How many hours will a 17HP Kawasaki Industrial Engine run without major problems?

[Keuka]

I bought a new John Deere 265 back in, I believe, 1991. 5 Years ago I face plated the mowing deck with 1/4 inch plate and at that point I had just over 1400 hours on the old girl. My thought was I might get a couple more years out of it and since I have a commercial leaf vacuum system for it I considered it might be worth the time & effort. Now it's got 1643 hours on the meter and it still starts right up and seems to run fine. I've changed the oil each fall when I put it up for the winter and that averages out at just over 55hrs per oil change. Most winters it's been stored in my heated shop so I'm sure that has helped it age well. The engine doesn't appear to burn a drop of oil and the only time it smokes is just when I first start it up and the throttle is up in the choke position. I started looking for a replacement 5 years ago but now I'm beginning to think this thing is going to outlast me. So I'm just curious how many hours others might have gotten and if the new Kawasaki's are as strong as the old models. The newer JD Garden Tractors don't appear as solidly built as the older models or at least the plastic seems much cheaper.

 

[5030]

I've got at least that many hours on my Kowalski V twin and it runs like a top. Only thing I do besides changing the oil and spin on filter regularly, is I adjust the valves every fall.

 

[spitter]

Afriend of mine has a huge landscapeing company 100 employes and says he gets 2x to 3x the life out of a Kawi as he does a Briggs and the Briggs usually gets between 1k to 2k Hrs. He will only buy equipment with Kawi or Honda motors on it.

 

[oosik]

How high is UP? With proper maintenance it should last, at least, a lifetime. I bought my first tractor, new in 1982. Traded it in, in 2009. I know the fellow who bought it. Forty years and still going strong.

 

[5030]

Afriend of mine has a huge landscapeing company 100 employes and says he gets 2x to 3x the life out of a Kawi as he does a Briggs and the Briggs usually gets between 1k to 2k Hrs. He will only buy equipment with Kawi or Honda motors on it.

Never buy another Honda powered piece of equipment after I tossed a rod on one at 4 hours and American Honda would not warrant it, said it was my fault, ran it out of oil. Interesting thing was it had a low oil cutoff and it never cut off, just puked.

Replaced it with a 99 buck Predator about 6 years ago. Still going strong, one pull starts.

IMO, Honda motors are overpriced.

 

[jerrybob]

I've got a 19 year old LT180 with the Kawaski 17HP engine.....I think I have about 700 hrs on her....never had a problem with engine......I buy a maintenence kit every year.....change all filters...oil...plugs .....she just keeps purring. The Tuff Torque K46 tranny sucks....had to replace at arounf 300 hrs. This year.....we serviced the no servable unit....drained oil...added 5/50 syn. oil......runs stronger now then when brand new....no noice backing up....climbs hills. Hopefully will get several more years from the tractor.

 

[bmg88201]

I have a 2010 JD X300, 17hp KW with 600 hrs on it, new oil and Wix filter every year. Has not missed a beat. I also have changed the 5/50 oil in the K46 tranny every 200 hrs.

 

[5030]

Weak point is always the transmission and the Tuff Tork trannny's are purposely built to throw away.

Why I prefer Hydro Gear. 100% serviceable and rebuildable and Hydro Gear sells not only parts and lubricant kits but ship manuals too.

 

[jgayman]

I bought a JD 175 Hydro in 1987. It had a 14HP Kawasaki engine. I sold it 26 years later and it was still working like new. It had around 2200 hours on it. At the time of purchase, an engine oil filter was an optional item you had to purchase - which I did. The manual warned to never change the oil in the hydrostatic transmission - and I never did. It never missed a beat despite pulling around a 900 lb. lawn roller and a heavy double snow mobile trailer that I used as a lawn cart.

 

[Diggin It]

Weak point is always the transmission and the Tuff Tork trannny's are purposely built to throw away.

Why I prefer Hydro Gear. 100% serviceable and rebuildable and Hydro Gear sells not only parts and lubricant kits but ship manuals too.

I've got an 310-0510 that'll argue with that. 'Servicing' as far as fluid chage mean complete removal and inversion. Yes, they sell parts and assemblies, but for the cost, it's less to replace the whole thing.

 

[tibadoe]

I believe that the key is proper maintenance - and this goes for any brand. All my small engines: Kohler 14hp (20 years +), Kawasaki 24hp (10 years +), Generac GP17500E - (10+ years) and still going strong. May not have racked up lots of hours per engine but they start right up and do what I need them to do. No smoke, no surging or sputtering.

Who makes the engines for Generac? I'm guessing they don't make their own.

 

[5030]

Not sure which model(s) I have, I have 2 on my zero turn and they each have spin on filters, drain plugs and fill plugs on top. 2 years ago I did both charge pumps. Other than that, no repairs.

 

[5030]

Who makes the engines for Generac? I'm guessing they don't make their own.

