Snowmobile engine

[tree grower]

This may not be the place for this question, but I am confident someone out there knows the answer. My garden tractor of choice is Wheelhorse (not Toro), and I foolishly sold my 416. I have replaced it with a B-100, but it only has a 10 HP Kohler engine. I wish to replace this small engine with a 18+ HP motor, but all the ones available at a reasonable price (ie, entire machine, but I just want the motor) are vertical shaft.

Around here, old snowmobiles can be had pretty cheap, and they all have horizontal shaft engines. Years ago I heard that these 2 cycle engines are not used for summer-operating equipment, because they cannot be adequately air-cooled in the ambient temperatures. Is this correct ?

 

[bigdeano]

Don't know the answer to your question, but snowmobile engines don't have governors, so might not work very well on a tractor.

 

[ironnut]

There are a host of reasons why you don't typically see 2 stroke engines in many applications. In the past there were a lot of 2 stroke powered lawn mowers, portable post hole diggers, soil compactors, go karts, ATVs, and others. With emission laws being enacted for lawn and construction equipment, the 2 stroke engine is at a disadvantage to the 4 stroke design. Having said that I think the idea has merit and certainly intriguing. The cooling aspect can be mitigated primarily by not overloading the engine. I picked up 2 older snowmobiles for cheap and they both have engines in the 30-40 hp range. If you do not try to run them at max output for hours on end, they should not overheat even in summer temperatures. You might want to increase the amount of 2 stroke oil in the gas in a lawn tractor application to compensate for temperature and loading. As the previous poster noted they don't have governors which will complicate things significantly. In the past the Surplus center has sold belt driven external governors, so one of those and some inspired linkage could address that omission. Also the crankshaft where one would attach a pulley or power coupler is likely to be a tapered shaft which will complicate adapting the engine to a clutch or transmission. Still it sounds like a fun project.

gordon

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

When I was young, in the late 1960's, a local law and garden/snowmobile dealer, set up a Wheel Horse tractor with a 2 cylinder snowmobile engine, which he used to compete in garden tractor pulls. It was neat, and being it did short runs, cooling wasn't a factor, but it had 2 upright straight chrome exaust pipes with the flopper type rain caps on the exaust. I don't think it was the best puller, but it was neat.

 

[doohicky]

If you find one like a Kohler K399 or an older Artic Cat that was fan cooled you should be good to go.

 

[DK35vince]

If you use a 2 stroke snowmobile engine to mow the yard, be prepared to use 4 times the amount of gas your 10 HP Kohler does

 

[stevem5215]

On a lawn tractor you are looking for torque from the motor. A 4 stroke gives a torquey output. A 2 stroke does not but it's very good at high rpms which a 4 stroke is typically lousy at. So, if you want to run at 8500rpm get the 2 stroke. If you want to run at 3600rpm get the 4.

Steve

 

[Eyecatcher]

Take a look at Buggies Gone Wild. There is a forum there on snowmobile mods with a lot of good ideas.

 

[20 20]

You could run the 2 stroke with out heat issues especially if it has the fan or liquid cooling. Take a look at 2 stroke ATV's. With that said would it be practicle for mowing the yard probably not the best choice. Years back I made a small pulling tractor using a snowmobile engine, also had a friend make a go cart with one(he was clocked by a tropper at 104mph)

 

[BrianDT]

Many snowmobile engines will rev much higher than a simple lawn tractor motor. Your PTO speeds might be all messed up and you might not be in the powerband of the motor at the rpm you need to be at.

Cool idea for a toy.

 

[94BULLITT]

Most lawn mower engines are governed at 3600 rpm. A snowmobile engine would not have enough torque at that rpm to turn the deck. Throw a honda on it. Surplus Center - 13 HP HONDA GX390 RS ENGINE What ever engine you get be sure it has the right shaft.

 

[Eyecatcher]

Look on Ebay - Honda GX390 clone. I bought one for $225 w/free shipping. Replaced an 18hp briggs vanguard, has much more power than the briggs.
I put it in a Utility Vehicle. Took some adapting, but it sure beats the Briggs. Have a 6.5 clone on my log splitter - works great. Honda parts fit the clone.

 

[LMan1967]

when i was a kid I had a go kart, and when the 5 HP B&S died on it, I had a 21-HP (I think) Yamaha snowmobile motor to put in its place.

sadly, never got around to the swap, sold it. would have been fun, though.

 

[crazyal]

I'm sure you could do it. I think you could work around any heat issues. I think you'll find that you'll need to retune the carb for the warmer temps. You'll also need to figure out what to do with the exhaust pipe since 2 strokes pipes are a key part of how the engine runs. It's just a matter of how much you're willing to do. Of course you'll have to smell two stroke exhaust and it could be a bit louder.

 

[Stonehaller]

As others have said, 2 cycle snowmobile engines are high speed engines. You would have to add an extra gear reduction to get the speed down and torque up for a real tractor application. You would have to re-jet the carburetor for warm weather. The intake and exhaust are also issues. Most snowmobiles do not really have an air cleaner. The use an air box to keep the noise down and the snow out of the engine. The exhaust system is matched (tuned) to the engine to ensure the proper flow through the engine. Change the exhaust and add an air cleaner and you would seriously affect engine performance. The other issue is engine life. The high power and high rpm of a 2 cycle snow mobile engine comes at price. Where as you may get 1000 hrs out of a small 4 stroke engine, you may only get a third of that from a snowmobile engine.