We have had them in a Ariens GT17 tractor in the past. First one lasted about 600 hours and always used oil. One day it just grenaded one of the pistons and blew it out the side of the cylinder. Second motor lasted less than that and overheated itself into full lock up. Had a 17HP on a Scag 36" mower.. Thing never ran well since it was new and finally consumed oil to the point where it was time to replace it or just get rid of the mower all together. Less than 500 hours on that mower and the motor was trash.Replaved it with a new Scag but a Kawi motor.. Runs and starts like a champ. Have a Walker mower now with a 23HP Kohler that has popped 2 head gaskets in less than 500 hours of use. Was going to replace that mower with another but Walker must have a deal with Kohler as i can't get anything else unless its a diesel. Xmark is supposedly coming out with a Kawi option for their Walker knock off design mower.. Ill probably go that route once its available.
Kohler No Longer An Option on L&G Tractors?
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5030
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Interestingly, I had that issue with the carb on my Lincoln Gas welder with it's K series Kohler horizontal thumper. No way to adjust it, all sealed. That jug went in the trash and I bought a real adjustable one. Problem solved. When the 'pollution police' get involved, it's all down hill.
5030
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You can get a lemon in any motor. I lunched a Honda with a rod through the block at 7 hours and Honda told me it was my fault. Put a HF Pred in it's place and lived happily ever after. Honda's are junk too.....lol
From what I see a Kohler Confidant is about as good as a recent Briggs Intek twin. No real issues with the Confident in my world. Rather see a Kawasaki sitting under the hood though. Used to love the Commands. They can be a bit overdone. Did things to them that never should have hit production. Like accelerator pumps and SAM to name a couple. You come across someone who has mistreated the carbs, man are the parts expensive. Courage twins need to be cared for, they weren't any worse than an Intek really. For those that have leaking tin valve covers on these, they do make a nice composite retrofit kit like the Command had. Both Briggs and Kohler single rider engines leave even much more to be desired.
5030
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None of them will go much past 1200 hours unless it's an exception. That is about it. Pushing 900 on my Kawzloski 27 horse V twin. Probably puke next year, will be Pred time again.
ruffdog
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Kawasaki mower engines are made in Maryville and Boonville MO.
Kohler vs Kawasaki: Which is the BETTER Engine? [2022]
KMM Engines - Welcome!
KMM Engines - Welcome!
Kohler vs Kawasaki: Which is the BETTER Engine? [2022]
KMM Engines - Welcome!
KMM Engines - Welcome!
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RandyT
Elite Member
Kohler's biggest mistake is trying to compete in the consumer market. They use to be exclusively commercial engines, You complain about the accelerator pumps, but on some mowers, if you had the engine rpm much above idle and engage the deck it will kill the engine without the accelerator pump.
The biggest issue with the SAM was the technology kept changing, And old analog SAM got replaced with the digital SAM, and then the digital SAM box became NLA, which led to the DSAI which had its own issues with voltage spikes, and the wiring changes to try to protect the electronics. Then the DSAI modules went NLA which led to the current MDI systems. And sometimes along that line the analog SAM box got discontinued, but you couldn't convert a ASAM to DSAM or DSAI.
I get asked what engines I work on the most so people can just reliability. And this year 90% of the engine repairs I have performed have been on Kawasaki. And I am not even a Kawasaki engine dealer.
sd455dan
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Interesting that the one link states the Kawasaki engines average life hours at 3500 and the Kohler at 1000 hours.
Interesting point of view. I've worked on a lot of Commands that were on fairly basic mowers too though. The accelerator pump observation was that it was costly and really not necessary sitting on something like a HOP with a 48" deck. I'll tip my hat to your comment about the larger decked machines though. Another way to reinvent the wheel. All these ignition systems that got converted ran well with the standard ignition. OEMs spec all that crap? Could be. I work on more Kawasaki every year then the last. Then again, I work on a lot of X Series and ZTRs that have them. When people ask me, frankly I tell them to stay away from the single cylinder engines all together for ride on equipment. For the average Joe, any of the twins do the job for the life of the equipment with some care.
My season started off with so many low hour PMs it was ridiculous. This past week I had a number of 1300 + hour machines. Two were Courages. One of those was running on one cylinder for the last 100 ? hours. Go figure. Still had 180# compression on both cylinders. Cylinder can't be too egg shaped yet...
I can accept that you can get the said lemon ...But 4 strikes and you are out.