Kohler Command 25hp burning oil

Bleach said:

Bert your advice is spot on. I would pay a fair price for a good piece of equipment if it were offered. For some reason I can't figure, It's hard to find a fair price on anything(not just lawn equipment) used, good or bad, in the Portland metro area. I always find reasonable prices on things outside my usual traveling distance. I never buy big ticket items like vehicles new because I can't afford them. I wouldn't buy a lawn tractor for that same reason. I'm kind of happy I've made this thing last as long as I did. It would have been scrap long ago if I didn't try to take care of it. I was hoping I could keep it going without throwing a lot of money into it. I probably would if the steering wasn't so bad and the frame wasn't cracked in two places.
My understanding is, tractors like I have in that price range, were built better then they were just a few years later. I have a feeling comparably priced mowers, adjusted for inflation, are no better now.

BTW, I check my oil before every mow. If I didn't the engine would have been toast long time ago. It's compression is still more than I would have expected. If it has a broken oil ring I would probably need rebuild the whole engine anyway and I rather just get another mower and be that much ahead. My hydro drive is probably the next thing to go as it gets sluggish after a few hours of running.

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Yep.
It has been a good & faithful old horse, but it is time for the knackers yard.
You might just have to bite the bullet and do some long drives.
I have been acquiring 2000 series Cub cadets for a while to resell as these are excellent quality mowers.
Unfortunately they use a unique blade spindle and that was dropped last year.
I bought 10 of them for the time being.
being a tapered roller bearing set up, if the owners remember a couple of shots of grease every season they will last for decades.
The 3000 series are better still having full hydraulics but use a different spindle that is still i production.

Any mower with a drive shaft will be a quality mower.
All hydro drives have a limited service life.
They have a rotating cylinder block with pistons & oil in them spinning on a plate that does not move but has holes in it for the oil to pass through.
Eventually wear between the two kill the unit and there are two of these as the motor is just a pump running backwards.

Generally Garden Tractors ( GT ) will be better than Lawn Tractors ( LT ) as they are built on stronger frames to allow earth working attachments to be fitted.

Beware of Eaton drives.
While Eaton were one of the best in the business, for the same reason as the previous post, they no longer make , service or supply parts for mower drives & pumps.
Some mowers have compact tractor Eatons that are current but most run the garden line which has been deleted.

As for your mower, now I have a full picture, some "No Smoke" in the oil and if necessary a longer exhaust blowing out the back might get you through a few more seasons.

Sound advice Bert. My thoughts exactly. I've pondered the idea of a longer exhaust. I'll have to do that for sure. I smell like burned exhaust after mowing a short time.

Bleach said:

Sound advice Bert. My thoughts exactly. I've pondered the idea of a longer exhaust. I'll have to do that for sure. I smell like burned exhaust after mowing a short time.

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2' of flex tube should work fine.
when it gets really bad, mow in the evening when no one will notice and wear a boiler suit so you don't end up smelling like a submariner ( sorry Roger ) when you are finished.
Switching to a heavier based synthetic oil or even Harley oil 50W 70 might buy you some more time.

I was trying to figure what to use for an exhaust pipe. That sounds like a great idea Bert. I do plan on starting with maybe 40w or 50w oil. It too hard to get the really thick oil additives down that skinny oil fill tube.
It's hard to mow in the later hours. It's hard to get mow lines straight and I miss where I need to mow :wink:

Bleach said:

I was trying to figure what to use for an exhaust pipe. That sounds like a great idea Bert. I do plan on starting with maybe 40w or 50w oil. It too hard to get the really thick oil additives down that skinny oil fill tube.
It's hard to mow in the later hours. It's hard to get mow lines straight and I miss where I need to mow :wink:

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Should find some at truck supplies or some speed shops.

Thanks. I'm glad you told me where to find flex pipe. I would have tried looking at a home improvement store.:ashamed:

Bleach said:

Thanks. I'm glad you told me where to find flex pipe. I would have tried looking at a home improvement store.:ashamed:

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You would have better luck finding the flex pipe in a auto parts store like NAPA or Pep boys.

Today I decided to pull the #1 cylinder head that was the side that was burning oil. There was some oil in the cylinder but the cylinder bore was still in great shape. The crosshatching was still visible. It looks like maybe one or both of the valves and or guides are bad. I could hear hissing coming from the valve areas when I turned the engine by hand before I pulled the head with the valve cover off. I couldn't hear anything like that on #2.
I'm going to get the head rebuilt or just buy a new head. Does anyone have any suggestions who could rebuild the head or a good source for the head with valves? Ebay has them from various sellers from $117 to $145 for just a bare head. There's a seller who listed a complete rebuilt head for $150 shipped with perfect feedback. I'm not sure what the going rate is anymore for rebuilding heads. The last time I had a head rebuilt was for a car and it didn't even cost $150. It's been a very long time.

Bleach said:

Today I decided to pull the #1 cylinder head that was the side that was burning oil. There was some oil in the cylinder but the cylinder bore was still in great shape. The crosshatching was still visible. It looks like maybe one or both of the valves and or guides are bad. I could hear hissing coming from the valve areas when I turned the engine by hand before I pulled the head with the valve cover off. I couldn't hear anything like that on #2.
I'm going to get the head rebuilt or just buy a new head. Does anyone have any suggestions who could rebuild the head or a good source for the head with valves? Ebay has them from various sellers from $117 to $145 for just a bare head. There's a seller who listed a complete rebuilt head for $150 shipped with perfect feedback. I'm not sure what the going rate is anymore for rebuilding heads. The last time I had a head rebuilt was for a car and it didn't even cost $150. It's been a very long time.

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Welcome to the real world of rebuilding a engine. It wouldn't be any cheaper to take the head to a machine shop. Maybe you can find a good used head? 150 dollars for a (GOOD?) rebuild head doesn't sound that bad to me and then also you will need a gasket set on top of that. If that dose fix your problem you will be ahead on this for small dollars.

I've searched around a bit more and I found another head for less than a $100. I'm in contact with the seller to get more details about the rebuild.
I'm sure another good head will take care the issue. There weren't any signs of damage to the bore.