Taryl thats what the right to repair is all about! Apple, Samsung and John Deer lead the way to disposable society! John deer has chips that will shut the tractor down!
Kohler is garbage I spent a entire day trying to get them to warranty and send me parts for the same issue for twenty plus customers on a residential mower air filter adapter even saw them a month old out of the box so crooked they sucked in dirt total garbage
The Chinese R building their new empire by ripping off one American customer after thee other. Especially lawn & garden equipment and I mean all of it is garbage. I have a 20 year leaf blower I had to threaten my son to get it back starts ever dang time only ever repaired the on off switch. Combined the kid and I have 6 of em bought all over the last 10 years all garbage.. Won't start no matter what new carb no start new coils nope... No nothing sheer nonsense
I've got a buddy who started a little side gig "rebuilding" VW alternators and starters for 75-current vws. Because most of the time if they're still working just clean em up and throw new brushes in and bearings/bushings. Cheap too, as he's just replacing what's needed and not cleaning em all up to look like new and charge double for a dab of paint.
I can remember a time when a TV repair man actually came to the house and fixed the TV in the living room (yes, I'm that old). He was a local guy and had a fold out toolbox full of replacement vacuum tubes and transformers! It was pretty cool to watch him.
@@bassthis Remember when drug stores used to have those big tube testers? My dad's hobby was fixing radios and TVs, and I remember going with him to the drug store with a bag full of vacuum tubes to test. You chose the right socket and set a few knobs depending on the tube type. Then you hit test and it would tell you if it was good, bad, or shorted. He later got a portable tube tester, but that wasn't as much fun for a little kid as the drug store ones.
Reminds me when us little kids of the family were left home alone. It was rainy and we were stuck in the house. THE tv was a black and white and had the two channel dials, vhf and uhf. The vhf had I think the 13? channel positions and the uhf had a bunch plus one position that said vhf. We didn't know anything about that stuff and none of the uhf channels were usable at the time. Somehow the uhf dial got turned off the vhf position and then nothing worked. At some point my older brother got a stroke of genius and started turning the row of tuning pots in the back Moral of the story: Dad brings the tv to the radio / tv shop, the guy tunes it up, dad brings it home, lines us kids up, points to the uhf dial and says if any of us ever touches that dial again, he's gonna break our arms.
The best part of being old enough to remember ... was full service gas stations ... Check your oil , fill the tank , wash the windows , tire repair ! Yeah , my dad worked at a full service , made enough to buy a family home , a car , summer vacations , Xmas presents were few but just what we wanted , mom sewed our clothes , a small garden , couple of chickens , it was a good life , NO SOCIAL MEDIA , that was board games for the kids and domino's for the adults playing for match sticks !!!
You're right about keeping the old machines running. I have a 1968 Cub Cadet 125 that I've had since 1972. Used it for years to mow a 1/2 acre yard, blow snow and just about every other thing that you could do with a L/G tractor. Still has original engine and hydro. Replaced mower deck spindle bearings once about ten years ago. Have no plans to stop using it any time soon. This thing will outlast me.
@@allhailinternalcombustion Same ! Bought mine in 1989 and it's still going. (34 years ago) Actually, on mine the problem is the solenoid. I believe Taryl posted a fix for that with a "piggy back" solenoid several years ago.
Snapper V21 form 1976 still going strong, few minor repairs here and there, nothing major. Love the aluminum deck, no rust! I picked up a couple complete V21 off the curb for free, one of them I changed the oil, tune up, sharpen the blade, washed and waxed it and sold it for $125. The other one I kept for parts. I think some people toss their mower because they don't know how to change the oil.
my grandfather bought a craftsman tractor in 1980 used it on a 1 acre garden for years, when he died it sat in the bushes for 22 yrs at least. i cleaned the points and carb and put batterie in it and the 16.5 twin fired right up..new stuf made from the lowest bider i agree with you whole heartedly about how good stuff use to be..i also have a 1.5hp clinton i think from 1048..it runs still..shame new stuff cant hold a candle to the stuff i grew up with!! 👍👍😁😁
Taryl, you are 100% right about the appliance industry. They don't want repairable machines, it's all disposable. MY friend had a stove that burnt an element in the oven. The short killed the only other part in the oven, the clock board, the cost of the clock board was almost $600, cost of the entire stove, $800. The stove was maybe 10 years old, likely less.
