Replacement Motor for my 260Z

[hansoncarla]

I have a commercial Gravely 260Z with a 60" deck and hydraulic deck lift. Model 922020 and has 1,366 hrs. I run it in the winter also with a front mounted 46" single stage snow blower. It has a Kohler CV25S (CV730) engine on it that has run very good for all these years. It has always run a little rich, but this engine does not have consumer accessible mixture needle valves to adjust it. It has had an oil leak for the last 7 years. Not terrible, but leaves spots on the floor after each use and also gets sprayed onto the belts and clutch which forces shorter belt life. I love the unit and mechanically, it is doing really well. I also have a lot of attachments that I made mounts for that work very well. (fertilizer, de-thatcher, sprayer and snow blower), so I want to keep it as long as it works good. I would like to replace the engine with a new one and I am looking for others thoughts on what to get. I know all the dimensions and there are Kohler replacements. Just wondering if I should look at equivalent engine from others. (Kawasaki, Briggs, etc) I'm pretty mechanically minded and have done all my repairs and modifications to date. I know I can probably replace the oil pan for less than $400, but then I still have the same rich running engine with high engine hours. In looking at some alternatives, the Kawasaki seems to be the most expensive, but also has better reviews.

Thanks for your input,
Carl,