ISO mounts questions
 

Tearing into my 1450 now. I knew the mounts were terrible when i bought it, the engine was trying to exit the tractor. Got the motor out (pretty easy with only one bolt in the oil pan), and saw the flattened lower ISO bushings. I'm thinking the uppers may be usable, pretty old though.

I've already read just about everything on these mounts and options for them. I studied around for a while on options (solid, car bushings, etc.), not being able to put the newer Cub Cadet mounts in. I happened upon some isolation mounts on ebay (not the aftermarket ISO bushings someone's selling). I measured my cradle holes...seem about 7/8" on the ID and the OD from the old mounts was 1-1/4". These mounts are 3/4" ID and 1-1/4" OD with 3/8" steel bushing. They're recommended for a 3/8" mounting plate, so i figured clamping them down to the 1/4" cradle would expand them a bit. I heard the newer Cub mounts were kind of hard, so I asked the seller for the durometer scale of his. He replied that they're a 40 shore scale....pretty soft (does anyone know the scale on the originals?). Got them in today and they are soft....about as soft as my originals. Plus, they were only $20 for all four, worth a shot.

Some pics of the mounts free, loose on the cradle and mounted to the frame. I clamped them up with some larger washers on the top side that has ID larger than the steel bushing. The seemed to clamp up very nicely. The space on the lower side is a bit less than 1/2". I have the bolts tightened all the way down to the shank.

Has anyone tried these? Other opinions? Can anyone give me the height measurement of original mounts? It's going to be a while before I can get the motor back in to test, but this cradle seems to have good isolation and firmness. Have to repair the oil pan from all the banging around it did in there and get the cradle mod done....

First of all, I think Quietlines are great tractors!

Replacing your ISO mounts is the best thing you can do for your tractor and its power plant. when I replaced the mounts in my 1250 Nightmare, I used genuine Cub Cadet replacement parts. I was unaware of your choice, but they look decent to me; better than the Moog replacements that so many use, and seem to have decent luck in getting them to work.

One thing you didn't mention in your project is to make the recommended engine cradle modification. this keeps the ISO rails from twisting independently and causing stress to the oil pan. From this forum's technical section, here is the modification plan: http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=4630. This is worth every bit of the modest cost. Either having a welding shop make the repair, or doing it yourself, if you have a welder, it is worth every bit of the effort.

That 1450 is a wonderful tractor! Please keep us informed as to your results. There is all kinds of help here to get it up and running again. All the best to you and your project.


Brian Wittman

His last sentence he mentioned the cradle mod...:beerchug:

Hehehe...yeah, bkw. I've read over several of your posts on all kinds of stuff to fix. I've already picked up so much from your Nightmare posts. I really like the simplicity and power of this tractor. Since it's my first, and I'm not planning on collecting a bunch, i wanted something that I could use and expand on. The 1x50 models were the ones I wanted. Glad I chose this one...

I got bored / curious right after I posted this, so I hit the shop for a couple of hours to do the mod. I had the 1.5" x 0.25" bar stock. Pretty simple welding (I have a mig / stick welder but I'm no pro with it) so I zapped it together real quick and threw the mounts together. It's very strong now. Firm, yet it does give so slightly. I stood on the cradle, and even though I don't have much clearance on the belly pan, maybe 1/4", i couldn't make it touch. I've read somewhere, somebody used some 5 hp air conditioning or refrigerator compressor mount but never really mentioned the mount numbers...so i'll give these a shot: Universal Isolation Mounts

Some progress pics. Someday she'll be all prettied up with new paint, but for now everything has to get functional. I had to weld around the pan mount bolt holes, there were some deep gouges where the pan had hammered some washers the PO had put between pan and cradle. Lots of grinding and flattening going on. Going to space those snubbers out too.