Oh, I had a stove with a bad element. The clock board was fine, but just for grins, I looked up the price: Not available. The stove was only seven years old.
When we moved to the new house in 1959, my mother gave her parents her "old" Bendix washer and dryer . 1969 when Grandma went to the old folks home, the Bendix's wound up in my aunts house for another 20 years. Bendix went out of the appliance business because they made too good of product.
I have a shed full of old mowers, some dating back to the 50's and all are in perfect working order. My two main walk behind workhorses are from the early 70's. I have sourced most of them from my local recycling centre, but one thing I've noticed is, more recently the junked mowers that are being tossed out are getting much newer, and they all usually have terminal failures. I rarely see any two strokes anymore or even a side valve Briggs's or Tecumseh. Really the good stuff is getting much harder to find these days, I still look, sometimes just for a good deck or wheels, but even they are so flimsy and rusted out it's not worth the ten buck price. I'm glad I have acquired a lifetime supply, and some friends who used to scoff at my excessive collection have recently started asking me to sell them something from my stash that is reliable, old and simple...lol It seems they're getting burned like everybody else buying modern junk.
Your absolutely right about keeping your old equipment running I have a a 26 year old quality pro garden tractor and it still runs like its still brand new
I am still mowing my 1 1/2 acre yard with a 1977 Wheel Horse lawn tractor that I bought new. It has mowed my lawn every year since 1977 except 2014 when I was having the 8 H.P. Kohler engine rebuilt. I am still using it today after 46 years. And... I have never replaced the starter.
We need a Ralph Nader to write a book, “Built To Break!”. We need to organize as a nation and start doing targeted boycotts of companys producing this garbage.
I have to agree on this one. I have a 1981 Ford riding mower with a cast iron Kohler and, I'm rebuilding it. One thing I will not work on are, 3 riding mowers with a blown Kohler engine. Fun fact, I don't have enough "courage", to crack them open yet.
I guarantee you that Kohler doesn't make that starter, they outsource it from the lowest bidder. I have an International Cub Cadet 124 that has a Delco Remy starter/generator on it, still works great. Nobody in the USA makes this stuff anymore because they can't compete with cheap overseas labor.... good video Taryl!
Just replaced one today, snapped right off. I think the Kohler price was over $200. And don't forget about Briggs compression release "issue" , it's really sad when you gotta tell the customer their new mower is screwed and by the way, we can't get the part cause it's on backorder!
It doesn't matter if you buy stihl, echo ,simplicity they've all gotten cheap! There's nothing well- built anymore. You really do need to keep maintaining your older equipment!
100% correct on this starter Taryl but it appears you have the generation one or two starter which has the smaller shaft diameter and 10 tooth gear. The generation 3 Kohler starter was improved with a larger diameter shaft and the gear teeth were decreased to 9. Viewer should be aware of this there have been no issues that i am aware of with the generation 3 starter. Jake at Eliminator Performance did an excellent video on these 3 generation starters and to this day Amazon and other aftermarket sellers still are selling the generation 1 and 2 starters. So buyer beware!
The consumer bears the cost of product development, rather than a competent engineering department at Kohler engines, much cheaper and the Kohler bean counters save Kohler lots of money, the consumer can afford the expense.
Your exactly rite Taryl, everything we purchase now days is built to break, it really P's me off, and it should be P's everyone off. Are scrap yards and landfills area's are full. People need to stand up and Demand better quality products 👍🏻
I think with lawn equipment is mostly first-time buyers don't know any better until they listen to you and find out how bad the stuff is because you see it all the time. And I thank you for all the information.
I'm glad to have my 1977 Gravely with 12 hp Kohler. Now there's even more reason to keep it alive! Thanks Taryl for trying to keep us sane in an insane time with your humor.
Not only are you all great tech's/mechanics you also act, always have a good story, explain how to do things by showing us...Great Teacher btw! plus you give out part numbers and awesome special sound effects...your channel ROCKS! love it
I sold a 17 year old Snapper Rear Engine Rider this past spring and people were lining up to buy it. There wasn’t any sheet metal on it. I took great care of it and it never tasted ethanol fuel. And I received a very good price for it because I took care of it.
You are right Taryl. There is a lot of crap shoved down our throats. I still have a 1972 Sensation pushmower, and 2 1998 Craftsman lawn tractors. THe 46" Has an 18hp Kohler Magnum. She still hums.
