Repowers

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Jhook ...502 with Predator 212

 

On 10/28/2020 at 7:42 PM, Jhook said:

Pulled the engine off and pressure washed the entire machine, removed the factory battery box and ground down the frame to weld in new motor mount plates:

welded in 2 pieces of 3/16 inch flat stock to mount the new engine to and bolted

On 10/30/2020 at 9:46 PM, Jhook said:

I got an original hood today. Slight bend on one side but the mounting tab is original and unbroken. Happy it clears the motor fine as i had nothing to base it off of when choosing a mounting position

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Don1977... C120 with 16 HP Briggs and Stratton Vanguard

 

On 3/31/2009 at 12:19 AM, Don1977 said:

I have made a few changes over the years.

First I changed engines after the second overhaul gave up. B&S Vanguard 16 HP I put on in 1991. The muffler if you can call it that is 2 pieces 3/4" conduit and a section of 2"

tail pipe.

\

 

I got tired of hammering the tie rod back, and got these from Irvan - Smith a local race car supplier. They are 1/2" I turned the rod down and made bushings to 3/8" for the ends.

The front wheels gave up and I put 3500 lbs spindle and hubs on with 6 ply tires. The rear tires are 23 10.5's.

Here is a shot of the dash with a few extras. You didn't see the battery It usually is on the back but I have the lift hitch on it now and I can't have both. It starts very easy just turn it over a couple of time with the crank rope the set the choke turn on the switch make sure it's out of gear and it starts on the first or second pull.

Edited June 10, 2022 by Snoopy11

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@JTBondrew... C100 with 10hp Apollo CF 186F (E) Diesel Engine

 

On 7/19/2014 at 2:50 AM, JTBondrew said:

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@slammer302... Suburban with Predator 212 swap.

 

On 10/14/2013 at 3:59 PM, slammer302 said:

 

I have my suburban all painted up now I need a motor so I bought 212cc predator to put on

 

 

On 10/21/2013 at 6:41 PM, slammer302 said:

I got the motor on had to put header pipe on to clear the hood I painted the blower housing made a engine cover plate from stainless steel I used the stock air intake because it keeps every thing away from my feet but put a uni air filter on it and put the hitch on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 10/21/2013 at 8:32 PM, slammer302 said:

 

 

On 12/7/2013 at 2:12 PM, slammer302 said:

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Snoopy11

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@dwayneGT... GT1142 with Predator 420 swap. (sorry for the fuzzy photos, photobucket is holding the better photos hostage... so these are all I could get)...

 

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@JoeM... 316-8 with Briggs V-twin repower

 

On 2/29/2012 at 7:58 PM, JoeM said:

Decided to throw together an old 16HP Briggs v-twin and a rolling chassis 312-8. Worked out pretty well. Runs the 48" deck with no problem. (my wife says I need adult supervison).

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Snoopy11

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Burnerman... Commando 7 with 24hp v-twin Briggs and Stratton

 

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Snoopy11

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Gordyhogg... 656 with Kohler 181s repower.

 

On 12/17/2019 at 12:33 PM, Gordyhogg said:

 

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@dpm2000bolt... C141 with 10HP Carroll Stream Diesel engine swap.

 

On 3/12/2011 at 9:12 AM, dpm2000bolt said:

 

 

 

 

On 3/11/2011 at 9:40 AM, dpm2000bolt said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@PeacemakerJack... GT-14 with Kohler Magnum 16

 

On 8/26/2019 at 9:40 PM, PeacemakerJack said:

 

 

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,596]

Great thread! On track and helping people look at options!!! 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@can whlvr... 308-8 with Honda 13...

 

On 8/5/2009 at 10:39 PM, can whlvr said:

I must agree to go bigger,i had a 308-8,now repowered with a honda 13 and there is no comparison,this machine is much stronger now and i could let the grass go a little longer before i had to cut it.I couldnt afford a big kohler at the time,so a brand new pull start is what she got.I am on my second honda now (loose air cleaner) ,the thing i like about it is no batterys,starters wiring problems,safty switches,ignitions etc,and it allways starts first pull,one draw back,no lights.