Don't mean to piss in yer porridge, but hope you bolted the iso rails to your oil pan or a like jig, before you welded the cross brace to them.
If you didn't, all the stars and planets have to be lined up perfectly or your bolt holes will not align with the pan, and/or the brace might interfere with the pan sump.
You'd not be the first to have that happen.
Best of luck!!:beerchug:

Heheheh, yeah. Thanks ol'George. I've read up on the iso bar mod and did put my oil pan in place before welding. Actually, that one's going to be another project. The oil pan (aluminum) had been sitting on the bars for quite a while so the bolt bosses are beat towards the outer edges, not flat across. When I bolted the bars on, they wanted to tilt to the pan bosses, so I couldn't crank them tight. I put the bolts in but left them a little loose. I clamped the brace on tightly so that it would square up the bars to each other...the pan was just keeping the bolt holes lined up. When I welded the brace in, i did one edge at a time letting it cool down before starting another section so that distortion would be minimized. After it was welded, i could still turn all the bolts with very little pressure. The complete cradle lined up fine with the iso mount holes also, there's a little room to play with on those though.

On the pan, I plan on brazing some material to it to build up a bit, flattening out the bosses and drilling for some steel keyserts. There are threads in the holes, but they're very loose threads. I'll loctite and lock washer the bolts in the mounts to keep those suckers from coming out anymore. Got this pic that kind of shows the non-flat bolt boss compared to the cradle bar. All four are about like this but I couldn't really get good pics. Front right pan mount, no bolt in it here...just sitting on cradle bar:

HELLO Rdeyot,
I have a 1450 and a 1650,
The 1650 was my fathers so I have been very familiar with it, and have always thought that it rattled too much and shook more than to my liking. Those 16hp are real thumpers, l0l.
I had previously did the rail mod and installed the "e pay snubber "ISO" mounts" it helped, and I was satisfied with the results, Well atleast at that time. Now, fast forward to Fall of 2013,
I ran across the 1450 and it has the dual hydraulic stick. Anyway, when I redid the engine mount on it, I did the rail mod and was able to reuse the top original iso on the bottom and replaced the uppers with shock bushings. All I can say is wow that thing is smooth.
SO , now I have learned that a quietline really can be quiet and smooth, I am no longer satisfied with the 1650 shakes. With a new found encouragement, I loosened the bolts on the brand x iso, it does help by not as smooth as it can be. Now usable, but I will still be doing something to improve it.
Now to your original post, I too have contemplated using those. Seems very plausable that they would work. My concerns with that mount is the final mounting height, concerning driveline alignment. My thinking was to order some abrasion resistant rubber isolation washers to put under them to bring the rail height up to near original, and use a second isolation washer between the top mount and rail to close the 3/8" stock down to the rail thickness. Now I have not gotten to the point of taking the measurments of an installed ISO, The uninstalled mounts are aroung 7/8 uncompressed vs, the 1/2" of these "versa-style" mounts.
So after all this rambling, I am interested in the results of your project. Looking forward to following your progress. Congratulations on your 1450, You will really appreciate and enjoy it when you get it correct. You see alot of varying opions on the quietline machines, having had them in both in neglected mechanical condition and in correct operating condition, I can understand the varying opinions. I feel that anyone that " hates on" the quietline have not operated one in correct condition.

Thanks buds. I'm curious about that too. I was looking around but can't find the installed measurement of the original lower mounts either (if anyone knows and can post measurements / pics, that'd be grrreeeeeaaaat). I wanted that to determine the universal installed height. I know the originals are around 7/8" uncompressed, but there's no real physical "stop" to keep them from being crushed smaller...hence the sinking to the frame when they get bad. I was thinking that that may be the reason a lot of people recommend the "1 or 2" threads on the lock nuts, to keep the mounts from any more pressure (or to increase the rebound with less clamping force)...i dunno.

