JD 314 engine mount swap

mismith

Member
We all know how the Kohler shakes on these models at idle. Has anyone ever done away with the rubber isolator a and made steel spacers to hard mount the K321? I had a good friend who is a die hard Wheel Horse collector suggest this. He said it would not hurt a thing and would be better than the rubber isolators used by Deere on this model. Your thoughts on this.....
 
Replacing the rubber unit with steel washers will make the vibration/shaking a lot more noticeable.
McMaster-Carr sells a rubber isolator that will replace the pricey JD unit.
It's a lot less expensive and will work just fine.
 

I have a Ford with the 16 HP 341 Kohler and with rubber isolators. About 15 years back I did a lot work on it which included replacing the rubber engine mounts. My engine shook so bad with the rubber, I did not consider hard mounting it.

One thing I learned was that much of my problem was due to engine tune and a worn carburetor. The carburetor body was worn where the throttle shaft entered body. The resulting looseness and air leak prevented a stable idle.

Knowing that would I go with hard mounts next time - probably not. However, some washers would not cost much - try it and see how it works for you. I paid $16 each for the rubber mounts from New Holland.
 
Now that's the first response I've seen saying it would shake worse. I did some searching around online about this. Most people that have done this day it greatly decreases the shake. The rubber mounts allow it to shake worse. My buddy that had all the Wheel Horses said there used to be a guy that made a kit to hard mount the Kohler and eliminate the rubber. He said Wheel Horse played with this idea of rubber mounts on a few models, then went back to hard mounts.
 
Years ago when they where new several fellows did the solid mounting. It did stop the shaking at idle. It also cracked the frames after a year or so of regular use. Eliminating the rubber mounts just transferred the vibration to the entire frame. The best thing to do is just keep the low idle stop set high enough that they do not shake to start with.
 
Interesting, don't know why it would crack the frame? Look at a Wheel Horse Bronco 14 for example. That's the same K321 hard bolted directly to its frame. I grew up with these Wheel Horse tractors, my Dad still has about 14 or 15 of them in his collection. We certainly never encountered any cracked frames and they all ran silky smooth and Dad loved to get them to idle low. Maybe the 314 just needs a beefier cradle to run hard mounts.
 
Like one other guy said, if you keep the engine speed up, you won't have the worst of the shaking until you shut down. The John Deere tractors had an engine mount cradle and the rubber mounts were between the cradle and the frame. The Wheel Horse had either the engine mounted on the frame or on a plate bolted to the frame.
 
I think (if my memory is good) that the JD version of the K321 did not include balance gears. There are other spec numbers that do have those.

There is a lot of difference in the resulting vibration.

Some used the gears to dampen it, others used rubber mounts to isolate it.

Could be the reason for the different experiences.
 
Yep, my buddy who collects the wheel horses said many have the balance gears. He has rebuilt many and says he cannot tell the difference with or without them. He said most all of the wheel horse guys will rip those balance gears out every time. My isolators are in good shape, just can't stand that shake and seeing that engine dance and jiggle all over the place. You shouldn't have to idle up past the vibration point in my opinion. It's like Deere engineered this thing to shake on purpose, just crazy. Oh well, onto other things now.
 
You want to think about something. JD used the SAME exact motor in the JD 214 with it setting turned 90 degrees. That was one of the smoothest running 200 series mowers. So why the severe shake just mounted 90 degree different???? That motor also used the same rubber mounts.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top