Tell it like it is! I agree. The big picture seems to be getting away from fossil fueled engines to battery junk. And I find myself having wasted money on battery crap as I return to the easier to fix motorized stuff.
Exactly why I still run vintage Simplicity tractors and mowers. Allis 720, Allis 616, Simplicity 7119, etc.. Something I'd like to see more on this channel would be complete rebuilds on older small engines. Even if the videos were cut down into a series.
You're singing my song Taryl, about planned obsolesce in all of our lives. Not sure I even own an appliance purchased within the last 10 years, most are +15 years old.
Hit or miss with this stuff. I have a 18 yo cub cadet rzt 50 that still runs like champ. Crappy stamped deck has a few ventilation holes in it by now. Still cuts tho.
Other than my 3-year-old Echo 2-stroke trimmer, all my lawn equipment is approaching fifty years old. My Lawn Boy trim mowers run great. And my old WH C-120 with a Kohler K301 starts right up and purrs like a kitten. Ton of power. All easy to work on and I can still get parts for them. They all cut really nice. The trimmer seems to be a well-made piece. Also starts easy and has a lot of power. Time will tell. Other than that, I'll take care of my old stuff and the big box stores can keep their trash.
My starter magnets unsealed 4 months ago. So I went ahead and took all of them out and cleaned them up. I used JB weld red seal and some vice grips. Waited three days too make sure 100% cure, crossed my fingers and started up😅 I mow everyone's yard around here and it's held up perfectly saving me money.
On the 7000 series twins and the courage twins, you can install a command twin starter. You just have to change the wiring a little. I’ve done it before and it works.
I 've had the same Kenmore electric clothes dryer for 29 years now and it still works perfectly, all I've done to it repair wise is change a couple drum rollers a few years ago.
Good for you what i use to do is give a Tuneup every 2-3 years to replace belts . rollers Thermal Fuses and Wiring and good cleaning inside and outside and keep the good parts available just in case
As an hvac tech, I can tell you that yes, you are 100% correct! Every product sold in this country is made like 💩. Ac system's typically last 10-13 years here in GA. 5-7 years on coastal areas.
We're in north Georgia and our Rheem HVAC system from 1992 is still going strong! Guy says it still hasn't dropped refrigerant levels and the refrigerant type is all a big EPA lie to get you to buy into stuff they can control you with. Just my two cents
Hi Taryl, I did some checking on this Kohler starter and found this on RU-vid. "Eliminator Performance" The title of the episode is: 3 Generations of Kohler Starters for SV710-SV840 Engines This covers a lot of what you are talking about.
Taryl, you are absolutely right about the appliance industry.I would like to buy a riding mower but watching your videos is scaring me off. Guess i will keep using my 10 year old Honda that starts on the first pull.
This is exactly why I find and fix older equipment. Lot of times only basic repairs and/or maintenance is required, and your good to go. These days you gotta spend big money for commercial equipment if you want something that will last.
everything is made from chinesium , doesnt what it is iy doesnt last, ive resorted to buying oldschool stuff and rebuilding the things , same with hand tools, local made.
@@closertothetruth9209 And this extends to making new purchase decisions. As an old-timer, I can't do a lot of heavy repairs any more. I am looking at replacing the 27 year old Honda generator that has served me flawlessly, but, with AVR boards no longer available, etc, I just want something I can depend on. Lots of luck finding anything you can depend on for less than like $3K. And even then......
Taryl it's called planned obsolescence. Take one those starters that are good and replace the rubber cushion below Bendix gear with aluminum and test it. Or do it on a customers lawn mower and let them tell you if it's working out or not.
Good point as soon as i saw the Cheep plastic part i would have replaced it with Aluminum or a steel part or find a car starter or an older small engine starter and modify it to make it fit and work
My late father in law was an electrician in the army and he worked on hundreds of engines and generators, all kinds of engines that had electrical issues. He was mad crazy about Briggs and Stratton engines. Reckoned they were the best small engine ever made, he used to tell me. He'd turn over in his grave if he saw the quality of stuff today. Sad.
The starter on my Briggs & Scrappem Slapper mower had a plastic/composite gear. Some older starters had the field magnets held in with metal clips and now they use glue. Don't ever drop the starter because the magnets might come unglued. Cheap stuff getting cheaper.