I have two 1/2" ID x about 1/8" thick washers on the top of the upper bushing. They push the top bushing down below the stop of the center steel bushing. It seems to only crush the upper bushing more and not affect the lower height much, if at all. The bolt is cranked all the way down to the shank also. As they are right now, they're probably as tight as they can get. That should give me a lot of release space if I feel i need to loosen them up. I stood on the cradle to see if they would sink. They didn't budge much with 170 lbs on them, figure the ~120 lbs motor shouldn't move them at all.

edit: I notice that my snubber spacing is at least 1/4" too high. I don't believe my frame or bars to be bent and I think the snubbers are original parts (another measurement for snubber thickness needed?). I think the snubber-frame spacing is supposed to be .06-.12". I might have twice that.

Well i will measure on mine that I used the original bottoms on, the snubber heights seem to be about right, but I haven't measured them. I was thinking that the one side of your rail looks to be bent upward, now thats just looking and comparing to my memory, lol for whats thats worth. I will check mine again to see if I see any upward swing in the end of the rail. I will check the snubber height on that same machine too. I believe the originals are pretty soft, stands to reason that the softer they are the lighter vibrations that can be absorbed rather than passed into he frame. When you look at the load ratings of the "Versa" mounts, keep in mind that the rating would be (X4), being the engine weight is distributed across the 4 mouning points, So, say a 40 pound rated mount, using 4 pieces in theary could support 160#'s. Like I said before I have been contemplating getting these and some additional Iso washers to build up a mount to get me the results I want. Then, after seeing the dofference the originals made in the 1450, the questions becomes, experiment or bite the bullet and go originals. However, my understanding is that the new style original design are slightly harder than the 1st generation style.

I was wondering about that bend myself. Didn't notice it with the bars out, but i do see it in the pics...in fact, on both sides. I guess the only way i'll know anything for sure is to get in back together and run it. That may be this weekend sometime, although i have two cars in my shop that need to get running again. Any measurements or pics you can get will be a big help! Maybe i'll notice something that needs correcting before i get the motor mounted. I think if i need to raise the cradle up, i can fab some spacers to go under the lowers. The oil pan work is going to be next. Might make a new thread for that work...

ON my 1650 I too had some rounding over due to loose mounting. I was able to build mine up using the Aluminum " brazing" rods and a propane torch. I then ran a bottoming tap into the holes, and used threaded rod studs rather than bolts to ensure I had maximum thread engagement. I put a bolt in the hole while building it up as not to loose my thread start position. I didn't try to build it up too close to the bolt hole. It has held up well so far that I know of but, I haven't had the engine back out since.

On the iso rails,----
I had a pair that the pan pads had pounded for so long, that they were deeply worn and uneven with pockets pounded in the rails.
I welded the rail pockets up, and milled them flat in the B'port making them as new.
also I bought a really nice cast iron pan on evil pray for $29 eliminating having to
Heli coil and machine the pan pads flat, to insure staying tight.
If you have everything flat they will stay tight with just lock washers and proper torque.:beerchug:

budscub- yeah, that's what I'm planning on doing also (hehehe..."great minds" and all that). The keyserts I have are a 1/2"-13 external thread. Going to drill out the holes, tap to the 1/2" size then drop a bolt in each hole. I'm going to try the gas grill / propane torch method of heating the pan and braze the pads up and around the bolt threads. I'll file them off (don't have a mill) flat, and put in the keyserts once they are level in the cradle. The braze is under a compression load, so I'm not worrying about it coming off, and the steel keyserts should help hold it and keep it from banging around if the aluminum crushes. I've already filled / ground the cradle bars. They're not "machine shop" flat, but waaaay better than the divots that were there.

Ol'George- wish I had a mill to make these all perfectly flat, but for me that's all going to be hand work. I got the pads on the cradle pretty much weld-filled and ground flat, much better now. I was looking for aluminum 4043 welding sticks to fix the pan, but accidently got brazing rods. I think i can make them work though. My main concern was that the pan was cracked. There was an oil spot under the engine after a couple days of hanging. After I got the pan off, my girl cleaned the heck out of it and we set it flat on some boards. Filled it to the rim with kerosene and let sit for a couple days. The only leaks were coming from the drain plug. Someone had put two washers on it, i guess trying to seal it or something. That should be an easy fix. No cracks in the pan itself. Everything will be locked down with washers and a tad of red loctite when it all goes back together. Hopefulle that will be this weekend.