For the standby generators? I believe they sub contract them offshore (air cooled). Water cooled are industrial engines made by GM and Ford and diesel powered have Kubota or Yanmar diesels. The little ones, I have no clue about.

Have a Kubota in mine. Been bullet proof.

 

[LD1]

3000 hrs is a good target for kaw and Kohler motors without any internal engine issues.

It's the extremities that Nicole and dime you. Coils fail...o2 sensors and computers on new ones, fuel stop solenoids, misc switches and electrical issues, carb cleanings, etc.

But with proper maintenance (oil changes) it's not common at all to hit 3k without opening the engine up.

 

[5030]

3000 hrs is a good target for kaw and Kohler motors without any internal engine issues.

It's the extremities that Nicole and dime you. Coils fail...o2 sensors and computers on new ones, fuel stop solenoids, misc switches and electrical issues, carb cleanings, etc.

But with proper maintenance (oil changes) it's not common at all to hit 3k without opening the engine up.

I agree on the Kowalski but not the Kohler, at least the vertical V twins. Pushing 3 on my 24 horse Kowalski on just regular oil changes and a valve adjustment here and there. My wife's Kohler on her mower is an oil burner, always has been.

The Kohler horizontal singles are good motors. I have a K241 on my Lincoln welder and it's 25 years old and runs like a top.

 

[nh15201]

The Kohler K series cast iron engines were a real workhorse. They don't make them like that anymore is an understatement.

The little Kawi gasser in our 1995 Club Car golf cart has been a bullet proof little engine too. I've been after my wife to let me sell it and get a UTV for yard work - she threatens divorce if I get rid of it lol. When we got our new CC 560 S - the Kawasaki engine was one of the deciding factors. I just changed the oil / filter at a trifle over the 8 hour recommended service interval - even though the operator's manual called for only changing the oil not the filter. I will change oil / filter again after the mowing season for good measure and then probably every fall since we won't put more than 65 - 70 hours on it each season. I'm planning on stocking valve cover gaskets too since I'm planning on checking / adjusting the valves each season as well. I happily crossed the OE Kawi oil filter to a WIX 51394 filter that I also use on our Kawasaki FE290 golf cart and our little run around car - a 2001 Toyota Corolla.

I've always believed in good maintenance - and shorter than called for maintenance intervals. I sleep better at night and in the big scheme of things - it's of little matter to me. I'm hoping that this new CC 560 S will be the last mower that we will need over the next 20 years or so - the good Lord willing. I still use and maintain my one remaining 1969 John Deere 140 with the above mentioned K321 Kohler engine as a back up and some seat time with such a vintage piece of equipment.

I was under the CC 560 S the other day doing the oil change and really gave it a look over underneath. Time will tell the story - but they are heavy duty built. I'm going to see what I can find on the Parker hydro pumps that come with this unit? I'm wondering if the other manufacturers of ZTR's use the Parker pumps as well or if it is a CC only deal?

 

[TractorGuy]

I have a couple of F725 mowers I bought as a package. They have the FD590V water cooled Kawasaki engines. I am running the 96 that shows 1699 hours but i think the hour meter must have died. It was reading 1629 when I bought it in 2018 and I have run it every year since. The 99 is a parts machine but I checked compression on it's engine and it had 150 PSI on both cylinders. It is reading 2369 hours. Somebody robbed the carb on that one so I haven't started it and I don't know why it was parked.

I am contemplating a tear down, inspect, and rebuild on the parts engine one day. My 96 smokes some on start up but doesn't use a lot of oil and clears up as soon as it warms up.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I worked at a lawn company as a mechanic. As an American, I hate to say this, but avoid Briggs & Stratton. I worked at a dealership for tractors and they also sold a few lawn mower brands. Briggs would blow the bottom seal out, of course you lost oil instantly, broke a rod and quit before you knew there was a problem. Most had a broke rod and still would run. Just no power. Some just broke rods. At the lawn business the Mexicans love it because I'd replace the 19 hp mower engine with a 37 horse Kawasaki. I had to change blades every other day. Sharpen 60-70 blades on the other days. I liked to be ahead.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have never had a Briggs and Straten engine blow up or start leaking. Have owned some I ran for 20+ years. I have a push trimmer I bought in 1988 with a 6 HP Briggs that still runs fine. I've seen plenty of blown Tecumsehs and Kohlers.

 

[mikester]

I have never had a Briggs and Straten engine blow up or start leaking. Have owned some I ran for 20+ years. I have a push trimmer I bought in 1988 with a 6 HP Briggs that still runs fine. I've seen plenty of blown Tecumsehs and Kohlers.

My portable genny with B&S engine shot the piston arm out the side of the block.

Generally speaking small gas engines will run until they don't. If you fail to maintain them they stop working sooner. Personally I hate small gas engines in mowers etc because they tend to be temperamental, noisy and stinky.