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Repower a Cub Cadet 105 with a larger Kohler

R

Roy Suomi

Well-known Member
My grandson was given a Pristine Cadet 105 Hydro. Engine was changed with an rebuilt Kohler 10 hp engine. Needless to say the engine
isn't rebuilt to my satisfaction. Very noisy bottom end. A new rod and piston group was installed, wondering if crank is out of round or
worse ? I have a couple of other Kohler's available to me. What will swap into it's place. A 12 or 14 Horse ? I'd prefer upping HP to run a
snow blower as 10 HP was a little anemic. Will a slightly larger mill work in it's place ? How many modifications will be necessary to do
this swap ? Thanks R.S.
 
Roy Suomi:

The best bet would be a 12 HP Kohler. Cub Cadet had to "notch the frame" to fit the 14 HP Kohler into their 147 model.
 
Is there anything special about the Cadet application for the 14 hp engine that I need to know ? i.e. pto hook-up, drive to hydrostatic ?
 
You can build a K-series engine (at least a K301 or K321) with the smaller flywheel and shroud to put it into your narrow frame
Cub. Directions and probably part numbers at garden tractor pulling websites.
 
Roy Suomi:

Nothing special, other than the engine was physically larger, especially the Flywheel, Bore, etc.

Please know, that reducing the flywheel size, as previously mentioned, also reduces the cooling capacity from the flywheel fan. There is a reason the Kohler Engineers made and used the larger flywheel.
 
I don't have one at this time. A friend has several , but all need rebuilding. He says most well used Kohlers have a tendency to bell the
shape of the cylinder as the piston goes down the cylinder gets slightly bigger . He says the fix is to find a good running K 301 engine and
swap out the K 241 that had a bogus rebuild job. OR bore and sleeve the used K 301 to standard size. Sounds pretty expensive. Maybe I'll
keep my eyes open for a used mower that isn't huffing oil and rob the engine out of it.
 

Mr. Bedell and others can correct me but not all Kohler 12hp engines are the same.
Ideally, for the easiest swap would be to find one out of any narrow frame CC.

Any other K301 might fit if you swap oil pan, flywheel shroud, starter/generator and maybe other parts over from the K241.

But many K301 will also have the wrong crankshaft ends, built in electric start vs s/g and other quirks that each end user specified to fit their application.
 
For whatever it is worth, I have a 10hp cub cadet 108. When it needed an overhaul, the factory rep was at local dealer and he recommended putting in a 12 hp Koehler engine. Was a good deal expense wise plus this provided new carburetor. This made a much improved tractor.
This was done probably 25 years ago. I still have it.
10hp on a 48 deck just wasnt enough power. 12hp was better. I suppose this is now a cub cadet 128.
I asked about a 14hp at the time, but this size not fit without cutting into frame.
 
GREENFROG - I dropped a hopped-up 14 hp K321 Kohler in my Cub Cadet #72 gear drive. No cutting and welding needed, it's called a Small flywheel swap. I had Dave Kirk install a set of his crankshaft balance plates, and tossed the Grenade Gears in the coffee can with my other 2-3 sets, the hopped up 14 hp is just a bit smoother than the stock 10 hp K241 that I rebuilt and put 1400 hours on before rebuilding it a second time. I swapped flywheels between the 14 hp and a 12 hp I had in a 129 hydro. The 14 hp gains rpm instantly with the smaller flywheel, the 12 hp with the BIG flywheel takes a while to gain rpm.

If you do a search on DAVE KIRK'S ENGINE PARTS website I think he still has his KILLER KOHLER engine instructions how to improve the performance of the single cylinder K-series. Some of the parts he mentions are very hard to find, MIDWEST SUPER CUB makes some great Kohler parts.
 
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