Check your pan to see if someone put too long of a rail mounting bolt into it cracking it into the inside.
They will weep if it has happened, and hard to see but it is not an uncommon
problem.
Also consider a good cast iron pan ,they are not that costly and solve several problems.
I see good ones pop up regular for around $30 on evil pray.
You can't weld/repair/helicoil for that.:biggrin2:

The bolt holes look good, no weeping there. There weren't any bolts, except one holding the engine in (and boy did it shake around in there!), and the one bolt that was there was backed out probably three threads.

I looked for some CI pans on ebay...there was just one Cub deep sump out there...for $52. Maybe I'll keep looking for one, but i'm going with the current pan for now. Shoot, it ain't all that hard to get the motor out if i do find one....

Did your Kohler K321AQS happen to have balance gears? My later model 1450 did so if fact have them. Now would be the time to remove those at all this oil pan conversation.

My early 1450 is my pride and joy! I have done the cradle mod, went with genuine iso replacements, up graded to the cast deep sump pan, and replaced the rag joints on both ends of the drive line as well as a new cooling fan.

While I was there, I removed any slop from the front axel pivot pin, and rebuilt/installed the 606 nice bearing up grade to the Ross assembly.

Just a few things I did while it makes sense at the point of repair. I enjoy the thread.

FWIW other color equipment used those oil pans so you can broaden your search to "kohler oil pan"
just do your research on parts tree checking part ## as well as visual for comparison.
If it works well for you now, it prolly will not give trouble in the future, but good to know another way out ( I can't say another way to skin a cat) as
PETA ppl are everywhere Ha,LOL!

Hmm..."other color" equipment, huh? I may have to check those models if this aluminum fix doesn't work out. I hadn't seen any other models besides cubs that had the deep sump pan. Good to know. I've had another member approach me with an offer for one, and it may come to that, but I'm wanting to learn some new things anyway. BTW, this site is great. Lots of useful information and helpful people without all the elitist BS of some forum sites. I do a lot of car work and one model i work on, that forum must be full of 16 year olds constantly watching Fast and Furious..."Duuuude, you need this brand of oil drain plug to get rid of that engine knock, and a BOV...DUH!"....geez..

Hey johncub! I checked and no, no balance gears. Had already read about those. I imagine that a bit more balance would help the shakes some and I've seen the Kirk balance plate kit. I may do that sometime in the future or during a rebuild but I think i'll try it this way first. Just hoping these universal iso mounts work out. I've also got some new rag joints and a hydro fan...missing a blade. Probably could use the drive shaft bearings/couplers, but can't do those just yet.

RE: the front axle pin; I have a lot of slop in my axle too. Should I clamp it closer, shim it, weld something? It seems to turn left very close, but right turns are twice the diameter circle. None of the rods seem bent. The steering is very easy (but considering the super steering kit, while i'm in here), but there's a lot of axle slop and spindle slop. Haven't taken that stuff apart yet. Is it just a spirol pin in the axle pin to get it out? Hasn't been priority yet.

Yeah, i think i'm already in love with this one. I notice around the site that the quietlines seem to be the "well, yeah, whatever" cub cadet sometimes. When i was trying to find one, it was either the quietlines or the 1x9 series, 149 preferably. That, or one of the x82 series but I wanted something yellow (yeah, i know, but there aren't many of the yellow x82 around).

RDeyoe,

None of the AQS engines had balance gears in them. Kohler didn't put them in when they built the engine. Those engines in Cub Cadets built before the Quietline, those which started with a starter/generator, did have the gears.

With the engine out of your tractor, it is an easy repair to squeeze the front axle channel together. Here is how you do it: http://cubfaq.com/axlepivot.html Be sure that you replace the pivot pin. That pin should be available from the sponsors above.

