Engine hours

spasm3

spasm3

Joined
May 30, 2010
Messages
16,780
Location
North Carolina
Whats considered a lot of hours on ope engines? My '13 toro zero turn has the kawa fr651v engine. Its the first engine i've owned that had and hour meter.

I only have 119 hours on it which i'm sure is pretty low especially for its age. But what is considered a lot of hours on name brand or commercial engines vs homeowner( I.E honda GX engines vs honda GC ) engines?

What is a lot of hours for a chonda ( chinese honda clone) engine like on my genset?
 
The equipment I used to run with Kohler 18-hp v-twins usually got to 7-10,000 hours. Had a Kawasaki make it to 25,000 hours before it finally lost compression.
 
My JD LX188 has the Kawasaki 501v and turns 21 years old next month. No hour meter but it's used about 9 months a year on my 1.25 acre lot. It takes about 2 hours every time I mow and it tows a Cyclone Rake in the fall. Conservatively, I'll estimate the hours at 1,500 and it still runs like the day I bought it. At your current rate, you'll never wear out your 651v. I put a Chonda on an old tiller years ago but it only gets used a few hours a year.
 
Originally Posted by antonmnster
The equipment I used to run with Kohler 18-hp v-twins usually got to 7-10,000 hours. Had a Kawasaki make it to 25,000 hours before it finally lost compression.

Wow! That's an amazing amount of hours. You obviously take care of your equipment.
thumbsup2.gif
 
I've used countless V-twin engines in welding machines from when they're new till they go to the scrapyard (typically Kohler Command V-twins & Onan flathead V-twins) and they will run basically trouble free (other than maintenance) until about 5,000 hours. They'd often last longer than that, sometimes close to 10k, but problems would usually start to begin at around 5k. Things like burning oil, we had a couple bend pushrods, low(er) compression or hard(er) starting, things like that. 5k was pretty easy to get to as long as you changed the oil and stuck to the maintenance schedule.

One can convert a vehicle's mileage to hours by estimating its average speed. I'd say most vehicles drive an average speed of 30-40mph (you have to account for idling and stops), so 200k would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5700 hours. I'd guess that most commercial-grade air cooled engines would make it at least that many hours, not so sure on homeowner-grade engines. If I had to estimate I'd divide the homeowner stuff by half, but then I'd venture a guess that you'd never make it to that many hours anyways as the equipment it's in will probably be long dead by the time you get to 3,000 hours unless you use it a LOT!
 
Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
but then I'd venture a guess that you'd never make it to that many hours anyways as the equipment it's in will probably be long dead by the time you get to 3,000 hours unless you use it a LOT!


Yes, i'm thinking the hydrostatic will give up way before the engine.
 
Originally Posted by spasm3
Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
but then I'd venture a guess that you'd never make it to that many hours anyways as the equipment it's in will probably be long dead by the time you get to 3,000 hours unless you use it a LOT!


Yes, i'm thinking the hydrostatic will give up way before the engine.



You're right on that one. If it's not drainable take off the axle dump and refill with synthetic 15-40 or the closest thing you can find to it.
 
Originally Posted by spasm3
But what is considered a lot of hours on name brand or commercial engines vs homeowner( I.E honda GX engines vs honda GC ) engines?

What is a lot of hours for a chonda ( chinese honda clone) engine like on my genset?


Honda GX engines will go waaaaaayyy over 2,000 hours if treated right

"chinese" Chonda engines will do well over 1,000 if they are a GOOD brand, like Lifan or Liquid Combustion technologies
 
My equipment was in park maintenance equipment like Cushman Trucksters and Toro Workmen. They'd get their oil changed seasonally, and sometimes more often if the operator cared. They'd pretty easily go over 200-300 hours per change. But, they'd be running pretty much all day, and get serviced as needed. When they would wear out, they'd just slowly lose steam over the course of a summer then finally lose enough compression to run.
 
Originally Posted by antonmnster
The equipment I used to run with Kohler 18-hp v-twins usually got to 7-10,000 hours. Had a Kawasaki make it to 25,000 hours before it finally lost compression.


Was this a welder or other somewhat constant RPM application?

Reason I ask is, a lot of hours on something like a riding mower or lawn/garden equipment in general would be ~3000. I've heard of Onans and Kohler Commands going that long. Old one lung Kohler- K series usually need a rebuild before that.

Like said above, homeowners typically buy cheaper stuff, so the machine is wore out and broken before the engine dies of use/hours.
 
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There was a food truck outside our hospital, it was running a honda EU7000 generator. I had to walk up and look at the hour meter. It had 13,700 hours! I have no idea if it was the original engine or had been worked on. I imagine even if your replaced the engine, the hour meter can't be reset.
 
I'm a golf course mechanic. 2 Kohler command 18s were pretty tired at 4500 hours. One Lifan GX270 running strong at 1800 hours. Kawasaki FE290 that ran like new at 3800 hours. B&S Vanguards are 1000-1500 hour throw away engines.
 
From what I've heard 1500-2000hrs is when stuff on the mower starts going bad, mainly little things here and there, electrical issues etc.
 
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