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Are kholer engines good

How long is a piece of string ?
Does food taste good ?
Want to narrow down things a little ?

herrerahnj4 said:

Are kholer engines good

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Depends on which Kohler you're referring to.

- Courage XT series (push mower engines) are good. They start right up, have plenty of power, and they're user-friendly. They had some carb issues a few years back due to casting flaws in the carbs, but I think that's been fixed now.

- Command/Command Pro series are good, especially the older ones. I've got one with over 2,000 hours and it still runs great.

- Courage riding mower engines aren't so good. They've had a number of issues and are more prone to breakdowns than most Kohlers.

- Triad series are a disaster, or so I've heard. Never used one.

- 7000 series are still new to the market, so it's hard to tell how durable they are. They've had a few issues, but Kohler is improving them and I think that in the next few years they will be a decent engine for the money.

- K-series (very old Kohlers) are bulletproof. Some of the best engines Kohler ever made.

I don't know much about the others.

primerbulb120 said:

Depends on which Kohler you're referring to.

- Courage XT series (push mower engines) are good. They start right up, have plenty of power, and they're user-friendly. They had some carb issues a few years back due to casting flaws in the carbs, but I think that's been fixed now.

- Command/Command Pro series are good, especially the older ones. I've got one with over 2,000 hours and it still runs great.

- Courage riding mower engines aren't so good. They've had a number of issues and are more prone to breakdowns than most Kohlers.

- Triad series are a disaster, or so I've heard. Never used one.

- 7000 series are still new to the market, so it's hard to tell how durable they are. They've had a few issues, but Kohler is improving them and I think that in the next few years they will be a decent engine for the money.

- K-series (very old Kohlers) are bulletproof. Some of the best engines Kohler ever made.

I don't know much about the others.

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I agree with your input thank you

Like primer said the Command Pro are true commercial engines and are hard working and long lasting.

The Triad engine was a good engine in theory because it eliminated a lot of parts, but had a design flaw because it used lost foam casting technology that combined the heads, cylinders, and upper half of the crankcase into one piece. Because of this design the cast iron cylinder liners where pressed in from the the bottom because the heads were not removable. When the cooling fins got clogged the cylinders would overheat, and the liners would move downward like the valve guide in the briggs heads. After sliding a small distance the top piston ring would lodge above the liner and then pull it downward into the crankshaft breaking both rods. I had a customer with one on a walker and one on a grasshopper that both went 2000 hours before they just wore out and started using excessive amounts of oil

The courage XT push engines had some minor glitches in the beginning but are now holding their own
The courage single rider engines had ongoing issues from cover screw problems coming loose, to camshaft compression release problems, as well as water in the starter issues.
The Twin courage rider engine didn't have the problems like the single courage did.

The Courage single rider is now a limited engine and is still available as a replacement engine, but in limited sizes and quantities. The Courage twin has been replaced with the Confidant and the 7000 series, which are based on the Command frame.

There is now a EFI version of the 7000 series called the 7500 series.

The Aegis water cooled engine is coming back out as a EFI engine.

There is also a EFI version of the CH440 horizontal engine coming out this year also. Add is a trifuel LP, NG, regular gas version of the small Command horizontal engines.

Kohler is expanding EFI every year so who knows were that will lead.

EFI (Electronic fuel injection) You can bet its coming on mowers. Electronics are getting cheaper as emissions will need to improve. Its good for the environment and it will make it much easer to diagnose electrical problems. On top of that the mowers will run and start much better. Just look at the big improvements they have made in cars. Back to the post, Kohler is one of the top engines made.

I don't know much about Kohlers newest engines but I go back to the old K-series up through the Triad. I saw the first Courage engine ever shown to the distributors at Kohler before it was put into production. It was a single cylinder and a few jokes among the group was that it was a bucket engine due the crankcase configuration. I've known of a few twin cylinder Courage engines that have gown over a 1000 hrs in commercial use on Cub Cadets. Yes the K-series were bullet proof other than the K-361. It was an OHV that had some valve seat problems. The K-482 through the K-662 were also bullet proof but were monsters to work on. The KT's had some oil problems on the series ones but that was eliminated when they went to full pressure lube and later on the Magnum twins. We distributed equipment also that came with Honda, Kawasaki and Kohler engines and the Command Pro's were as good as any of them. Maybe better because of working with the warranty. Yes the Triads caused me many restless nights. I heard that Kohler actually lost money on every one they sold due to manufacturing costs. Kohler had some of the nicest people in their service department back then, Les Heinemann, Paul Scholton, Dale Ten Pas, and Randy Prigge were always ready to help out. Don't know if Dale or Randy are still with the company. Les and Paul are deceased.

Actually the Courage single was known national wide by the dealers, distributors and Kohler as the bucket engine,

ILENGINE said:

Actually the Courage single was known national wide by the dealers, distributors and Kohler as the bucket engine,

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And that is the engine that the crankcase cracks. I called it a bucket of junk. I am sure hope Kohler fixed the problem.

The only advantage the Bucket engine had was you could work on the internals without removing the block from the mower. That is if the engine stayed together long enough to require working on the internal components.

ILENGINE said:

The only advantage the Bucket engine had was you could work on the internals without removing the block from the mower. That is if the engine stayed together long enough to require working on the internal components.

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Not much of a advantage when you have to strip the block and have the cracks welded at a welding shop. The last one I did it ran into a 600 dollar repair.

I rather like them, real easy to work on.
I use oxy so have now mastered the art of welding the "Kohler Krack" in situ, engine in place.
Took a while to work out a technique I have been using a steel blanking plate while welding and am going to try the next one without disassembling the engine.
And yes Kohler stared putting locktite on the front 4 bolts and the problem went away.
It was most likely due to some freak resonance at just the right frequency to unwind the bolts.

bertsmobile1 said:

.
I use oxy so have now mastered the art of welding the "Kohler Krack" in situ, engine in place.
Took a while to work out a technique I have been using a steel blanking plate while welding and am going to try the next one without disassembling the engine.
.

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I just never heard of oxy welding? If I was to try to weld a aluminum block it would be such a mess it would be junk so I leave that to the professionals that do that for a living. My guess is that the crack would have to be cleaned to weld it proper? I know when I am over my head in a repair. I just bought a mig welder and as I understand it should be able to weld aluminum but I wouldn't experiment on the customers money with it.

Quite the opposite.
Oxy ( gas) welding is a slower process so fluid contaminates boil off and solids float to the top of the weld puddle.
Electric welding is a fast & violent process so any fluid contamination instantly vapourises and blows the weld out of the crack.
Plain physics liquid oil to gasious oil at 1800 deg C undergoes a massive volume expansion which if in a confined space would be called an explosion.
These tiny explosions blow the filler metal out of the weld pool so you end up with a poxy weld with a lot of splatter and bad penetration.

I can do field welds on alloy decks with no more surface prep than to knock off the grass underneath to avoid starting a fire.
We have 3 locally made ride ons which have a cast alloy deck and these are prone to damage from rocks.