1711 Heart Transplant
 

Well, long story short the KT17 Series II in my 1711 went from a beautiful runner to...ventilated on the right side of the block. Well maintained, lasted 850 hours. Reluctant to put in another Kohler, nonetheless I have settled on a CH18S with 250 hours as a donor. Looking for 16-18 horse Briggs for a week or so on Craigslist and Marketplace largely brought up Vanguards for (new) short block prices or I/C units without enough capacity for an electric PTO.
I was most surprised how few horizontal shafts are on the market compared to vertical. Tangent aside, it looks like it should fit readily; I pulled out the KT17 Series II today, will get everything cleaned up in the next week or two and go from there.

Looks like my biggest challenge will be thinning down the electrical to keep with the same controls: for example the "new" mower's PTO switch has 6 wires coming out of it. :BlahBlah:

What is your donor engine from? My KT PTO fit my Command without issue, but it was a Cub spec engine (2185 I think) to start with, and I don't recall any wiring changes regarding the PTO itself.

Quick edit: I did a Command swap on my red 782 2 years ago-

One major wiring difference will be the addition of a kill circuit for your magneto fired CH-18 versus the points/coil KT-17. You will need a different ignition switch from a 1811 model tractor.

I have become very good at pulling Kohlers from these to fix or replace different issues. I found an excellent replacement M-18 engine to replace my governor-less M-18, my second tractor lost all of its flywheel magnets, so I replaced the flywheel, and my third tractor needed a new crank pilot bushing and magneto, so it too had to be pulled.

Cub Cadet 2186

Yeah, you're right. Hoping to clean it up and mock up Wednesday when I'm off work...I was originally hoping to keep all the 1711 controls, but the ignition switch was shot anyhow and it's looking like a better option to keep the factory CH18 harness and maybe change switches to legacy sort after the fact. :bigthink:

I went with an 1811 ignition switch and modified the wiring instead of the harness swap, but 1711 harness I'm sure will be different than my older 782 harness.

Roland was able to help me with a wiring diagram after providing him the serial of my tractor and the engine.

On the CH18, there will be a wire for the carb solenoid, an oil pressure wire, and the kill circuit for the magneto. The 1711 never had an oil pressure warning lamp, or carb solenoid.

I'll have to keep an eye on this topic. I've got a CH18 from an 1864 waiting to go in my 682. I would like to use an 1810/1811 ignition switch as well.

Yes, I was planning on keeping several of the warning lights (e.g. low oil presure) and either hiding them below the dash or even under the hood. Don't really need the disengage pto or press brake or whatever else they have (IIRC there are 4 lights) but oil pressure might be nice.

I'd assume the "oil sentry" would kill if it loses pressure anyhow?

The 1711 harness is there but not in the best of shape; I'm kinda thinking of jettisoning and keeping the excellent condition new one. Pretty much identical (2 lights, pto, etc) minus power to the rear lights (easy add-on).

Yeah I considered the harness from my donor (a 2185 or 86, I don't recall now) but it just didn't seem like the fitment to my tractor chassis was that nice. That said, my modified harness isn't all that great either, but it's worked and been reliable.

That is a nice looking 1711. Don't see those too often.

In the event of low oil pressure, the engine does not shut down on these. The light on a 1811 and newer is a nice addition, but I went a step further on my tractors. I added a mechanical oil pressure gauge made by Stewart Warner. That way you know exactly where the pressure is and if there is an issue that otherwise would be unknown with a lamp that illuminates at 5 psi or less.


https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/...1&d=1599737854

Looks nice. The oil Sentry on the donor engine doesn't kill ignition? It seemed to indicate so. I'd be using a new (period correct) lamp on the existing trouble light.

Thanks. No, just a renumbered 782 but decent. Just wish it had front remotes (1712)!

Mainly want to try out that snowblower. :beerchug:

Got the engine and harness out yesterday. Looks like the 1711 engine driveshaft coupler will bolt right on, and with some luck I can get it close enough to attach.

That leaves the wiring being my last hurdle for now...I'm planning on keeping the keyswitch, but would really like to use the original style PTO switch vs the clunky yellow variety. This would be fine, with everything but the brake sensor. I'm wonder if I simply swap the N/C and N/O wires I'd get lucky without ill effects, but I haven't thought through it quite enough to be sure of that yet.

