Best engine??

[Bens vintage tractors 1,542]

The k series kohlers are the best engines in the wheel horses (my opinion) here are a couple of my all original horses 

[daveoman1966 3,752]

C-160 with the K341s is HANDS DOWN...the best one-lunger ever made. ...Best Wheelhorse too.

 

 

[muz123 1,191]

I prefer a nice running Onan ! I love the P220 in my 520, such a beast of an engine. 

[Bens vintage tractors 1,542]

3 minutes ago, daveoman1966 said:

C-160 with the K341s is HANDS DOWN...the best one-lunger ever made. ...Best Wheelhorse too.

 

 

@daveoman1966 I 100% agree!! I love me a good k321 or 341! Also the big axle c160 and early 416-8s are some of the best ever made!!

[Bens vintage tractors 1,542]

4 minutes ago, muz123 said:

I prefer a nice running Onan ! I love the P220 in my 520, such a beast of an engine. 

@muz123

“Nice running” And “onan” don’t belong in the same sentence haha. My 520 with the 500hr onan runs pretty good honestly..

[Bill D 1,926]

I'll be the oddball here.  I like the Briggs 16 in my GT 1642.  Decent power, easy to work on, starts great, even after sitting over the winter.  Smooth running with little vibration.   It's been as reliable as a claw hammer.  

My Onan has needed a governor flyball spacer replacement, had wiring issues and is difficult to work on.  I got it running properly now and I like it.  Great power.

I like my Kohlers, I just seen to get the worn out ones.  I have a 745 hour K321 with a knock, an M16, and  M12 that burn oil and rattle. Other than my KT 17 I've had bad luck with Kohlers lately.  Bill

[Bens vintage tractors 1,542]

1 minute ago, Bill D said:

I'll be the oddball here.  I like the Briggs 16 in my GT 1642.  Decent power, easy to work on, starts great, even after sitting over the winter.  Smooth running with little vibration.   It's been as reliable as a claw hammer.  

My Onan has needed a governor flyball spacer replacement, had wiring issues and is difficult to work on.  I got it running properly now and I like it.  Great power.

I like my Kohlers, I just seen to get the worn out ones.  I have a 745 hour K321 with a knock, an M16, and  M12 that burn oil and rattle. Other than my KT 17 I've had bad luck with Kohlers lately.  Bill

@Bill D the opposed Briggs are pretty sweet little engines. As far as onans and those stupid flyball spacers go I hate em lol and the k series are so easy to work on don’t give up on that 321! I pull a 5,000lb pulling sled with a stock k321 they are beasts 

[ebinmaine 67,698]

5 hours ago, daveoman1966 said:

C-160 with the K341s is HANDS DOWN...the best one-lunger ever made. ...Best Wheelhorse too.

 

 

Agreed. 

These are all Kohler engines except the bright red one. That's a Briggs 8. 

 

L to R:

314-8 owned by @OldWorkHorse Steve. 

 

My Patriot Horse B-80. 

Trina's Pony 657. 

Trina's Pigpen 867. 

My Cinnamon Horse C160. 

 

 

 

 

[sparkie333 265]

Hard not to go with my 44 year old Kohler  K341 runs great---but I would say that I have never owned a M16 or any other M Kohler engine and you could not give me one ---I just all ways heard of people having so much trouble out of them.  Onan engines are known to be great engines---kinda like a Honda engine on a wheeler that has been taken care of I have a Honda engine that is 38 years old and has never had anything done to it but change oil and filters.  I for got I did change the carb. on it after I let it set up for 5 years with out running it so that was my fault---I was sick. But I did put the carb. on it myself.

[sparkie333 265]

3 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Agreed. 

These are all Kohler engines except the bright red one. That's a Briggs 8. 

 

L to R:

314-8 owned by @OldWorkHorse Steve. 

 

My Patriot Horse B-80. 

Trina's Pony 657. 

Trina's Pigpen 867. 

My Cinnamon Horse C160. 

 

 

 

 

That is a great herd but something don't look right ----something about the color.  I could send you some paint --and about 1 or 2 hrs you could have that thing looking right.  Now if you had said the odd one out was your wife's I guess I could understand. ----But just having a little fun with you.