While you are at it, Rebuilding your steering box is a good idea, too. Here is how you do it: http://cubfaq.com/steeringrebuild.html Check your tie rod ends on both the tie rod and the drag link.

Before you know it, your tractor will be like new.


Brian Wittman

For your steering, try centering your steering arm between the steering box and axle. Disconnect the steering arm at the axle. Turn the steering wheel full right, then count the turns to full left. Turn it to the right half the amount of turns, now adjust the rod ends to make the steering arm the proper length to bolt together without moving the wheel. This should give you equal left/right. Some people squeeze the channel back up and install a new pin, others install a bolt to pull the channel shut, I think the bolt head needs to be modified for clearance though.

Bill

Edit: I see in another post Roland already described centering, shortening it up is the way to go.

rdeyoe,

Really enjoying your thread. Thanks for sharing this with us and everyone else who is chiming in with all the great information. Keep it going, and more pictures!

Ok. I got to the pan a bit tonight, after rebuilding a Mitsu 3.0 v6 all day. You know if you crack one piston ring, there's no where to get another single ring? :) Had to spend the day in a scrap yard finding a 3.0 without heads on to get ONE ring out of. But that's another problem...

I drilled out the mount holes in the pan with a 27/64" bit. Ran a 1/2"-13 tap down nearly all the way in. The 1/2"-13 is the outside size of the keyserts i'm going to use. Then i needed to heat the whole pan to do the aluminum brazing. Tried with my kerosene bullet heater...i've measured that thing to 600 degrees. Unfortunately, it has a thermostat that kicked it off 'cause it's already 90 degrees here! Tried a heat gun and after a half hour, still not hot enough (the brazing rods need 735 or so and aluminum wicks away heat quickly). Had to go to the gas grill method to get any heat. I suppose it doesn't help having the 1/2"-13 bolt in it. Wanted that to keep the threads straight.

Finally got to a reasonable amount of heat (read: a LOT) and heated locally with a propane torch. Once you get the rods to start melting, it's pretty easy to work with. Didn't really build up cleanly like i wanted, but I did get probably 1/4" or so. Pulled the bolt after getting one done and moved it to the next hole...rinse....repeat.

Let it cool a good long while after all four were done up then just hand filed them flat. Was debating whether to add more to one, but it takes too long. Got the four pads filed down, using the pan surface and a straight edge to get the angle close. I tried to run a keysert down in one, but the threads are a bit tight. I've chased them with the tap again, but still a bit snug to get the insert in easily. Think i'm going to slot the insert so i can get some torque on it (knocked a couple pins off of one). I'm going to run them just flush so there's a little steel there to clamp / beat on.

I'll get some more pics of the finished product when it's a finished product...

Not totally true. Some Kohler AQS engines used in the IH Cub Cadet Quiet Line models did in fact have balance gears in them. I will venture to say they were the later models. I have full proof and documentation that.

RDeyoe, I added a shim between the c-channel and front axel on mine. That worked just fine. If it should loosen up again, I'd go with a grade 8 bolt and squeeze that c-channel together and keep it there.

The QL's are a very good garden tractor. I like the IH side of Cub Cadet more than the later. And these QL's retain the last of the true IH design, like the cast iron transmission, and the heavy cast iron front grills. And no plastic or aluminum to mention.

Heheheh johncub, "no aluminum to mention" right on the end of a pic storm of oil pan repair! :D Just kidding!

I have seen some posts around of AQS owners that found balance gears, and I know that's probably a rare case so I figured i'd double check anyway. Had to take the pan off for the brazing thing sooooo...

The shims, are these just washers, or laminated shims or hardened <somethings>? Approximately how much in shims? Need to check the pin bushings too. I'm thinking just clamping that c-channel (looks like it would take a few ft/lbs to get it clamped!) that shimming may be the way to go. I've got a decent amount of fore/aft movement in that axle beam. I haven't taken the axle pin out yet...too many projects getting in the way right now, but I plan to before the motor goes back in. Was going to try this weekend, but looks like the upcoming weekend will be it.

