"The Rat" 12.5 HP Kohler swaped Huskee 4200 LT MTD

So I got This mower a while back, and I named it The Rat because it is a pile of junk, and the dash was  completly full of rats nest. It had a locked up 18 HP Hriggs on it, I had also just gotten a walk behind woods lawn mower with a 12.5 HP Kohler, so I dicided to swap the Kohler onto it. I think the engine pulley is a 6" - 7" and the diff pulley is a 7" - 8" not really sure. Imma run it with the vari drive system first then if its not fast enough then imma take out the vari drive and put a 2" rear pulley on it.
A bar to hold the grill still will be put in place of the hood. I will put some ags on it in the back and skinys in the front, that is about all i have planned for it at the moment i will try to get some pics posted soon

Ignore the 6x6 lawnmower in the background

looks good.

Fastman wrote:

Ignore the 6x6 lawnmower in the background

Now that you pointed it out I can't stop looking at it.

FatMike wrote:

looks good.

Fastman wrote:

Ignore the 6x6 lawnmower in the background

Now that you pointed it out I can't stop looking at it.

Allright, I'll take the bait, what's up with the 6x6

I think the 6x6 would be cool as a chuck box to take out to the middle of nowhere and go camping but lets see the RAT chew on some mud first.

yall really want to see a thread for the 6x6?

me and my dad got it to run for about 45 seconds on B12 today

B12? Please do tell!

Brianator wrote:

B12? Please do tell!

carb cleaner me and my dad just call it b12 i dont really know why

Ah I see.... well hey whatevers clever! Lol. I've used brake cleaner to do the same and to keep a motor running until it starts drawing its own fuel.

i should have a new carb for it comming in saturday

Good ole Berryman.  I use it too.

ok yall i made a thread for the 6x4 https://www.atltf.com/t6916-lt1000-6x4-truck-lawnmower-hauler-thingy#122107

Got the grill mounted

Got to drive for a while yesterday it runs and drives great but the governor arm is literally stuck at idle so imagine bypass it and run a cable the throttle butterfly

If there's one thing I've learned from building these mowers it's this: Governors are completely useless on a modified rig, they just make your engine run like crap and reduce power.

yea the governer was working when i first started it and it was surging really bad but then it got stuck

They're not so bad depending on what you're expecting, if you want a full out speed racer then yes but for a more casual cruiser they're nice so you don't have to constantly adjust your speed. You can always increase the governed speed, sometimes there's and adjustment screw, sometimes you need to tweak a tab (to increase spring tension) and other times you need to replace the spring(s) with a slightly stronger one.

That's just my 2 cents.

Brianator wrote:

They're not so bad depending on what you're expecting, if you want a full out speed racer then yes but for a more casual cruiser they're nice so you don't have to constantly adjust your speed. You can always increase the governed speed, sometimes there's and adjustment screw, sometimes you need to tweak a tab (to increase spring tension) and other times you need to replace the spring(s) with a slightly stronger one.

That's just my 2 cents.

I just bent one of the tabs up on mine, gave me some more rpms. I think we were talking about governed engines with pedals, which is what mine is, I think you would still have to constantly adjust your speed?

well this one dosnt have a pedal yet but it will soon

TechnoChicken wrote:

Brianator wrote:

They're not so bad depending on what you're expecting, if you want a full out speed racer then yes but for a more casual cruiser they're nice so you don't have to constantly adjust your speed. You can always increase the governed speed, sometimes there's and adjustment screw, sometimes you need to tweak a tab (to increase spring tension) and other times you need to replace the spring(s) with a slightly stronger one.

That's just my 2 cents.

I just bent one of the tabs up on mine, gave me some more rpms. I think we were talking about governed engines with pedals, which is what mine is, I think you would still have to constantly adjust your speed?

Yes you’re always gonna have to adjust your speed with or without a governor. It’s just the adjustments will be wayyy more drastic without a governor.

i fixed the gov earlyer i figured ut that the arm was not stuck the throttle buterfly arm was rubing on the intake and it was getting stuck so i did a lot of filing and now it revs great it falls on its face when you rev it but it canks super high rpms

Sounds like maybe it needs more fuel to keep up with demand?

That could be the case, but I’ve been dealing with similar issue with my Kohler swapped Murray LT. I put 2 brand newish carbs on it and it did the same thing. Would fall flat on its face if you tried to up the throttle at a normal pace. Just couldn’t get it dialed in for anything. Went to the junkyard and found an original Kohler carb and threw that on it and now it runs perfectly! So I’m betting on the carb cause these new cheap Kohler ones always seem to have a problem.

That’s my just my experience with them + an extra 2 cents.

well see this engine has a mechanical fuel pump and it is trashed and the steal fuel lines from the pump to the carb ar trashed too so right now it is just gravaty fed and this carb is for a pump fed engine so it probaly isnt geting enough fuel