Small Engine Warehouse. IE; Good place to deal with?

[OleBoy]

While searching for distributors of engines I came upon this place. Thought I'd see if anyone has dealt with them. Home - Small Engine Warehouse
How are they to deal with?

Anyone?

If anyone has other suggestions for new engines, specifically a Kohler CV675S, I'm all ears.

TIA

 

[Mad Mackie]

I have purchased repower engines from Small Engine Warehouse, Tulsa Engine Warehouse and equipatron.com.
SEW in their repower link shows several Kohler engines available for a GT3000. One has the two stage 'snorkel' type air filter which increases the engine height a lot. If you opt for this engine, make sure it will fit under the hood. Most of my repowers have come from TEW and equipatron. Equipatron is the easiest to get and engine shipped from.

 

[OleBoy]

Your sources are appreciated, Mad Mackie.

I was wanting to specifically order the same engine that came stock in my 2002 GT3000, mainly due to not ever having any issues with it. SEW looks to be the only distributor that has them available.
I called them direct to ask questions, to find out just what the story is with the engines they have on hand. What they have are listed as "scratch and dent". The engines are apparently old stock and/or pulled engines off new mowers for whatever reason.
All said, they come with a 3 year warranty. So that's a plus.

My doing a bit of cross referencing, leads me to believe that the engine with the snorkel air cleaner is the same engine, although the difference in price is not a feature I would consider. My guess is the snorkel would be too tall and I would have to either cut a hole in the hood, or remove it and use pieces from my current motor configuration to make it fit. If I do the modification, I'm sure it would shoot the warranty to hell.

If I'm going to replace the engine at all, my desire is to replace it with a Kohler Command Pro for longevity.
Looking at equipatron, the Kohler Vertical Engine - CV730-0029 looks "very" similar for fitment, shaft dia, and length.
I'm open for suggestions if you have any ideas for alternatives of the same breed.
My goal is to do a heart transplant with no, or little-to-no fuss.

 

[Mad Mackie]

You may be able to find the dimensions of the Kohler with the snorkel air filter. The odds of finding the exact same replacement of your original 2002 engine are not good, but finding a suitable and upgraded new model is very good. Bear in mind that the cost of a new engine may be more than the resale value of your machine in good working order would be. I always stress to repower folks that repowering an older machine does very little to increasing the resale value of that machine. It is a decision by the owner to commit the funds with the intent of using the machine for their own use which is the only way to reap the benefits of the time and expense of a repower. Equipatron has a very knowledgeable staff, quick and easy shipping that doesn't involve shipping by truck to a local business for you to pick up which other engine suppliers require for larger engines. But always make sure what the shipping stipulations are before you purchase an engine. You may need other items such as a muffler, electrical connectors, control cables, etc., so check these items out beforehand. Crankshaft diameter and length are critical to an easy repower.
Engines originally fitted with the snorkel type air filter usually have different carb jetting than the same engine with a standard air filter.

 

[OleBoy]

You may be able to find the dimensions of the Kohler with the snorkel air filter. The odds of finding the exact same replacement of your original 2002 engine are not good, but finding a suitable and upgraded new model is very good. Bear in mind that the cost of a new engine may be more than the resale value of your machine in good working order would be. I always stress to repower folks that repowering an older machine does very little to increasing the resale value of that machine. It is a decision by the owner to commit the funds with the intent of using the machine for their own use which is the only way to reap the benefits of the time and expense of a repower. Equipatron has a very knowledgeable staff, quick and easy shipping that doesn't involve shipping by truck to a local business for you to pick up which other engine suppliers require for larger engines. But always make sure what the shipping stipulations are before you purchase an engine. You may need other items such as a muffler, electrical connectors, control cables, etc., so check these items out beforehand. Crankshaft diameter and length are critical to an easy repower.
Engines originally fitted with the snorkel type air filter usually have different carb jetting than the same engine with a standard air filter.

I've considered most of what you mention prior to considering the expense of a repower. Before the thought crossed my mind I did extensive research in the thought of just buying a new GT all together. In comparison to what I have, barring the higher end units (7-$10K) I'm real hesitant to to buy anything on the market these days. That's when I decided to rebuild what I know is good and well taken care of through out it's entire life. I figure I'd be into the rebuild roughly 2K by purchasing a new engine, deck and bagging system. Plus my time to frame strip, clean-up and repaint. My doing so would put me into basically a new GT for half (or less) than buying new from what's available in todays market.
I'd be keeping this unit for the duration as my property grass management system.

I'll have to dig a little deeper to see if I can come up with actual dimensions before I commit to anything for sure.

I really appreciate your input.
Thank You

 

[Mad Mackie]

My friend and neighbor has I think the same model of about 2006-8 vintage, it has a Kohler Command, possibly a Pro engine on it. He busted off the right front deck guide wheel that I welded back on a few days ago. Machine is black with yellow feature color. He also has a diesel Kubota all wheel drive, big deck, three point plus other accessories and this is his 'main' toy!!! I've repowered or overhauled lots of machines over the years, plus cars, trucks both small and large, boats and several aircraft, retired as an aircraft mech five years go. As time has passed, repowering verses overhauling has become the norm, but depending on the machine, overhauling was the only option. I did an out of frame overhaul on my 1978 Peterbilt long frame triple sleeper truck at 1.2 million miles as a repower with a computerized diesel was way too expensive, still lost megabucks when I sold it as it was "outdated with a 425 Cat" but ran like a charm with decent fuel mileage at 79,999 LBS gross weight!!
The SEW scratch and dent engines usually are new engines that have been removed for some reason, don't know why. SEW is usually specific as to scratch and dent and or somewhat rusty in their engine condition descriptions. I do know that Kohler had a problem with incorrect tolerance on the oil gallery plug on some vertical engines and when the engines got hot, the plug would blow out from oil pressure. Kohler resolved this problem some 5 or 7 years ago, but some of these engines are still around. I don't remember the model numbers or HP of these engines.

 

[Fish]

I have bought several engines from them in the past, and always stop and chat with their guys at the Expo in Louisville. Most of their engines are leftovers after a MFGr has a pallet leftover after doing a run of mowers. All of the engines were still in the factory boxes, and had never been opened.