Oh, I know. Open mouth, insert foot!

It's good to see and know someone repairing this oil pan. Come a time when that's all they'll be able to do. I've said enough, I'll just sit in the bleachers and enjoy the information and comments.

Yes, I recall using red Loctite on the pan-to-engine bolts too.

ISO mounts- oil pan repair
 

Got around to doing the inserts and final flattening out. I made a tool for the keyserts out of a 3/8" steel bushing from Lowes. I used a hacksaw to cut slots to grab the pins on the inserts and used a bolt to hold the slots and insert together. Chased the threads out with a 1/2"-13 bolt as they were a bit tight on the insert. I noticed that driving in the inserts, they had to cut into the zinc a little so there was a bit of force and those pins can pop out. Lightly torquing the bolt/bushing combo helped keep some of the force off of the pins. There's special tools to drive these things in, but they're rather costly. I put them in not quite flush with my surface and drove the pins down with a drift that I had drilled a centering divot in. Some pins bent and snapped, but i got most of them in. Also used loctite to hold the inserts too. I don't have a drill press yet, and a couple of the bolts weren't exactly plumb, but straight enough. After getting the inserts in, i filed them flush and squared up the surfaces a bit, checking with a straight edge scale.

I noticed when i set the pan in the cradle, that i had a slight wobble, maybe .030" or less. A little more filing on one pad to level and it is solid now. Took it all back apart and ran some black undercoating on the pan and cradle. The bolts are solid now, and steel, as opposed to the wobbly, worn/loose threads that were in the aluminum. I should be able to retain them with just lock washers. I got some close up pics sitting in the cradle, and the gap toward the outsides of the pads is gone...much better contact surface.

The aluminum brazing rods are mostly zinc, so it sets pretty hard, probably much harder than the surrounding aluminum. It also bonds really well. I degreased (brake cleaner) and scrubbed with a stainless wire brush, it's not going anywhere now. The amount of heat to get the rods to melt was pretty high, but once you get them going it's not bad to work with...pretty simple really. I got the rods at Rural King...about $11.00 for eight of them. I used two of them, so I've got several for the next project.

I think those pads could take quite a bit of pounding now if they needed to, but with the steel threads and locking the bolts in, that should never happen again. Can't wait to get it mounted and try those isolators out!

Looks great rdeyoe, you like those keyserts better than helicoils?

twoton- I considered helicoils. Have a few in my shop, but they're all metric since most of my other work is automotive (now that i think about it, probably only the 1450 and my 1981 Johnson outboard use SAE anymore). I'd have to get a kit to do the 3/8-16 helicoil and those kits are pricey and would come with several coils i'd never use. I barely use the metric ones i have...

Never used keyserts before. Got them because they were available at a local fastener supplier. Was actually looking for ez-lock inserts. Supplier only had three in stock but had a box of keyserts. Went over and looked at both. The ez-locks were heavier duty....much thicker walls on them. Don't know that the oil pan would have enough material to put those into, or there wouldn't be much left when done. The keyserts were higher than the ez-lock ($5 each keyserts, about $2 for ez-lock), but looked like a much better fit. I liked the full steel inserts over the helicoil so I could file off excess and have a steel contact area. Nothing wrong with helicoils, and they would have been easier. I just wanted a beefier assembly.

Yeah, those keyserts do look a bit more rugged than the helicoils. I used helicoils;

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...&postcount=168



Reading that part about using the brake cleaner to degrease prior to the brazing made me think of this post by Jeff in PA;

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...166#post333166

Be safe.

I think that there also has to be argon involved to create the death smoke but at any rate yes, good disclaimer none the less.

Why take the chance?

Whoa Jeff! Thanks for that. I was brazing, not welding but still good info. I'm sure all traces of cleaner were gone by the time I started heating it, plus it was on the grill for a good half hour (open grill, vented) and no argon involved. But if i ever get into aluminum welding, i'll definately keep this in mind. Kind of like welding galvanized and the breathing problems / gasses it makes. I have welded some galvanized steel, but i try to get off as much as possible and only do small pieces in open spaces.

