Ariens GT17 garden tractor repower

It's a cam driven one from what I see on eBay.


Cheap too.

 

I had a my Kohler on my '76 wheelhorse die this summer.
I was working it hard, pulling a heavy drag to prep a couple of acres for seeding.
It just died.
Turned out the piston broke on the bottom side disconnecting it from the connecting rod.
Bought a new piston, scratched the bore with a pc of scotch brite, in it went and its running again.

I think my Kohler is a 14hp if I remember right, I don't commit those irrelevant facts to memory.

I would think parts are available for engine yet, stuff for my 40 year old engine were.

 

Do you know if it is a series 1 or 2 ?

 

This is a series 2. The original engine was a series 1.
Kohler, or ariens replaced the engine the first summer, in 84 with a series 2. It has no oil filter, but had the telltale plate on the side of the block where you can add a remote filter.

 

Awesome ! That's a real plus.

 

As long as you don't have a hole in the block I think there is hope. And if all else fails sb Chevy's are plentiful.....we have the technology..

 

An LT1 ariens gt? Lol.

I'd rather a flathead Ford


But yes, it being a series 2 it's a big deal. No hole in the block. It looks like I can still find rods.

Let's hope it's in tact below, and just needs little things.

 

Check for oil level increase, and smell the oil. My money is on a new carb based on what we have so far.

 

To check for ignition, drain or shut off fuel, give it a shot of ether (starting fluid) and crank it. If you get a pop, it is sparking.

 

Well I got around to checking compression today.

No good on the compression. There's 90 psi on the right cylinder and zero on the left. You can see the valves moving on the no compression side, so it's gotta be a broken rod at best. I found a running Kohler magnum 18 horizontal shaft in a local tractor. I'm going to look at it tomorrow if the guy is around.

A Kohler magnum 18 is a direct swap and actually it's just an enhanced version of the kt17 series 2 that's in my tractor. It has electronic ignition and an oil filter and other enhancements, including 1 extra hp.

 

Tractor is on the neighbor's 5x8 trailer. The extra foot allows me to leave the deck on the tractor.

I used the Bayou to push the tractor onto the trailer. My neighbor helped with steering the tractor and he put wood splits behind the tires so it couldn't roll back.

I'll take it in to the city where I work where we can work on it.

 

Hopefully the guy is a no show for the tractor I'm looking at with the magnum 18. There's a guy coming to look at it at 11 am. Grr.

 

So if a valve gets stuck ( open) it won't make compression. I see the one towards the back opens and closes. That would probably be the intake as the exhaust manifold goes to the front.

Hopefully this is it.....

 

The roper tractor with the magnum 18 sold this am. Boo! At least they told me right away
Now I wouldn't had to check the output shaft size as it needs to be 1-1/8". Does anyone know if magnum 18's had different output shaft sizes, plus the keyway would have to match. It's that why there are adapters Screwloose ?

 

So the front valve doesn't move? They should both move...the intake opens , then both closed on compression stroke, then exhaust opens. Repeat.
This all happens during 2 revolutions of the crank (4 strokes of the rod(s)

 

I can't see the front valve. But I can see the back one move. So not certain if both valves are moving or just 1. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. Y'all know that I know that but the intake and exhaust valves would need to be moving in order to it to run.

 

Put a shop vac on the spark plug hole and rotate the shaft. You should be able to hear the suction alternate from through the carb and then through the exhaust if the valves are working. A separated rod is not necessarily a death sentence. If it went quietly.

 

Almost anything can be modified to fit. A tapered shaft (generator engine) is a little sucky but still doable. Usually easier to modify the drive shaft on the tractor side. Depending on the physical size of the engine I have in the past put a complete assembled engine in the lathe and turned the od. of the shaft. That saves pulling out the crank. What end of the engine drives what ? Is the flywheel end facing front or back ? The flywheel end should have a rabbit and bolt circle that is easily adapted to anything.

 

I figured you did, but your earlier reply made it seem like you were asking for reassurance that you were thinking through this correctly...or something

 

Thanks for the tip. We're going to take the head off tonight.