Yup. Flywheel saver? Those plastic bendix gears used to be cheap to replace too. A small time hustle. Just like a lemonade stand. The problem with society today is you can't have a small time hustle. People are aweful and operation costs are exponentially higher than not that long ago. There used to be easy jobs that didn't pay much but didn't require ape arms or a master's degree.
We bought my parents a toro back in 94 when toro/Briggs developed an engine to replace the Suzuki. Yes it was the high end walk behind model and 30 years later my brother still uses it. My 50 yr old Ariens still has the power and gets us out of the Buffalo NY snowfalls.
It is the rubber allowing it to hit at an angle instead of straight on. That lack of support puts additional stress on the shaft where the bearing supports it at the end of the starter.
Man, I love the way you tell the truth. The quality of we are offered today is a joke, and the Chinese are laughing all the way to the bank. The American public is going to have to realize that we have to pay up for quality. Keep up the great content!
It does but, for a while it's going to be expensive as all the factories have been abandoned, torn down or repurposed. It's going to be a decade or more to bring back the manufacturing that we have lost over the last 50 years.
@@DavidSmith-fr1uzThis is true since ole ronald mcdonald reagan broke the unions in the 80's and sent everything, outsourced everything outside the country to foreign lands and countries that hate the United States.
It’s all R&R or throw it out! That’s why I like the old stuff! You can pretty much rebuild everything on em. Problem is now it’s getting harder to find. Making the old good stuff obsolete! Keep fighting the good fight bro! ✌🇺🇸
Taryl, I have a great story about a Front Load Washing Machine ($700 )that would leak onto my floor It is way too long to tell you about here so, I will make it as brief as I can. No names will be mentioned either. I had bought a extended warranty ( which I never do ) and glad I did this time. I had to have the repair folks out to my house 5 times within two years. They replaced every part in the machine, I mean every part. Tub, pump, control boards tub agitator, tub balance weights, pulley and shock absorbers . When after the third time for service I said just bring me a new washer and they said they could not because I bought a extended warranty they had to try to fix it. Well, I was watching them doing this repair and I noticed that the One (1 ) nut on the tub that holds the whole thing together no lock tight applied. When I asked about it the service man said no they did not use it. I made sure they did this time by giving him some and I have not had the problem return. This has been 7 years ago. Talk about junk and quality or quality control . My old 1970’s Norge top load is still washing great and it only cost me 30$ used.
When I had my RV and mobile home repair business, I learned how to repair the 120v to 12v power converters that came in the RVs. I had a repair manual from the manufacturer that showed how to troubleshoot problems why they weren't working. I regularly stocked all the components that were commonly likely to fail and always had a rebuilt one available to swap out rather than have my customers wait. I could save them $50-$100 (1990's prices) with a replacement costing $150. Then the manufacturer, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make power converters electronic. They also decided to completely encase the unit in resin, ostensibly to keep moisture out and causing the unit to fail (I never saw one fail due to moisture). What this meant was, even if you could remove the resin, you would have to be an electrical engineer with the knowledge and equipment to diagnose circuit board components and replace them. Now a replacement repair cost my customers $300 plus labor and me making the same amount of profit as before.
You are right and especially about appliances. We are running a early '90's Amana side by side fridge my uncle gave me for 20yrs now after I gave my son our fridge that we bought new in '82 and that puppy still runs like a champ.
You're are best advocate; Thanks so much for large voice on cheap equipment. I love the shit that not even tested before it hits the market. You would think someone would be interested and invested in designing producing great products.
I just changed a starter on a Kohler 7000 series KT724. It stuck in the up position and fried itself. When I looked at the bendix area it was full of metal shavings. It was on an 8 year old Hustler Flip-Up zero turn. The starter retailed for $199.99
My 2000 John Deere GT225 starter failed 6 years ago. I wanted the OEM replacement but refused to pay almost 300 bucks for it. I took a chance and ordered one on-line.($60) When I received the new one I was bummed to see "made in Korea" on the label. When I removed the original from the tractor there was the same label !!! Replacement is still working perfectly, as is the tractor, which I maintain fanatically. I can not remember all the replacement parts I have installed on the tractor and mowing deck(many welds also). Like Taryl says : Keep the old stuff going because the new stuff is junk.......
Not to mention mobile phones that are deliberately slowed down by the manufacturers so you get so pissed off you go buy another one. I'm old enough to remember my dad back in the sixties taking the family toaster to the repair outlet to have it fixed. And yer, Kelvinator and Frigidaire fridges did last 20 years and could be repaired. What a wasteful world we live in.
