Ariens Riding Mower Kohler Courage 19 Engine Leaking Oil

I was attempting to mow my yard today and notice my engine was puffing smoke. So I take it back to the garage and take the covers off to expose the engine. I found a good bit of oil on the front underneath section of the engine directly above the muffler manifold. The mower itself is about 2-3 years old. The oil level is in the middle so its not low or over filled. Any idea of what may cause this? My first guess would be a cracked head? Would it be worth repairing or replacing the engine or get a new one? There is also evidence of burning oil on the under side of the mowers hood.

Post your Ariens model & serial numbers as well as all numbers from engine data plate.

Courages leak a lot from the bottom of the rocker cover gasket.
This is a thick cork gasket that should be replaced evey 200 hours when the tappets are supposed to be checked.
If not it eventually dries out , shrinks and depending upon how tight the bolts were done up, leak.
The other problem area is the seal between the top closing plate and the crankcase.
On some the bolts directly over the barrel and the ones either side work loose so they leak from the top plate.
Pull the plastic cowl off and wash the engine and mower with a good degreaser.
Run the engine for a short time while checking the rocker cover gasket and the top plate cover gasket for oil.
Try to limit it to no more than 15 minutes as the engine can not cool properly without the cowl on.

Kohler has went back to using RTV sealant on the valve cover. Just replace a cover 6 weeks ago because the inner layer and outer layer didn't fit tightly together and would vibrate and tear the sealant out.

Great,
Just what I didn't want to hear.
Saves Kohler about 3c per engine and adds 15 minutes of unchargable time to all my repairs.
Sealant or gasket OEM makes no difference.
When they leave my shop they all wear a gasket with Hylomar on one side & axel grease on the other as I am the mug most likely to be removing it in future.