On 8/7/2009 at 10:52 AM, can whlvr said:

The honda was almost a direct bolt in other than the fact that the crankshaft on the honda is flared right beside the bearing where the shaft comes out,so i dremeled the pulley,plate hole to fit the flare on the crank,and i had to remove the head lights because the exhaust blows out the front,no big deal because the pull start doesnt run lights anyway ,this motor is a torque monster and i dont like to admit it but is even stronger than my 14 kohker,they just dont last as long,but if you take care of it i had one go 10 years of extreme use untill i didnt tighten the air cleaner and that was the beginning of the end for thet motor.

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Justice77... Suburban 400 with Briggs and Stratton 5 hp swap...

 

On 9/30/2018 at 7:44 AM, Justice77 said:

 

 

 

 

On 9/23/2018 at 10:08 PM, Justice77 said:

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Machineguy... Workhorse 700 with K321 swap.

 

On 8/2/2018 at 7:32 PM, Machineguy said:

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@mrshaft696... Commando 8 with 18hp opposed twin Briggs and Stratton swap...

 

On 10/11/2019 at 1:33 PM, mrshaft696 said:

 

On 10/15/2019 at 9:40 AM, mrshaft696 said:

 

On 10/21/2019 at 10:06 AM, mrshaft696 said:

 

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@tommyg D-180 with 25 hp Kohler Command Pro...

 

On 8/14/2015 at 11:10 PM, tommyg said:

Just set it in for s & g's. Initial observations look promising. It will definitely have to be raised up a good 2.5". The long PTO shaft was necessary (about 4.5") since the overall width of the engine is narrower than my original K482. Big weight difference with the aluminum block vs cast iron. Probably 50 lbs! Might make turning this beast easier. The coupler will need spacers to bring it out far enough to mate with the hydro pump. Suggestions welcome. The hood fits with room to spare, but the engine is not raised up to its final position  yet. Exhaust ports look like they'll be fairly easy to adapt. The clutch control linkage from the lever will definitely need to be modified. Might even need to extend the control arm to raise it up high enough to clear the shrouds. Anyway, I'm pretty excited and I think this is going to work. More as I progress!

On 8/28/2015 at 10:33 AM, tommyg said:

 

 

 

 

On 9/6/2015 at 10:22 PM, tommyg said:

Well, it took a little time, but I pretty much have the re-power job complete for those of you interested. Here are some pics of the finished product and notes on what I did to get everything to work. I must say that it's not as hard as it might seem. Just some head scratching and a desire to make it as clean an install as possible. I can't stand cut rate options, so maybe I spent a little more $$ than someone else or time making it just right. But I will say that I'm pretty proud of the result. Cut the grass  yesterday and plowed through 12" high grass with a 60" deck with hardly whimper from the 25 horse command. Let me know what you guys think! I have a couple more "tweaks" to accomplish, like re-configuring the oil drain tube to make oil changes convenient. And for those contemplating the switch, rest assured, it's
possible!


With the base in place, the engine was ready to mount. After 3 prototypes, I wound up with this design. It consists of 1" square stock with 1/4" X 2" stock welded together. Had to add a 1/16" washer under the engine to make sure the coupler lined up perfectly with the hydropump.



I had to carefully measure the distance between where the PTO needed to be and the coupler to determine the final resting place for the engine. The dimension of the part I had machined to attach to the flywheel also depended on this. I placed the old engine in and took the necessary measurements. Had the crankshaft been a different size, I would have had to change the dimension of the spacer at the flywheel end. Looking back, I'm not sure a shorter crank would have worked.



After getting the engine positioned, the next challenge was the pivot point for the clutch arm. Fabbed this "L" from 7/16" round stock and threaded one end to mate with the threaded hole on the engine block. I tried using "all thread" for the prototype because I could not locate any 7/16" stock. But I didn't like the way it ended up. Looked a little harder and found some at Tractor Supply. Welded a washer on the end to act as a stop, and drilled a hole for the cotter pin to make sure the arm stayed put.



Next, the arm itself was too short. The original K series with its horizontally opposed cylinders had a lower profile above the cylinders compared to the V Twin design of the Command. That meant adding a little extension on to the end of the arm. I was a little concerned that the extra length would compromise the amount of pressure the clutch would provide when engaged, but it proved to be a non issue.