I can remember a massive recall on starters from kholer when I worked at their plant in Hattiesburg. This was 21 years ago… apparently they haven’t changed 😂
Same issue on my dads Scag FreedomZ w the same motor. It didn’t shear off just wouldn’t spin fast enough, & the bendix gear wouldn’t retract. We had 1-2 more starts out of it. Shut it off to move some branches in the yard. Shut it off, & wouldn’t restart. Tried to get 1 more start out of it to get it to the barn but that didn’t work. Left it in the yard. Got a new starter, & fired right up.
We live in a disposable times. Companies builds cheap and sells high. Why warranty are so short also , a lawn tractor here gets used 3months of the year and warranty are 12 months so 9 months out of that waranty is spent sitting in a shed.
My 25 year old Krohler Command Pro 27 has a Korean Made Delco Remy starter on it. Looks just like a mini GM starter. Still working after 1900 hours on the machine.
Thanks for being our voice we all need to be more vocal a way to start is to contact the Better Business Bureau , your Representatives , Senators and local government I mean that's what we pay for isn't it to handle crooks like this ! I know what most will say you can't fight city hall unless you have enough of us 💪
I quit doing business with Kohler after one of their flywheels tried to kill me when it came apart during operation. After trying to find a replacement, I get several part numbers, do a ton of research, then find one of them that shows the recall they conveniently swept under the rug. Don't get me started about the magnets falling off the flywheel....never again.
I feel ya there Taryl as far as appliances go. I had an old kitchenAid dishwasher in my kitchen that was installed in 1974 when my grandparents had a full remodel of the kitchen done back then. Top of the line KitchenAid Superba. Built like a Sherman tank. Had like a 3/4 hp motor driving the wash pump and a porcelain coated wash tub. One mean machine. Around Christmas of 2019 the timer mechanism failed and I called an appliance dealer to see about a new timer. They more or less laughed in my face saying all the parts were not available since 2006. I replaced the whole dishwasher with a modern POS Whirlpool. It can’t even come close to what that old kitchenAid was like. What gets me about todays garbage is they say “oh it’s more efficient.” Then how come a normal wash and dry cycle on this new one is 3 1/2 hours vs the kitchenAid I had took maybe an hour start to finish. Where’s the efficiency? Less water yet takes 3X as long for a full cycle. Junk Junk Junk! Glad I got it on a Black Friday sale.
It’s all owned by the chinese communist party cause greedy asholes on walstreet are selling everything they can steal. Example is General Electric is now wholly owned & manufactured in China they don’t even use the he name
Yep, I hear you there. They push this "ecologically friendly" bs in our faces yet they make junk that breaks and can't be fixed. How's that environmentally friendly? 😆
So much about going green yet no outcry for "" Planned obsolescence "" is when a product is deliberately designed to have a specific life span. In this way, when the product fails, the customer will want to buy another, up to date version. Take for example a washing machine, lawn mower, etc. Think of all the fuel, land destruction etc to mine & refine medal, plastic. Not to mention the growing land fills. Recycle, Reuse. Repurpose, Repair. will not solve all the problems but will certainly help.
I recently had a $38.00 plastic 3gal. water bucket that fell apart. was supposed to have a lifetime guarantee Was 15 yrs old, called about it and they said they considered 10 yrs a lifetime for a plastic watering vessel.
My opinion is that the best engine Kohler made was the old Magnum series engines. I’ve got a 16 and a 20 horse from the 70’s that have out lived every single one of my modern engines. You know what happened when the starter went out on the 20 horse? I just replaced the brushes in the original starter, and I was good to go. They kind of remind me of an aircraft engine.
@@ihus9950 I’m hoping to add a few more to mine. Just gotta find them. Looking for a 18 horse, and a 14 horse. I’m really just looking for the whole series all the way down to 8hp.
I have a 1999 Troy-Bilt with a cast iron sleeved Kohler Command engine in it. Still has the original starter. Keep fixing the old stuff it was made a lot better
I’m outraged too because I bought a 800 ge washer it lasted 7 1/2 months. It’s only me and my son and we only wash around 2 loads of clothes per week , maybe 3 if it’s time to wash linens for our beds. The service guy didn’t come out for 2 weeks and even then had to order the part. I’ve been without a washer for 1 month now and still waiting. I’m furious.