[ebinmaine 67,698]

3 minutes ago, sparkie333 said:

That is a great herd but something don't look right ----something about the color.  I could send you some paint --and about 1 or 2 hrs you could have that thing looking right.  Now if you had said the odd one out was your wife's I guess I could understand. ----But just having a little fun with you.

You'll figure out fairly soon she and I just ain't quite right. 

Note though that all have some type of red and no other brand's color. 

 

 

[sparkie333 265]

My C160 16 HP automatic WH

[SylvanLakeWH 25,606]

I’m partial to engines that run... correctly... consistently... without a lot of nonsense...

 

My Kohler 10 meets that standard.

 

[Herder 2,354]

Kohler is what I preferer.  All range from 9.6 to 16HP.  Some smoke, some rattle, not to much different than me.  

Edited December 10, 2020 by Herder

[Skipper 1,788]

Now that it has to be Wheel Horse original mounted engines, I would have to say the little robin diesel in the 512-D ;-) 

[Greentored 3,216]

The 520H was my first Horse, and once I fixed the typical Onan intake seat and two piece manifold reseal issues, I had no problems whatsoever with it. Whatta beast!

...annnnd then along came a Kohler powered Horse. And another. And more. Then a barn full of em. So I raided the parts and built Hoss, took a K321 and rebuilt it with a 1.65 intake valve, ported and relieved, balanced, mild cam regrind, decked, milled and unshrouded to 9.3:1.

Them big block Kohlers have plenty of power as is, but I cant leave things alone.  Hoss is an absolute animal, and even at 1700-1800rpms will dig a trench instead of stalling out. Not sure if the governor has ever actually pulled the carb wide open....

So simple to work on, and rock solid dependability.

Still love me a big Onan, but truth be told, at this point the only thing I truly miss is that wicked opposed twin snarl 

[horseyheaven 112]

My number 1 would be a tie between Kohler k series and flat head Briggs for durability.  I have never had one of these torn down yet and they all have some serious hours on them.  Worst thing I have had to do is points\condenser.  My second choice would be Kohler command horizontal  Twin cylinder engines.  However, I do like a good, strong running Onan.  For years, I only had Kohler or Briggs.  Now, I have 4 Onans in my fleet that are impressing me.  Only have had trouble with one of them on a 520 WH.  It lost a valve seat on rear cylinder.  When I tore it apart, It had an oil leak and back cylinder was coated with grass.  The previous owner abused the machine pretty hard.  When I got it, I went all through it and took care of all its issues.  Now, it has been great.

[cschannuth 3,816]

I think all of the engines are great but everything I have with a Kohler has had to be rebuilt and my twin Briggs and twin Onans are still all original and running strong. Maybe it’s just dumb luck.

[Gregor 4,846]

I find it interesting that no one mentioned a Tecumseh. Poor little guys.

[tom2p 2,394]

 

tough to top a single cylinder Kohler for the combination of performance and durability - perfect match for a Wheel Horse tractor
 

if you cut a lot of grass - especially a lot of tall / heavy grass and even more if it includes a grade - or move a lot of heavy snow with a snowblower - the scales might then tilt toward a big twin like a Kohler KT (Series 2) or Onan twin 

 

[oilwell1415 563]

1 hour ago, Gregor said:

I find it interesting that no one mentioned a Tecumseh. Poor little guys.

 

I don't really have an issue with mine, but based on what limited data I have I can't imagine putting it in the category of best anything.

[bds1984 1,435]

1 hour ago, Gregor said:

I find it interesting that no one mentioned a Tecumseh. Poor little guys.

For me it is the awful carburetors on them.  Every single one of them I've ever worked on were terrible no matter the fuel used or who owned them.

[bds1984 1,435]

 

The best for me is a K341 like others have mentioned.  A close second is my recently acquired C175 with the series II in it.  I love the sound of it throttling up!

[305 380]

Gregor...i have been meaning to ask ,what is up with that seat?  you must sit very high on that

 

sorry if this is out of line

[305 380]

yes.....Tecumseh engine can suck,  i spent a few hours yesterday cussing at one.   you have to have everything just right, but when you do they purr like a kitten