Wiring schematic

https://www.cubcadetpartsnmore.com/c...ing-schematics

https://www.cubcadetpartsnmore.com/u...iring/2176.pdf

Well, made some progress this morning. Unfortunately, I've reached the conclusion from dry fitting the engine that the driveshaft will have to be extended about an inch and a quarter. Even if I could move the tank/bulkhead back, it would still probably be too tight and the airfilter cover would be unremovable.

I bolted up the rag joint coupler on the engine after fabbing up about an inch worth of bushings to push it out to the thickness of the engine's original coupler, leaving room for the driveshaft to stub through the pilot bearing.

I also got the driveshaft and tunnel cover out, and plan to decide the engine's final resting place (with new muffler on) and then make the shaft fit. Also, after it randomly started leaking on me, I've decided the quarter turn oil drain is going goodbye.

Ordered some $2 motor mounts from NAPA that should take a bit of vibration out. Might cut them in half to stop the engine from raising too much. Just got the muffler on, and will test fit the grill/hood with the engine's front mounts in the rearmost OEM bolt holes. Will have to mark and drill 2 more holes + oil drain egress.

Muffler is going to take some considerable re routing to get out the front left, let alone right like OEM.

Stay tuned.

Some progress I forgot to post from last week. Engine in, oil drain complete, bolted down with motor mounts and drive shaft bolted up.

Gotta love holding the carriage bolts on for the rag joint while trying out fitment for a new driveshaft length (I measured for a finished length, which seemed right on the money, but am going to spin it over a few times with the starter to be sure it is where it wants to be before I weld it solid).

Hopefully tonight I can get most of the electrical sorted out and have a running unit.

I am not sure it this is an issue or not. Did you check to make sure that the PTO pulley is in the right place, front to back. The mounting holes on the plate are in a different place for the Command engines.

Did you know that you can use the drive shaft from an 1863 or 1864 along with one of Jeff's pump adapters and have a bolt in CV drive line? :bigthink:

It is where it is. I mounted the engine as far back as I could as to get the PTO within the frame and still be able to service the engine's air filter. Doing this required adding 2 new mounting holes and elongating the driveshaft.

Also, it runs and drives!

Now to button up the wiring (new pto switch should be here tomorrow) and install the new seat I picked up today after a thorough pressure wash and fluid change for the rear end.

Doubt it would have been sufficiently long, nor am I too concerned about it. Maybe if you'd posted 2 weeks ago :beerchug:

Good news -- lots of finishing touches today. Wired in headlights, leaving only tail (not in original wiring harness) and voltage meter connections (also not in original wiring harness) to go.

I'd also like to find a better bulb holder/enclosure for the low oil pressure light and permanently mount in the dash. One other small bit left is adding a hole for the new PTO switch that arrived this afternoon.

The week of warm weather also gave me a great opportunity to pressure wash the rear end thoroughly, and I plan on picking up a hydro filter and changing that next (while easily accessed due to the tunnel being open).

Glad to see the project coming to a head. On the bad side, though, it looks like the exit of the muffler ends up extremely close to the side shield...making me wonder if I can sneak an elbow in, or if we'll end up having to do a Kubota diesel-esque exhaust.

Glad to see that it is alive!

Why do you need to add a hole for the PTO switch?

New style PTO is a lot larger than the original. Rather than messing with the plethora of safeties running through there I'm just going to enlarge the existing hole or the old fuse holder to fit.


The second fuse holder is now the low oil pressure light.

Didn't get a chance to do much today besides mount the new PTO switch and LED low oil pressure light.

I ended up getting a push in LED marker light for a trailer and expanding one of the old fuse holes to fit it. Turned out pretty nice, waterproof & very bright. Hopefully vibration/etc proof, too.

I also put the hood back on. Probably will use it to spray the next low wind/rain day we have, and give it a chance to stretch its legs. So far it is running and charging excellently.

New trans filter and fluid yesterday; got all the tin back on and the exhaust figured out today. Should be good to go. Probably will put the #450 blower on and try out once we get some snow!

Sounds good. :beerchug:

Is the 450 geared for your engine PTO size?

Pulled the semi-dead 1641 around today and took it for a trip to the neighbor's down the road to bleed out the trans. Clocked 10mph by my phone (google maps).

1 year update, still running great. This is probably the best running/starting command I've ever had.