Riding Mower find

[WFM]

Saw a riding mower today beside the road for sale.
I have alot to bush hog
But not alot of lawn. Of course it was the wrong color. But the guy took $200. For it.
Said it just would not fire. I took it home. Hooked up the charger. Put in some gas. Cleaned the plug. Took off the carb bowl and wiped it out. Blew out the air filter.
There spark at the plug, gas came to the carb. It would back fire while trying to start it once in a while. But just wouldn't start.
So dropped it at our local Mennonite repair shop.
I know the basics. But this is beyond me.
He looked quick and said the factory Kohler carb had been replaced. But he would check it over. He said he liked that engine much better then the newer ones.
The serial number is
MOL 150B027240
I tried to look up the year on the JD site or other sites claiming serial number lookup.
But no luck for me.
Just looked at this engine tag. It mentions 2004 and 2006 , so possibly that old. I'm not sure.

 

[fried1765]

I wou

Saw a riding mower today beside the road for sale.
I have alot to bush hog
But not alot of lawn. Of course it was the wrong color. But the guy took $200. For it.
Said it just would not fire. I took it home. Hooked up the charger. Put in some gas. Cleaned the plug. Took off the carb bowl and wiped it out. Blew out the air filter.
There spark at the plug, gas came to the carb. It would back fire while trying to start it once in a while. But just wouldn't start.
So dropped it at our local Mennonite repair shop.
I know the basics. But this is beyond me.
He looked quick and said the factory Kohler carb had been replaced. But he would check it over. He said he liked that engine much better then the newer ones.
The serial number is
150B027240
I tried to look up the year on the JD site or other sites claiming serial number lookup.
But no luck for me.
Just looked at this engine tag. It mentions 2004 and 2006 , so possibly that old. I'm not sure.

I expect that the end result will be just fine, if not in fact excellent!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Nice find for 200 bones. Looks pretty clean.

 

[tmstractor]

I had a Kohler engine on a riding mower that was doing what you described. I finally found that the flywheel key had sheared and caused the engine to get out of time. It was a simple fix then (replaced key). Why it had sheared in the first place is beyond me. It ran great for years after that.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

nice find ??
NO , GREAT find !!!
yeesh, hood isn't in 1,000 pieces from trees running out in front of it !!!!and it's about 20 years old !!
The hood alone could easily fetch $400 up here...
Yes, flywheel key may be sheared or 'mushed' enough to toss timing off, seen a few like that.
Other possible ... the 'anti-backfiring' solenoid on the bottom of the carb. The little rubber end will stick shut or just open a wee bit, can't get gas into carb bowl. Usual 'cheat' is to remove the rubber instead of buying a new solenoid at $130 !

when you get 'up and running' try to find and install a front bumper....

 

[ve9aa]

Sounds like timing to me.

 

[JimDeL]

I had a Kohler engine on a riding mower that was doing what you described. I finally found that the flywheel key had sheared and caused the engine to get out of time. It was a simple fix then (replaced key). Why it had sheared in the first place is beyond me. It ran great for years after that.

Had the same thing happen on an l120 (Kohler engine). a 25¢ key and a half hour's work fixed it.

 

[WFM]

Just got a text from the repair guy.
He'll be going by on Friday and drop it off.
The bill is $192.
I haven't found out what the issue is yet.
But he was changing the oil, filter and air filter, plus checking the blades. And getting it running. He looked quick while I was there and said the carb wasn't a Kohler carburetor. He said the Kohler carb was a much better one then the one that was on it. So he said he might get a Kohler one.
But I'm thrill with a $192. Bill.

 

[Downeaster]

i have a John Deere x330, and it has the Briggs 20. I'm not a fan of Briggs engine, and would much more prefer the Kohler. Anyway you look at it. Even if you have to put some money into it, you will have very good mower for a long time. I like to mow with my JD better than my Kubota bx.

 

[jaxs]

Just got a text from the repair guy.
He'll be going by on Friday and drop it off.
The bill is $192.
I haven't found out what the issue is yet.
But he was changing the oil, filter and air filter, plus checking the blades. And getting it running. He looked quick while I was there and said the carb wasn't a Kohler carburetor. He said the Kohler carb was a much better one then the one that was on it. So he said he might get a Kohler one.
But I'm thrill with a $192. Bill.

The lesson in this is not to discard original carb that can be rebuilt. And to keep an eye out for roadside bargains.

 

[Downeaster]

I have to say that is good, and you will have it running for a long time before you need to do anything to it. I always add a little Seafoam to my fuel, just to keep things running smoothly. Also I have a lot of smaller tools like everyone, Chainsaws, power washers, string trimmers, etc. I also will tell you that you can find replacement carbs for just about any tool, for cheap money and never used.

 

[Downeaster]

I had a Toro Snowblower years back that didn't run good. I gave it and a Echo backpack blower to a friend.
He took them to a small engine repair shop, and for less 50 each had them both running perfect. He still has them and likes to rib me on how good they run... Just the carbs.