I got a free John Deere L130 with the Kohler Command 23hp twin. It was sitting in a field rotting away. Rebuilt the carb, swapped out the coil packs and it ran like a champ. After a full reconditioning of the rest of the tractor, I now have a quite newish looking L130!! Total parts and paint was $600 including deck rebuild kit (hubs, blades, pulleys). The thing you will run into is the old breather that runs off the right side valve cover. Replace that and it will run even smoother. The 23-25hp Command V is one of the best engines they have ever made. The GT5000 is a beast and will last forever if you keep it clean and properly maintained.
Interesting, replaced the breather tube, but didn’t even think about a new breather. I may have to do that and then cut the old one in half to see how they work.
I’m loving this video series Saturn! You’re totally right about the gremlins, been mowing with mine for a year now and both, not just one of, the drive idler pulleys froze up solid lol but everything else has worked great. And I agree with the shifter gate, I can’t tell you how many times that’s slowed me down.
Glad you are enjoying it. I had the same thing. The plastic idler pulley froze up and then the belt burned it in half! I replaced it with a metal pulley. Seems to be powering up hills just fine, but I’m going to change out the fluid anyway
Sounds good Saturn! Glad you got the miss sorted out. Sometimes it's the simple things that cause big problems. I'm still in shock that was a free tractor. I would love to see a refurbish series on this thing. It is built so much better than their MTD counterparts. You are kind of inspiring me to document and share my project I am working on. My only snafu is my internet is BAD; I mean really bad. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your next video! Perhaps more progress on the Cub?
Can't lend much first hand skinny on the Simplicity right now however, Simplicity and Craftsman do have "family ties" so I'd expect there are many similarities as far as the basics. Competition for bling & convenience however, will never end . . .
. . . And how could I forget . . . . all the "SAFETY FEATURES"! What's next, a breathalyzer? LOL, that'll be good for a few hundred "How to Bypass" vids . . .
Greetings and all the best in '21. Just happened to find you, I have a 5000 project under way right now so I'm looking forward to your expertise. Scored it in about the same fashion as you did with yours and I'm working on the design to convert it to 4WD . . . stay safe . . . JJFIII
4wd, now that is very cool. Are you planning to video that project? I'd be interested to see that. I've got a Simplicity XL with a loader that would be transformed if I could make it 4wd.
Just out of curiosity, would you know what the intake psi for the Kohler 25? I'm wondering if it's significant enough to the venting process or if I could just "catch can" both valve covers. I had to do a complete "carb job" with my hand in a cast and would prefer not to have to do it again LOL . . .
Oh man, I bet that was tough. I really wouldn’t have a clue about intake PSI. Sometimes I feel lucky just to find the right part numbers for these engines.
@@TheSaturnV Just read your email, thanks for touching base. Wasn't too bad, just never did fancy the taste of carb cleaner all that much LOL. Should you find yourself getting jammed up (or downright frustratingly pissed), I have links to a host of Kohler resources ("Kohler Engines University" being a good one) which could be a big time saver and I'd be happy to send along, please don't hesitate to drop a line . . .
hahha he said 5 ,6 to 7 tractors hahahha...... i have these types of lawn mowers. setup 2 mowers 2 trailer tugger 1 snowblower setup now for the garden tractors. yep IH Cubcadets.. 2-127 147 149 ... 127 is mower , tiller , plow for now. 147 just got. no clue on run condtion. 2nd 127 is roller no motor. so 127 frame goin to go on the 149 for the hydro lift. so never enough lawn mowers and garden tractors.
@@TheSaturnV i was the gettin the wire harness back in frame with the 14 horse in already guy lol .. on the starter video i think it was .. i think my chan shows my 127 after i rebuilt the motor kept it orig no paint