Reminds me of my time in the military. I was in aviation and to clean teflon bearings, the recommended chemical was MEK. After two years of using that stuff, then they decide you shouldn't even touch it because of all the health risks. It kind of disappeared from inventories after that, but they say the effects are long term. I'm still around for now though. Heard that the photography industry used it a lot for developing or something. When i started working for a govt. contractor on aircraft, they were much more serious about MSDS sheets and had to sign off on everyone reading and following them.

Got my hydro fan on tonight and started fitting the flex couplings. I think i'm going to have to double the back ones. The shaft fits on the centering ball fine, but the coupling mount was too far away. Made the new rag joint too wavy. Looks like i have enough space for a second one. I don't think the mount on the driveshaft has been moved and i'd rather double up than drill another hole. I've heard of some people doubling them and i think i saw a post that the x82's were built that way.

Also got the cradle finally mounted and oil pan back on. Gave the motor a bath so I can see oil leaks if they happen (i think i have some bad breather gaskets, not a big problem). Took some slop out of the axle, shimmed it. It's ready to be put back together. Hopefully in a day or so, maybe the weekend.

My understanding is that it has nothing to do with argon. Remember ‘inert gas’. The issue is that when you have incomplete combustion you create carbon monoxide. When this CO combines under high temperatures with the chlorine containing hydrocarbons found in many industrial cleaners the result can be phosgene gas.

Remember Yo Mr White in the camper when he took out Crazy 8 and his buddy with phosgene gas?

Luckily, i took another look at my brake cleaner...was using non-chlorinated anyway so no probs there.

On the plus side, finally got the motor mounted with some new bolts and lockwashers. The cradle is solid and no metal to metal rubbing anywhere. Everything lines up very well, but i will be pulling it again. I didn't put the bolts in the front rag joint before putting the shaft in motor (ugh, didn't even think about it!), so I'll have to remove / slide it forward when I replace the front coupling. I used both my new couplings on the rear of the shaft and will order another one for the front. I put the old rag joint on it and used some shorter bolts from the backside and square nuts to hold it for now.

Got the motor started up and noticed a lot of black smoke. The carb adjustments were all wacked out. Throttle stop was backed way out doing no good. Idle mixture and high speed mixture were backed out too...too much fuel flowing at all rpms. Leaned out the high speed until it just sputtered and then back about a quarter turn seemed to smooth her right out. Ran the throttle stop screw all the way in and brought it down to idle. Was kind of high, but i could adjust it down pretty slow. Adjusted the idle mixture pretty much the same as high speed and she's a nice solid idle now. There's still timing to do, but she's running pretty good right now (where the heck is the timing window???)

Now for the real reason for this thread; the experimental, cheap ISO mounts. With the engine at idle, it's an earthquake! I'm attributing that to a single cylinder, 14 hp motor. It really thumps at a very slow idle. I can really feel it when i crank the throttle stop out and have it barely running, but that's too slow for normal idle anyway. With that said, some of the bouncing is being taken up by the mounts. If it were a solid mount, i think the entire frame would bounce, but the frame vibe somewhat softened.

Roughly the same at mid throttle. There is quite a bit of shaking, but it's still softened by the mounts. You can see the difference between the engine movement and the frame movement. Watching the carb against the frame, it's easy to see the difference.

At WOT is where it gets really nice. Still a little bit of high freq 'buzz', but not bad at all...really pretty smooth. I test drove without the deck and with the deck. I can feel the belt shaking with the deck on and PTO turned on. At least i can notice those shakes now...i couldn't hear/feel them before. It's no cadillac, but the isolators are doing their job. I suppose I could loosen up on them as I have a lot of play space there, but that may let a lot more movement in to tear them up. I haven't put the grill/hood or sides back on and those might give some damping too, but quite frankly it's a pretty good ride as it is.