The connecting rod from the PTO control from the driver's seat had to be lengthened and reshaped. The original straight rod would not clear the valve covers of the V-Twin design. I put the first bend nearest the control lever, then picked up some 1/2' round stock and threaded one end to fit into the adjustment "nut". Made another bend or two to that piece to end up with what you see here. It's still not the way I'd like it because it hits the air filter housing when engaged, but I spent so much time on getting it to this point, I'll save that project for another day. Spent an inordinate amount of time bending, re-bending and adjusting that dang thing to make sure there was enough pressure on the clutch pressure plate, but not so much that it didn't disengage.



Cable connections ended up being pretty straight forward. I picked up a couple "Arnold" universal mower throttle cables, discarded the cheap plastic lever that came with it and modified the length to fit. Both the choke and throttle don't have the same "throw" as the original. Full on with the choke and full throttle and idle require much less distance. Just have to live with that. Found a happy medium and need to learn the new touch.



The last piece of the puzzle to figure out was how to attach that little PTO brake. Using that same 7/16" all thread, I welded a piece of scrap bar stock to the original L shaped bracket that held the brake. Used a nut as an adjustment so that I could position the brake exactly where needed. Then, used the original adjustment means for exact positioning against the pulley. Had to make sure this piece ended up under the pulley so as not to interfere with the belt for the blower this winter.



Here's what I ended up with! Would I do anything different? I don't know. The electric clutch option is still out there. But I really had no clue how it would attach to the PTO and finding a dual pulley arrangement was difficult. It also would have added at least a couple hundred bucks to the total. Out the door, I've got about $1200 invested. Yes, I know, that's what I paid for the tractor. Who cares. Those are the things you try not to think of. Engine was $800. Used, but low hours. Maybe 100. Machining the extension to the flywheel and labor was another $160. Turning the crankshaft from 1 7/16" to 1 1/8" was $200. Then just some miscellaneous supplies. The one thing I have to get used to is the lack of "jowls" the tractor seems to have compared to the old horizontal cylinders of the K. I kind of miss that look.

Hope this helps someone else facing the same decision!





 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@clem ...417A with Honda GX690 v-twin repower. (no repower thread that I could find)

 

 

 

Manual clutch

 

 

Electric clutch

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Wheelbearing... 520-H with Honda GX690 v-twin

 

 

On 6/9/2013 at 2:55 PM, Wheelbearing said:

I mowed the lawn.  This thing is absolutely what I should have done a long time ago.  It sounds awesome very throaty.  Very quiet at idle.  So quiet I can here the hydrostatic pump running.  At speed the mower deck is louder than the engine.  My spindle bearings are a little shot.  Sounds like a large x mark zero turn lawn mower or close to my fathers JD 455.  Very powerful!!  Does not slow down in tall grass at all.  Charging system works perfect. 

 

 

Still pulls grass into the cooling intake. just like the onan.

 

     

On 6/14/2013 at 8:53 AM, Wheelbearing said:

 

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@SALTYWRIGHT.... 417-8 with 10 Horsepower Diesel

 

On 3/26/2011 at 6:32 PM, SALTYWRIGHT said:

MY 417-8 THAT I PUT A 10 HORSEPOWER DIESEL AND CRANE ON THE BACK

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Big Jake... C120 with Robin Subaru EH65 653cc 22hp...

 

On 1/10/2012 at 5:00 PM, Big Jake said:

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Kelly... C-195 with 25hp V twin diesel...

 

On 7/22/2013 at 8:28 PM, Kelly said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

Many of these repowers seem to not be used for mowing... lots of them don't have PTO installed!

 

 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

@Jeff-C175... oh... well... in that case, here's one for ya!

 

@Woodsie... 520H with Predator 670 V-twin...

 

On 7/17/2015 at 2:42 PM, Woodsie said:

 

 

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,596]

4 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Many of these repowers seem to not be used for mowing... lots of them don't have PTO installed!

 

 

Good eye and good point… neither of mine are / were used for mowing… just pulling plowing and cruising…

 

Maybe the bearing support issue? 

 

Regardless, some pretty cool stuff!!! 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

Just now, SylvanLakeWH said:

Maybe the bearing support issue? 

Personally, I think it is more so what the tractor is used for.... (i.e. what the owner wants to use it for)

 

Most of the threads that I see in which the owners repower and don't put the PTO on... didn't have a mowing deck on it with the old engine...

 

Don