nice to know I still got it. Not that it took much, but still....

Good find. You could probably flip that right now for an easy $75.

PTmowerMech said:

Good find. You could probably flip that right now for an easy $75.

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I found one of these a last month. The sump gasket was bad. I fixed it and got $150. Maybe thanks to the guy who posted the exact same mower for $250.

BTW, so Kohler is rebadging chinese motors now?? sad.

upupandaway said:

I found one of these a last month. The sump gasket was bad. I fixed it and got $150. Maybe thanks to the guy who posted the exact same mower for $250.

BTW, so Kohler is rebadging chinese motors now?? sad.

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That's the first I've heard of Kohler being chinese.

upupandaway said:

I found one of these a last month. The sump gasket was bad. I fixed it and got $150. Maybe thanks to the guy who posted the exact same mower for $250.

BTW, so Kohler is rebadging chinese motors now?? sad.

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No Kohler is not rebadging imported engines.
Kohler , like Honda , Toyota , Briggs Stihl , and just about every other brand name you can think of OWNS a factory in China because wealthy people in developed countries like Australia & the USA are too greedy or cheap to pay a fair price for anything .
So the engines with Kohler on them and "made in China" are made in Kohler's own factory to Kohlers specifications and are passed by Kohlers QC before being shipped to the rest of the world.
One of the reasons why China has become so wealthy is they took a leaf out of the Saudi Arabian Company law book and do not allow foreign companies to set up a whoely owned factory.
To set up in China you have to go into partnership with a local manufacturer or company.
Thus unlike Australia where Apple & Micosoft can make $ 800,000,000 a year of opperating profit then turn it into a loss so pay no local taxes
In China 1/2 of the profits made by exploiting the low wages & non-exisant OH&S regulations stays in China and of course 1/2 of the board are Chines citizens ( usually party hacks ) so unlike most South American factories , the corrupt government officials can not syphon off all of the profits for themselves.
Thus the general population in China is rapidly becoming wealthier

Nice work! I never find anything on the curbs here.

bertsmobile1 said:

No Kohler is not rebadging imported engines.

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Oh ok. Well, they must be cloning Predator motors then cuz it sure looks the same.

upupandaway said:

Oh ok. Well, they must be cloning Predator motors then cuz it sure looks the same.

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I know what you mean, the local tractor supply sells Cub cadet tillers and string strimmers with Kohler engines but they also use the same style carb i think, made by Ruixing so it makes sense the controls would be similar (fuel cut off and choke) , i would have swore it was rebranded clone, even the block casting has the same texture and look to it..But i trust that Bert knows more about it than me... as a matter of fact im sure he does.

upupandaway said:

Oh ok. Well, they must be cloning Predator motors then cuz it sure looks the same.

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Really ?
Put a GX Honda next to them or a Ducar or a Loncin or a Luffan or for that matter a Briggs.
Take the decals off & most would be hard put to tell one form the other.

Decades ago it was found that inclining the cylinder reduced the vibrations, well in fact that was discovered in the 20's but stationary engines started being inclined around the 90's .
Then there is space constraints ,
A sloped engine is a lot more compact.
Come to think of it the only vertical cylinder I have seen for decades was a diesel where of course nothing will damp out the vibrations.
Honda have a renewable patient & trademark red so this prevents other makers painting their engines a similar red colour ( yes Honda have sued successfully )
Robins used to be yellow .\
Black is the cheapest colour to paint anything.
And Predator is not an engine maker, it is a trade name just like Craftsman .
They are made by one of the anonymous CHinese factories that do not sell anything with their own name on it. I did know their name but can't think of it right now.

bertsmobile1 said:

Really ?
Put a GX Honda next to them or a Ducar or a Loncin or a Luffan or for that matter a Briggs.
Take the decals off & most would be hard put to tell one form the other.

Decades ago it was found that inclining the cylinder reduced the vibrations, well in fact that was discovered in the 20's but stationary engines started being inclined around the 90's .
Then there is space constraints ,
A sloped engine is a lot more compact.
Come to think of it the only vertical cylinder I have seen for decades was a diesel where of course nothing will damp out the vibrations.
Honda have a renewable patient & trademark red so this prevents other makers painting their engines a similar red colour ( yes Honda have sued successfully )
Robins used to be yellow .\
Black is the cheapest colour to paint anything.
And Predator is not an engine maker, it is a trade name just like Craftsman .
They are made by one of the anonymous CHinese factories that do not sell anything with their own name on it. I did know their name but can't think of it right now.

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I've heard the comment passed around a few times a company named Chongqin Zongshen makes the predator engines.

Maybe

Yancheng Fujiheng Power Machinery Company Limited
Jiangsu, China

Buy them for about $50 in lots of 20 from Alibaba.

tom3 said:

Maybe

Yancheng Fujiheng Power Machinery Company Limited
Jiangsu, China

Buy them for about $50 in lots of 20 from Alibaba.

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Makes me wonder about some people, buy a $120 engine, and buy those 'stage' build up kits and make 12-16 HP out of a 212cc.... They dump $400 into 120.... Might as well buy a 16 horse Briggs for that money...of course a 16HP Briggs may not have a 3/4" crank .

bertsmobile1 said:

And Predator is not an engine maker, it is a trade name just like Craftsman .
They are made by one of the anonymous CHinese factories that do not sell anything with their own name on it. I did know their name but can't think of it right now.

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I know china copied the honda motors. I know Predator is not the maker but the seller. I'm just saying if Kohler is going to make their own motor, they would make it different but u look at the Kohler and teh Predator among other brands they are sold as, they sure seem identical to me thus the same maker. It is like the John Deere mower where they label it a JD motor when u look at it, and it was obviously made by Briggs for JD.

Don't rally understand what your point is
The kohler & the preditor have different fuel tanks and different air filter covers is that not enough for you to spot the difference ?
Should Kohler paint all their engines pink with purple pokka-dots so they can be identified at 500 yards ?
And if they did this would it make some one determined to pay nothing for everything walk past HF and go into a real small engine shop ?
Would spending hundreds of thousands of dollars changing the entire tooling for the engine increase sales ?

As for JD & Briggs, Briggs make the engines for JD to JD's Specifications and in particular the crankshaft which is stronger than a normal B & S one.
Husqvarna, Catsman, Roper, Poulan, McCulloch Yard Keeper all come off the same production line and look identical
THe JD 100 series is built off the same design as the above
Are they all the same ?
They must be according to your logic because they all look the same
And Husqvarna have a factory in China that makes the same shape tractor so they must all be made in China .