Back in the day, i worked on helicopters, tracking and balancing rotor systems. It gave me some good insight into vibrations and minimizing them. I realize that this motor (i'll bet the K341 is a real shaker!) has a lot of mass moving in the worst directions as far as comfort goes, but I think these mounts give a pretty good compromise. For $20, it was worth a try and I'm pretty happy with the results. I'll try and get a video and maybe someone can give some comparisons with other mounts.....

Come on Ryk, where's the pictures!?...

Just kidding, good to hear about your progress.

Hehehehe...ok, ok. Didn't have any the day i put it in, phone died. Got some today though and while I was taking them I noticed that the front ones seemed to be pretty squashed. Looked like the cradle was swallowing a side of one. The right front was the worst, others looked pretty good. I decided to lift the motor up over the lower mounts and put some washers to help center and distribute the weight. Worked out much better. Also took some of the torque out of the assembly to keep the crush down. Have a couple of hours on them now, plus a half acre of mowing duty and they feel real good, but that squashing concerns me....will have to see what kind of durability they have.

Also got around to trying to straighten the steering out (turned sharp to the left, not to the right). I looked up the procedure for adjusting the drag link there and when I took the drag link off the steering gear, the ball joint came apart in my hand. The local Rural King had some on the shelf so I got it changed out and got the steering centered much better.

Had to replace the spaghetti noodle deck belt that frayed and tore through my PTO wire. Put a male/female blade on the PTO wire for quick disconnect if I remove the engine again. Took my old belt to Rural King to get a belt (that have all kinds and gauges to measure old ones). Somehow read the gauge wrong and got a belt about 9" too long. Wound up with a 1/2"x80" (i know it's supposed to be 3/8", but no one has those and I have grass to cut). Suprisingly, the notches on the mule drive tensioner went right to the center and the belt ran smooth. Mowed with it and it's working great.

One piece at a time, but it's really turning into a nice machine. I have a video of the engine running at low/mid/WOT. I'll see if I can get it on the youtubes and add a link if I can.

Got it sorted, video link: Kohler K321 run.

Welp, got her all back together tonight. Did a little tuning on it, but can't really see the timing marks. I'm going to have to pull the points cover and use a multimeter just to locate the marks...get some paint on the mark when i find 'em.

Found out my meter also has an rpm function so i could get the idle/high speed right. Put the hood and side panels back on. It was dark when I got finished, so i figured it would be a good time to test the recently fixed head / tail lights :)

It's now amazingly smooth! Not the knocking / banging / rattling pile of parts i brought home. At full throttle, it feels like a twin engine. I've got some governor adjusting (seems to sag and hunt a couple times on PTO or hydro load, but does stabilize) and the timing to get right, but very comfortable and super quiet. The panels / hood and that huge cast iron damper of a grill have really smoothed it out. The only real rattle i hear is the mule drive tension release lever bumping around

I'm a bit leery on the durability of these mounts, but they sure seem to be doing the job...for now.

Ok, well the jury's in on these. Two months in and they're complete crap! The two front ones are completely crushed, the rears are still there but also crushing. The motor isn't completely down on the frame....the rubber hasn't torn as far as i can see, but it is down about half the original thickness of the mounts. Since the motor isn't hitting anywhere, they are still isolating more than my original Cub ones that came with the tractor and it still rides pretty smooth but i feel it's it's only a matter of time. Oh well, it was worth the try. I may think about solid ones, that's a heavy motor....

Just saw this thread. They looked pretty squished to me in the install pics. I just installed some aftermarket ones from CC Specialties in my 1250. I'll see how they hold up during snowballing season.

The one in the front right wasn't so much squished as "falling into the hole" some. The holes in the cradle were kind of swallowing some of the iso mount. I put some large washers between the mount and the iso mount to distribute the weight a bit better and it worked really well, for a while. I'm thinking the weight of the motor is just too much for these soft mounts. Think I'll give the Moog k5252 sway bar mounts a shot next.